Our town does a great job of hosting fun events throughout the year (Dancin’ on the Ave, Founder’s Day Parade, Farmer’s Markets, trick-or-treating, etc.), and the spring season really kicks off some fun festivities. First on the list? Spring Wine Walk!
Events like this are perfect, because J and I can host for an hour or two on the front end, everyone walks downtown and then can finish the night with some pizza (the perks of living around the corner from Pizza My Heart!) back at our house.
Like all things in life practice makes perfect, and while my entertaining is FAR from perfect, I’m finally getting the hang of putting together a menu that can be created in a couple hours and required minimal set-up/clean-up. Here was our menu:
Spring Wine Walk
- Cucumber Wheels with Hummus & Cherry Tomato (GF/DF)
- Blackberry and Brie Crisps (GF)
- Cantaloupe & Mozzarella Salad with Prosciutto & Basil (GF)
- Grilled Artisan Sausage with English Beer Mustard (GF/DF)
- Mini Chinese Chicken Salads (GF/DF)
- Ham and Cheese Puffs
- Fruit Skewers (GF/DF)
To Do List
Night Before
- Prep cabbage for salad
- Make salad dressing
- Make fruit skewers
Morning Of
- Make cantaloupe salad (2 1/2 hours before) – refrigerate until ready to serve
- Make cucumber wheels (2 hours before) – refrigerate until ready to serve
- Make brie bites (1.5 hours before) – refrigerate until ready to serve
- Take out sausages (1 hours before) – don’t cook yet
- Make ham & cheese puffs (1 hour before) – don’t bake yet
- Toss salad and serve in individual cups (20 minutes before)
- Put ham & cheese puffs into oven (15 minutes before)
- Grill sausages (10 minutes before)
- Put refrigerated items out
- Have hot food ready (and warm) when guests arrive
- Party on!
The event downtown was from 2-6pm, so I just wanted to do some appetizers to tide everyone over for the afternoon (our party started at 1pm). Because I hate cold appetizers (that are supposed to be hot), I tried to have a lot of options that were cold, and then have a handful of warm appetizers I could prepare closer to the party time. The ratio make prep work so much easier and I will definitely be re-creating this menu for another event soon… definitely recommend giving it a try for any of your summer parties!
