Summer Entertaining Suggestions

Summer entertaining suggestions and information is always worthy of repeating- exactly the reason I’m featuring these suggestions new to the Places In The Home summer entertaining repertoire.

Summer is in our sights, arriving with the summer solstice gift of extra daylight.

Talk about the ultimate summer entertaining hostess gift!

Invite vibrant color, easy entertaining tips, and fun home decor touches to the party, and prepare to impress.

lantern luminaries

John Jacob Interiors

Summer nights frame the art of entertaining with a canvas of color and hosting ease.

Retro-Outdoor-Camping-Kerosene-Lamp-Oil-Light-Lantern

Creating an evening under the stars atmosphere begins with bringing down the house lights and illuminating the summer night with soft accent lighting.

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Casual elegance is easily achieved by strategically placing kerosene lanterns or glass jar luminaries along a walkway.

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House Beautiful

For extra ambiance wrap, hang, drape or string white twinkle string lights from trees, in shrubs and around columns.

Stunning!

yellow paper lanterns

Maze Yellow 8″ Paper Lanterns

Tiki torches, table lamps on loan for the evening from your interior home decor, garden chandeliers, and decorative paper lanterns also make great options in the quest to create a comfortable and inviting atmosphere.

outdoor-lanterns

Outdoor Lanterns

summer entertaining tip

Invite the wow factor to your summer soiree- the consummate guest.

DIY party ice buckets and ice cubes serve a gorgeous and delicious purpose.

DIY-ice-bucket

DIY Ice Buckets

Ice ice baby too cold, too cute!

Ball Jars prove a versatile party decor darling.

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Light them up, fill them up, or chill them down.

Ball 4pk 32oz Regular Mouth Quart Canning Jars Rose Vintage

A midsummer night’s entertaining dream becomes a reality with these quaint and stunning homemade hurricanes.  I discovered this simple how to supply list for colorful jar lanterns from Joann Stores and promptly pinned it to my Pinterest account.

outdoor-hanging-jar-lights

Joann Stores

Simple and affordable combine decorating forces to add subtle yet palpable charm to a perfect summer evening scene.

DIY summer citronella candles how to video from Southern Living show us how to make a DIY bug-be-gone candle that is not only visually impressive, but an essential must for comfortable summer soiree nights.

clay-pot

Give me a reason to turn a flower pot into a serving piece and it is summer soiree party on.

I’ll never forget the look I got the first time I announced we were having pot brownies at our pot party to a co-hostess.  I don’t believe I have ever clarified something so quickly before or since.

Vidalia-onion

Anywho, clay flower pots are an inexpensive and summer appropriate alternative to traditional serving pieces.

Baked beans, barbecued wings, Creole seasoned French fries, baked Vidalia onions, summer sausage- all great “pot” options.

House Beautiful

Elevate an otherwise average patio table to party perfection by topping it with a stylish outdoor tablecloth. Layer the look with chairs, cushions and outdoor pillows decked out in bright summer colors.

Decoristas have long had a trusty trick up their sleeve. Home decor and furnishings that work gorgeously inside the house will rock an outdoor living space like a Led Zeppelin concert!

Domaine

Love your inside dining chairs and know they will be the key to pulling the entire outdoor tablescape together, but don’t want the chair legs to get dirty?

outdoor-table-setting

Architectural Digest

Wrap the bottom of each chair leg with clear plastic wrap.

Perhaps a tad time-consuming, but it will save time on the clean up end of the party.

Be as pre-party proactive as possible with certain tasks.  It’s a summer entertaining essential skill for the host and/or hostess to hone.

Hello-my-name-is-summer-name-card

With the very, very good points of summer outdoor living and summer entertaining comes the very real concern over controlling mosquitoes.

Burning sage or rosemary repels is said to kill mosquitoes. The mosquito killing power is in the smoke so I’m thinking summer fire pit or campfire plays into being a natural necessity.

mosquito_sage

Pure Wow

At the point in the party when the food and drink has hit the spot, the music is summer smooth, the outdoor party life is kicking up a notch, and the company and the conversation is hitting all the right notes it’s time to hand out summer relaxation party pails.

fresh-rose-petals

Fill plastic beach pails from the dollar store with his or hers flip-flops, individual aluminum spray bottles filled with chilled homemade rose water (the guys love this stuff almost as much as the gals), cold cucumber slices in freezer bags and Burt’s Bees Cucumber & Sage facial cleansing towelettes (love the scent).

Assemble party pails beforehand adding chilled and cold items to pails right before handing them out.

Cucumber_Cleansing_Towelettes

Enjoy the colors and celebrations of the season.

What better excuse for throwing a stylish summer entertaining soiree!

Darleen-signature-love

A Most Fetching Friday: The Summer Vacation

Today’s A Most Fetching Friday is all about the summer vacation.

fetching-define

Tourism thrives on it, houses are built to entertain around it, school teachers wait all school year long for it to get here, kids of all ages celebrate it, and memories made on the summer holiday road stay with us for a lifetime.

ff-Texas-hill-country

Texas Hill Country

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Lake Keowee Lake House Cabin, South Carolina

Palm Springs Hotel

Summer In Color at The Saguaro Palm Springs

the summer vacation

What story will your summer vacation tell?

sea shells

Sanibel Island, Florida

Dave the Builder and I have been on a mini vacation for a little over a week.  Reality will soon call us back to our normal routine, but for now the pace has slowed and the summer vacation life is good.

luggage tag

Tagged for Travel

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Get Your Kicks and Your Gas on Route 66

ff-tubing

Sunny Days and Cool Waters

Summer Sounds

Have a lovely weekend.

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Coconut Poke Cake

Temperatures in Louisiana hit the 90° degrees in the shade mark today. Summer is in sight and the first holiday weekend of the season is coming up.  I guess now is about as good a time as any to shine the spotlight on an entertaining summer read and a delicious summer recipe.  Two things our dinner gang does not shy away from- discussion and dessert.  The Coincidence of Coconut Cake  and a request for coconut poke cake served up a delicious course of both.

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The Coincidence of Coconut Cake

My mother requested I make a coconut poke cake for our Mother’s Day brunch dessert.  She specifically wanted me to make a coconut poke cake from a recipe she eavesdropped on overheard two ladies discussing at the beauty shop. Trying to follow her not so committed to memory bits and pieces of recipe recall about drove me coconuts.  “They said something about poking holes and coconut.”  Gee thanks, Mother.

cake-on-a-plateGoogle supplied the general outline, but a couple of ingredients adjustments and culinary interpretation fined tuned the overall taste.  My mother was so pleased with how my coconut poke cake turned out she asked me to make another one for the next meeting of our dinner gang. My idea for choosing The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert as our required read was no coincidence at all.

coconut-poke-cake

Coconut Poke Cake

Ingredients

1 box white cake mix

1 cup coconut milk

3 large eggs

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons good vanilla

1 can (15 oz) Coco Lopez cream of coconut

2  8 oz frozen Cool Whip Extra Creamy whipped topping, thawed

1 8 oz package shredded coconut

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Grease and flour the pan(s).  I like to use about 2 heaping tablespoons of the dry cake mix to flour my pan. You can use a rectangular pan, two round cake pans or a bundt pan.

Prepare cake mix substituting the coconut milk for the water and adding vanilla. Beat for 2-3 minutes on medium speed until all ingredients are well blended.

Pour cake batter into prepared cake pan(s). Bake according to package instructions. Remove cake from oven and while cake is still hot poke holes all over the top of the cake using a the handle of a wooden spoon.
Slowly pour the entire can of cream of coconut over the top of the cake. making sure the cream of coconut soaks into the holes.  Allow cake to cool completely. Generously frost top (and sides) with the extra creamy whipped topping and finish by topping the cake with the flaked coconut. Cover and keep refrigerated.

enjoy-hydrangea

A Most Fetching Friday: Grilled to Perfection Delicious Inspiration

Today’s Fetching Friday features grilled to perfection delicious inspiration for your outdoor living entertaining ideas pleasure.

fetch·ing

/ˈfeCHiNG/

adjective

adjective: fetching

attractive.

synonyms: attractive, appealing, sweet, pretty, good-looking, lovely, delightful, charming, prepossessing, captivating, enchanting, irresistible

salmon with creamed peas

Grilled Salmon with Dijon and Dill Creamed Pea Sauce

201208-HD-grilled-flatbreads-with-mushrooms-ricotta-and-herbs-201208-r-grilled-flatbreads-with-mushrooms-ricotta-and-herbs

Grilled Flatbreads with Mushrooms, Ricotta and Herbs

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Grilled Portofino Vegetable Antipasto

grilled-tandoori-chicken

Grilled Tandoori Chicken

grilled-shrimp-with-cranberry-salsa

 Grilled Shrimp with Fresh Cranberry Salsa

grilled-stone-fruit-almond-mascarpone-dip Grilled Stone Fruit with Almond Mascarpone Dip

enjoy-hydrangea

Summer’s Almost Here Happy Dance: Outdoor Living Entertaining

So many of us love the outdoor living entertaining time of year when the hot summer days and nights meet hot styles and cool looks.

Lucy on the phone

Our Canadian snowbird son will be moving to a new house in a couple of months which means he is dialing in for styling consultations, suggestions, and outdoor living entertaining tips.

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Curb and yard appeal primps and preps the outdoor living entertaining area for the season.

Outdoor living loyalists take their outdoor living seriously. How we utilize our outdoor living spaces is an interesting fact.

Outdoor Spaces by the Numbers

When it comes to outdoor living decorative accessories, I want comfortable, durable, lasting, and affordable style that stands up to the season.

Patio, porch, terrace, balcony, rooftop and deck accessories must pass the past one season test.

resort stripe outdoor fabric

Style is important, but if the big ticket items such as outdoor furniture and performance fabrics can’t withstand the elements or normal outdoor living wear and tear, what do you have? A repeatable, avoidable, and unnecessary expense.

Outdoor furniture and accessories made from treated wood, weather-resistant plastic, aluminum and wrought iron products are the preferred material choice in the get the most bang for your buck game.

Cambridge Casual Lowell 5-piece Teak Wood Patio Conversation Set

Cambridge Casual Lowell 5-piece Teak Wood Patio Conversation Set

SunGuard UV Protectant for garden decor comes with four star customer reviews.

sunguard-uv-protectant-2-pack-4 (1)

Outdoor living spaces share a design commonality with their interior living spaces counterpart- essential pops of robust color.

Seasonal keep it summer simple sensation eats and outdoor lovin’ decorative accessories presents a brilliant and bold opportunity to color your world.

decorative outdoor string lights

Fire pit tops the millennial homeowner’s gotta have it list for outdoor living function, comfort, and style.

According to a Casual Living Millennial Outdoor survey, Millennials consider the most integral outdoor living entertaining products to be the five-piece dining set, grill and chat set.

Rocksprings 30″ Wide LP Square Fire Table

Our son, a millennial homeowner, explains to us, his Southern fried and humidity steamed parents, why a fire pit will be in his outdoor living space future.

“Guys, it’s not Louisiana.  It’s Canada.  We use a fire pit year round.”

Well, that explains that.

 S’mores anyone?

smores

How about an artisan wood-fired pizza baked in a blue fish terracotta pizza oven?

Terracotta-pizza-oven-blue

Blue Fish Terracotta Pizza Oven

Don’t forget to apply sun protection with an SPF of Stylish Parasol Fun.

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wicker-planter

Place a bundle of these in a super cute decorative container or basket for sun and heat sensitive guests to use.

Other options include summer soiree parting favors or focal point decorations.

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Style Me Pretty

One of the best pieces of outdoor living entertaining advice I can give is to keep the theme, design, food and drink menu super summer simple!

keep-it-summer-simple

I’m convinced more and more the move toward the trend of taking purchased prepared foods to the next level via the presentation factor is a gift from the outdoor living entertaining powers that be and your local grocery store and farmers market.

farmer's-market-Mississippi

Eyes set the “seen” when it comes to food, and easy always makes the perfect party guest.

deli-sandwich

Add a splash of nostalgia to your outdoor living decor with vintage or vintage inspired accessories.

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Tattered Tiques

Gosh, this vintage style beverage dispenser evokes memories of summers spent in East Tennessee at my paternal grandparent’s house.

2-Gallon-Glass-Beverage-Dispenser-with-Glass-Clamp-Lid

Better Homes & Gardens 2 Gallon Glass Beverage Dispenser with Glass Clamp Lid

Granddaddy stocked the basement with a generous supply of original Coca-Cola (col cola as they called it) in the small glass bottles.

In fact, when the formula changed to new Coke he saved my brother and me a carton of the original Coke.

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1stdibs

Still have mine to this day, and wouldn’t take a million dollars for this priceless memento.

fireflies

Like a scene straight out of The Andy Griffith Show, we loved sitting out on the front steps sipping ice-cold original formula Coke (cold cola as my Tennessee family members say) watching the fireflies light up the summer night.

Everything’s better with Coke.

And summer.

And memories.

Love your style!

What’s On Hand Chilled Summer Salad

What’s on hand chilled summer salad answers the “Hey summer, what’s for dinner?”  question.

Most evenings our summer appetites lean toward lighter fare as the temps of those hot summer mornings, afternoons, and nights have a way of slowing down the pace as well as the need for heavy dishes.

tuna-tomato-summer-salad

Who needs or wants to be in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove when there’s a lot of patio sitting, summer sippin’ and outdoor living to do.

 “The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”

Bertrand Russell

summer-salad-season-chilled

To the cupboard and fridge we go for ingredients to make a what’s on hand chilled summer salad.

strawberries-peaches-summer-tomatoes-cucumbers-salad

Baby field greens topped with tuna serve as the flavor foundation.

Leftover crispy fried bacon from breakfast makes the cut.  I spotted a cucumber in the crisper to go with the garden tomatoes and red onion slices.

Take a nice avocado, peel, scoop out the meat into a bowl and mash it with a fork. To this add a heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise and a generous squeeze of fresh lemon.

avocado-spread-salad (2)

Lemon wakes up the flavors with a c’est si bon all its own.

Feta cheese crumbles bring more flavor into the mix.

Fresh sliced strawberries and fresh chopped Louisiana peaches drizzled with honey round out the melange.

Position the Feta, fruit and red onion slices on the sides of the salad plates so the diners can incorporate the flavors as desired.

Now for what I consider the ultimate dressing discovery of the summer  salad season.

There’s buttermilk ranch dressing and then there’s basil buttermilk ranch dressing. This dressed up take on Hidden Valley buttermilk ranch dressing is the new house dressing at Places In The Home.

Fresh basil and lemon juice produce a bright flavor pairing- a combination perfect for summer.

Tangy (that’s buttermilk!) meets fresh meets zing meets damn, that’s good!

Basil Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Ingredients

¾ cup mayonnaise (I used Duke’s in this recipe)

½ cup buttermilk

1 packet Original Hidden Valley Ranch Buttermilk Recipe

¼ teaspoon fine black pepper

2 tablespoons basil, finely chopped

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions

Combine all ingredients together.  Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour before using, allowing flavors to marry.

Hey summer, what’s for dinner?  Think summer salads.

enjoy

Summer Entertaining Season Tips

Memorial Day ushers in the summer entertaining season.

That’s ninety some odd summer days and nights brimming with opportunity to gather together with family and friends.

Here’s five summer entertaining season tips to help you master the art of summer entertaining.

summer entertaining season

Regardless of the numbers involved, the ultimate party favor you can give  your guests is an enjoyable and relaxing time.

The Summer Entertaining SeasonPinterest

Endless hours of planning and preparing does not a successful party guarantee, however, what does come very close to guaranteeing a successful party is setting an at ease example.

Guests usually take the party lead from the attitude of the host and/or hostess which sets the tone for a comfortable let the good times roll atmosphere.

summer entertaining tips

Popular points of culinary and entertaining interest set an inviting place at the summer table.

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Photo by Luis Monse on Unsplash

Taking a tablescape in a casually elegant direction requires putting a bit of considerable thought into the process.

summer-tablescape-pink-roses-Southern-Lady-Magazine

Southern Lady Magazine

Achieving an anything but uptight, stuffy finished result reflected in the right accents, lighting, selected place settings, serveware, and flowers reads effortless chic.

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Southern Lady Magazine

Visually impressive table settings need not be an expensive or exhausting endeavor.

summer-entertaining-season-tip

watermelon slices

Kick off the summer sippin’ season with the unofficial official fruit of summer, the watermelon.

watermelon lemonade slushies

Watermelon Lemonade Slushies anyone?  Click on the link for the recipe from Life in the Lofthouse.

Watermelon Punch looks summer yummy too!

Click on the video for instructions.

Dazzle the thirsty through sight and taste.

Nothing says welcome to our summer soiree quite like a cool summer appropriate beverage.

summer entertaining season tip

Summer just isn’t summer until something is basted, rubbed, marinated or smothered in a stellar Southern BBQ sauce or rub.

Kamado Joe Classic III 18-Inch Ceramic Kamado Grill

In Louisiana we don’t need an excuse to jazz it up, fire it up, and kick it up, but if we did, summer would be all the excuse needed.

Good barbecue is what we call summer stock.

bbq-sauces-rubs-spices

We’re not  afraid to turn up the heat, spice or seasoning, but when entertaining we dial back the kick to a respectable c’est si bon level to accommodate the taste bud timid.

Good cooks and even better hosts know a little goes a long way in the flavor department and account for all tastes considered.

summer entertaining season tip

Entertaining mirrors interior design and decorating in regards to balance.

he-beach-boys-greatest-hits

When selecting the music for the party playlist aim to keep the types, styles, genres, and decades balanced somewhere between current hits, grooving to the oldies, what movie is this from, smooth and easy jazz, lounge lizard standards, and the soundtrack to high school and college days gone by.

nautical-style-bar-cart-photo-Matt-Albiani

House Beautiful – Photography by Matt Albiani

Balance the bar to the standard rule of party planning with help from the handy calculator from Total Wine & More.

Balance summer fun with summer safety, and as always, drink and host responsibly.

Darleen-signature-love

Do Drop In: Entertaining With Ease

Several of our family members are taking to the holiday road, and our house is do drop in central.

I know I have a much better entertaining experience if I access and assign a theme, go with the entertaining with ease flow, and keep the focus on comfortable surroundings, inviting touches and relaxing times.

Texas_bluebonnet_plant_lupinus_texensis_with_dark_blue_flowers_with_white_topTexas Bluebonnet

Texas times and family memories will be a hot topic of conversation.

Our company’s travels begin in Texas Bluebonnet country, and with Texas being the common denominator of our family tree, I played it up in theme and setting.

Farmhouse chic makes an effortless foundation to build your theme upon.

carnations2

A simple arrangement of carnations mixed with greenery and placed beside an even simpler arrangement of apples and bananas in a milk glass center bowl provides a nice centerpiece in a farmhouse chic kind of way.

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Fresh flowers from the floral department of the local grocery store are my weakness, and when the word clearance enters into the picture my shopping cart runneth over.

You really get your money’s worth with carnations.

Carnations can last for weeks with an every other day water change and a quick stem trim.

I use tepid water, scale back leaves from the stems to prevent contact with the water, and place a couple of drops of food coloring in the water.

pink-carnations

From recipes to table setting decor, I like to source from within meaning I like to use what I have on hand.

A great home decor clearance sale and dollar store items purchased in bulk can provide all the entertaining with ease elements needed for a well designed themed tablescape.

entertaining-with-ease

kitsch

art, objects, or design considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way.

rooster-dish-towel

Into each case of design and decorating a little if kitchen kitsch is wrong, I don’t want to be right will fall.

The method to my madness lies deeply rooted in the from which I came from principle.

I picked up several sets of rooster dish towels at the local dollar store back during the holidays knowing full well they would come in handy.

Paired with copper napkin rings I found on clearance at Dillard’s a couple of years ago, the dish towels made great dinner napkins.

copper-napkin-rings

The Places In The Home gang comes from a long line of hen on nest dish collectors.

The women of our family felt no respectable kitchen and/or breakfast room decor complete without the addition of at least one hen on nest dish.

hen-on-nest-dish

Ruby Lane

Good visits begin with good hosting and good hosting begins with a stress free host or hostess.  Entertaining is supposed to be a fun for guests and hosts alike, isn’t it?

On the menu front I aim to please.

Round our dinner table, quality rules over quantity which lines up perfectly with easy menu planning.

As long as the iced tea is sweet and I keep the serving sizes in just a bite territory it is all good and tasty.

The culinary rule of KISS (keep it salad simple) always applies.

sideboard-partners

I set up a salad buffet for first course serve yourself ease.

Individual Mason jar salads layered with shredded iceberg lettuce, fresh tomato, chopped ham, green onion, Feta cheese crumbles, homemade buttermilk dressing and a dash of kosher salt and fine black pepper were a hit with the just a bite crowd.

salad

Biscuit BLTs with Peach Mayonnaise bring back memories of summers spent in Texas at my great-grandmother’s house.

Traditions tastes so good!

biscuit-bacon-lettuce-tomato-sandwich1

Entertaining goes hand in hand with spring and summer, and entertaining with ease goes hand in hand with y’all come back now, ya hear!

Love your style!