Summer entertaining should be easy entertaining. When the weather is warm, the days are long, and the drinks are cold, there’s no reason to spend a lot of time fussing over complicated cocktails and elaborate spreads. You need an easy go-to, a crowd pleaser that you know both you and your guests will enjoy time and time again.
A QUICK AND DELICIOUS COCKTAIL
You need to have one cocktail in your repertoire – using ingredients that you’ll always have on hand – that elevates you just a bit above the classic liquor + tonic or soda combination. Then, once you have that cocktail down pat, you dress it up, garnish it, and make it look like you’re the queen of gorgeous entertaining.
So, what’s in my quick and easy cocktail this summer? Vodka, Sparkling Ice, and a little bit of soda. It’s a vodka soda that packs a punch with flavor and it’s low calorie, which we all went during the summer. Sparkling Ice is a water that has natural flavors, vitamins, antioxidants, and zero sugar – perfect for adding to a vodka soda. This summer, they’ve even released a Mystery Fruit flavor, which is kind of like a throwback to those mystery flavor candies of our youth. And who doesn’t love a throwback in the summer?
DRESS IT ALL UP
The key to serving a super easy cocktail for a night of summer entertaining? Dress it up! Use your best glasses – or at least your cutest pool-friendly cups, add some fun straws, a colorful table runner, and whatever fruit you have on hand for a garnish. All of a sudden, it looks like you spent the afternoon planning out this spread, when all you actually did was pull out things you already on hand.
What are some of your best easy summer entertaining tips? I’d love to hear how you maximize time and minimize effort when you’re trying to enjoy the company of your friends and family rather than spend hours in the kitchen!
This post is sponsored by Sparkling ICE but the content and opinions expressed here are my own. Thank you to all the brands that make www.heatherbien.com possible!