Festive, Colourful Kitchen Tables!

With the dog days of summer upon us, it’s time to entertain with great friends, good food and drinks! What is needed, is a table setting that is easily decorated with bright, colourful and cheerful patterns, serve ware and decorations!  This season’s trends have brought back festive bright colors to ensure your summer table will be vibrant and inviting! So grab a cocktail, lemonade or an iced tea and let’s begin! I look forward to summer entertaining with friends! It gives me the opportunity to be more creative with colourful kitchen table décor than it would normally at the dining room table. Sometimes the dining room is too stodgy, usually means winter and the holidays are upon us! Yikes! Need a sip of my cocktail for that one! I digress… These rich, hot summer colours will make sure your meal shines like the summer sun and make you the hit of the party! Go Bright with Geometric Patterns to Adorn Your Table Fun Fact: bright colors elicit positive emotion over 80% more than monochromatic colors. Use a Picnic Table to be Your Canvas Gearing up for impromptu gatherings, slap a fresh coat of paint on that old picnic table.  Show your inner artist by using white paint which is fresh, cool, new and will make your serve ware POP with color! To make this setting cost effective, use different pieces of material and designs cut into squares to make fun napkins.  Purchase plates and cups of different colors  to make the table fun and pop off the white, reflective canvas you've made.  For the wine drinkers, use these fun and festive stemless multi-colored wine glasses.  An extra splash of color can be made by having the kids dip their hands in bright paint.  Dip your dog's paw in bright paint and dab the bench.  Voila, family fun on top of it all. Keep Summer Sizzling with an International Flare No reason needed to spark up a Mexican dinner soiree. Mexican food is festive, with a multitude of great food that is bright in colour and will lend itself as part of your table decorations. A sarape has vivid, rich, festive colours and is easily made into a table runner.  Paint a square board in one of your favourite colours and use it as a serving tray for your favorite Mexican condiments. Throw in a sombrero, maracas (shakers), baskets, colourful drinks, and Voilà, you have a fun summer party! Last but not least, you will need some festive drinks to serve your guests.   Need some recipe creativity? Tables are set, decorations are hung and menu is planned.  What about drinks, you ask?  I  have rounded up a couple of our favorite drink recipes that will delight your guests and keep them coming back for more! The White, Strawberry-Lemon Sangria you won't forget. INGREDIENTS: 1 lemon, thinly sliced 1/2 orange, thinly sliced 1 apple, cored and sliced (any kind) 1 cup strawberries, hulled and sliced lengthwise (or raspberries) 1 (750 ml) bottle white wine (a dry white wine is best – I like Sauvignon Blanc 1/2 cup light rum 4 cups lemon-lime soda DIRECTIONS: First, you'll add your lemon slices and orange slices to a large pitcher for decorating colourful tables, then the apples and strawberries.  Next, add your magic elixir of wine and rum over the top. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 4 – 5 hours.  We like to let ours marinade overnight, if you know what I mean! Remove from refrigerator and add the lemon lime soda. Add a few pieces of the fruit to your glass and pour sangria over to serve. Garnish with mint leaves. Enjoy! Leftovers keep for a day or so, but you likely won’t have any! ???? Recipe modified from KitchenTreaty.com More Inspiration...  Margarita ala Brian My next favorite cocktail is the Margarita! There are so many different types of margaritas, mango, prickly pear, guava and many more.  My favorite is the classic margarita so, grab some chips and salsa, a margarita glass and sit back and relax! After all, it’s 5:00 somewhere! INGREDIENTS: Margarita glass or a low ball glass, however, I prefer the margarita glass as it is more festive. Kosher salt (for the rim of the glass) Ice cubes 2 oz. tequila (I prefer blanco) 1 and 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice 1/2 oz. simple syrup 1/2 oz. Triple Sec If you don’t have simple syrup or lime juice you can find really good margy mix (as my husband calls it) from your local liquor store. Rim a margarita glass with salt using an affordable tool the pros use .  For only $9.99 CA, you get a 3-tier salt, lime and sugar glass rimmer.  I have also found if you take a lime and run it around the edges of the glass, it gives the salt a little more zing and tends to stick to the glass better. Put two big handfuls of ice cubes into a cocktail shaker. Add remaining ingredients. Shake for a good 10 seconds.  Fill margarita glass half full of ice cubes. Pour contents of shaker over top.  Garnish with lime. OPTIONAL:  Want to add a little kick, make it a Cadillac Margarita by floating it with a shot of Grand Marnier! CHEERS! For those that prefer to have their wits about them or for the kiddies, here is a favorite (non-alcoholic) lemonade recipe. Best Lemonade Ever INGREDIENTS: 1-3/4 cups white sugar 8 cups water 1-1/2 cups fresh lemon juice  (you will need about 9-10 avg. sized lemons to make 1-1/2 cups of lemon juice) DIRECTIONS: In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup water. Bring water to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar (now, simple sugar). Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until chilled.  Next, squeeze enough lemons to make 1-1/2 cups of fresh lemon juice.  Squeeze using a juicer, or a hand held juicer.  Remove seeds from lemon juice, but leave pulp. In pitcher, stir together chilled syrup, lemon juice and remaining 7 cups water.  Chill in refrigerator to desired temperature.  Pour into mason jars and garnish with mint.  ENJOY! Thank you AllRecipes.com for the fantastic lemonade recipe.