Monday, July 11, 2016

Scenes from my week off: our 3rd of July BBQ

Happy Monday! I'm back from my relaxing staycation slash lake vacation! I had a great week off but it ended on a crappy note as my car stopped working about 20 minutes into my 3 hour drive back yesterday, and was completely undriveable so I had to have it towed. I'm pretty sure the problem is with the transmission so I think I will likely be buying a new car this week.  Womp womp.

But let's focus on the positive, because aside from the crappy car experience, the week was awesome. I thought I'd share some photos from my week off, starting with photos from the BBQ we hosted on July 3rd.

We had a good mix of people at our BBQ as there were some of my book club friends and some of Phil's high school friends, a college friend, and his friend from work. We had 13 people total, which was more than we were anticipating when we planned it as so many people tend to leave Minneapolis on holiday weekends to go to lake cabins (as was the case with my college friends!). Even though some people had never met before, everyone socialized well and had a good time.

First off, this is what party planning looks like when you are super anal like I am. I got this from my mom, although I will say she doesn't use an excel spreadsheet to plan out her grocery shopping like I do.  ;)

Alllll the lists keep me organized and feeling in control!


The appetizer and drinks table. I made corn & bean salsa and a white wine sangria that was finished off with prosecco. We also had beer, white wine, some liquor for mixed drinks, and sodas.
No one went home hungry! Besides the salsa we served as an ap, we made burgers, brats, potato salad, carmelitas (I highly recommend these bars and they still tasted great with the substitution of GF flour), and we sliced some watermelon. Our guests each brought a dish to share so there was a TON of food!
Our spread, minus the burgers that were still on the grill when this photo was taken!
Oh and I have to mention that we included a food waste receptacle so we could compost any food waste. Phil says I am the composting queen as I am sooo into composting as much as we can!


The 4th of July was more low key for us as we were pretty tired out from hosting. Phil used the leftover salsa and a brat to jazz up the eggs and hash browns he made for breakfast.




Phil golfed on the 4th, I did laundry and did some organizing around the house, and then we got together that evening with friends to play cards, which was a fun way to end the long holiday weekend!

Do you enjoy hosting people for parties? Are you a super anal party planner like I am or do you tend to go with the flow?

14 comments:

Charbelle said...

All that food looks AMAZING!!! I'm super impressed by your list and by the trash/recycle/compost, I wish that every part I went to would have that. 7 times out of 10 I'm searching for a trash can. I thought about you and the party and I'm glad it was a huge success!!! The eggs with brat and salsa look fantastic!!! I'm so sorry about your car, I know that was super stressful!!!

Marlys said...

Wow, you did a great job of entertaining! Food looks awesome and so does Phil's breakfast! I love your excel spreadsheet - Hmmm? Maybe I will switch to that instead of hand written lists!

missris said...

Hooray for recycling and composting! :)

Carolina John said...

That looks like quite a spread! Well done. I love hosting, but don't plan anything ahead of time. It always seems to work out in the end. Kelley does not enjoy hosting, probably because she stresses about the planning part way too much. ha!

Glad you had such a fun holiday. It was incredibly hot in NC, made me wish I was back in MN!

Stephany said...

Oh gosh, I hate hosting parties. Hate it, hate it. I get way too stressed out and anxious.

I have to say, I love your spreadsheet! That's amazing. :)

Jeanie said...

Oh Wow! I'm glad to see you back and boy, is this ever fun (apart from the car, which isn't fun at all!). The party sounds fun and well done. Good for you composting it. And I understand your planning. I'm much the same when it comes to a party -- and I swear, that's why they go well!

katielookingforward said...

I love hosting but I don't go to the excel level, I probably would if I were cooking from scratch, but I tend to buy the easy staples.

Linda said...

I wish I was as good as you at planning! I love hosting and used to do it often and loved small touches but my lists and written planning is nothing compared to you!

Gracie said...

I love to host! I just wish our house was better for it - like, two bathrooms and a light in the backyard for when my late parties end up outdoors.

Amber said...

I really want to start composting. Especially after Whole30, I threw SO MUCH food waste into the garbage and it felt terrible and so wasteful! I need to look into composting asap.

I don't think I have ever hosted a group that big but we have hosted a few different times. Normally it's family and we have hosted both Thanksgiving and Christmas at our house before, but always with 6 people (us included) or less. Normally when we host friends it's just one couple over for dinner. You rocked the party planning though, so impressed with your list making skills!

San said...

That BBQ (and your planning skills!) look awesome. Wish I would have attended a BBQ over 4th of July weekend.

I am sorry to hear about your car. Car troubles suck Do you rely on it for commuting now?

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

Ha we had a 4th of July party. I feel like the longer I am married to my husband (who is fly by his seats) I become more lax. If he's not carrying about usually HIS parties, why do I? Probably not the best perspective but it has lent to less stress. For our party we smoked meat and then people brought sides. It was fun. The kids all ended up in the pool and the adults had fun drinking and eating.

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

What a fun BBQ party!! I love how organized you are, and how well planned you were for the party. As you know, I love hosting parties and other events, and yep, I am a planner. I like to have every single detail thought of, planned for, and taken care of.

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

Oh my, you ARE serious about your spreadsheeting! I'm not likely to do that, although I will write a list out for packing, parties, grocery shopping, but I still appreciate that people do go to such lengths of organization and prep.