CHEERS TO A GREAT SUMMER-A LOOK AT THE FUN CITRUS PARTY

Ok, where on earth did summer go?  When I first planned this party (back in the middle of June) my thoughts and focus were on “squeezing” every bit of fun and delight of every summer day.  As summer begins to wind down I can honestly say I did a fabulous job of “squeezing” in every possible moment and I can’t believe it’s Labor Day weekend and I’m finally getting around to posting about this amazingly fun party I held over two months ago.  Apparently I was really having too much fun playing and not too worried about tech time.

I do want to add here that for the most part the reason I share my party ideas here are for two reasons; first to share inspiration (for free) and the second is for myself so I can easily go back and see what I served and how I decorated for a certain party.  I’ve also began loading my pictures right after and sending them to either persnickety prints or shutter fly and made into 8 x 8 books so my daughter and granddaughters can carry on the tradition if they choose to one day.

But enough carrying on, I know you’re here to see and hopefully be inspired to throw your own CITRUS THEME party some summer.

This idea popped into my head when I began seeing the phrase “squeeze the day” all over the place. What a fun and delightful thought and what better way to “squeeze the day” than to have summer tea party, right?

(this was the banner I hung on the back fence for the party)

I actually thought of this at the end of May and began collecting citrus themed party items. I was beyond excited when I spotted citrus plates at HomeGoods, this was when I truly knew the party was meant to be.

I decorated my indoor dining table a few weeks before the actual party just to get me in the mood . . .

Doesn’t it bring an instant smile to your face?

Then I created some invites and began prepping for the fun evening.

Since we were celebrating outdoors (of course) I used three different tables but they all had citrus plates, fun centerpieces which carried on the theme. I simply created a cites saying, stuck them in a fun summer frame and embellished with some felt. (remember when you have a theme, it’s quite easy to find little items here and there even when you’re not even looking).

Guests were greeted at their table setting with a fun citrus notebook tied up with citrus measuring spoons (this was their party favor as well).

The theme itself was enough to spark lots of laughter and smiles but the amazing food and treats certainly helped as well.

We started off with an appetizer of Lemon Pizza from pizzeria lemona

I provided the main course, which was:

Orzo and spring mix salad with lemon vinaigrette dressing

2 cups orzo pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pint grape tomatoes (halved)

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/3 cup pitted and sliced kalamata olives

1/3 cup fresh mint leaves

spring salad mix

DRESSING

1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. dijon mustard

1/4 tsp. sea salt

3 tablespoons olive oil 

salt and pepper to taste

Watermelon salad

Baked Lemon chicken

3 whole chicken breasts, skinned and halved

1-1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup butter

2 Tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Wash and dry chicken breasts.  Pound then flat with a mallet,  Melt the butter and oil in a large skillet.  Put the flour in a plastic bag and drop the breasts in to coat.  Regulate heat to moderately high, and put the chicken breasts in the skillet.  Cook apporix. 3 minutes on each side.  When done, salt and pepper them and put them in an oven proof dish and into a 250 degree oven to keep warm while you make the sauce.

SAUCE

Add 4 tablespoon butter to chiclet skillet and melt, remove from heat and add 4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley and the juice of 1 lemon and the zest.  Pour hot sauce over chicken and serve.

And the guests each brought a citrus treat to share . . . oh my goodness!!!

 

It was one fun filled evening, but then again, anytime spent with delightful friends is a fun filled evening.

I most definitely had a wonderful summer and you know, I didn’t go anywhere spectacular but everyday was spent with either friends or family just doing simple fun filled activities and that’s some of the best ways to “SQUEEZE” the day.