Parties. They're not just for weekends anymore!

Weeknight Party!

Some of my favorite get-togethers are weeknight parties.  They spark creativity, have a more relaxed feel and make the week go by faster.  Who doesn't love that?

The key to a weeknight party is to keep it as simple as possible.  Everyone's tired after work or looking after the kids all day, and they have to do it again the next day, so don't make the party more work.  Last night I had a casual get together for seven funny, fun, girlfriends. 

We decided ahead of time to have a salad bar potluck; fast, easy and no cooking!  Also, everyone's covered.  Gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, fat free, low fat; you name it.  And we had at least one of each of those last night. 

Salad bars offer plenty of variety.  Last night's buffet included various types of lettuce, corn, black beans, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, blue cheese, gorgonzola cheese, walnuts, croutons, broccoli, tofu, beets, sugar snap peas, 4 types of salad dressing, hummus, chips, macaroni salad, rice salad...I'm sure there's even more I'm not thinking of. 

There was wine, sparkling water, iced tea and I also made my favorite red wine sangria.  This is the sangria that many people ask me to bring to their parties.  Delicious and refreshing.  It's so delicious, in fact, that I've decided to share this recipe with all of you...Scroll down for recipe.  You're welcome!   

The first girls arrived around 5:30 and the others trickled in shortly after.  As expected, we ate (a lot!), talked, told ghost stories, even played a game that one of my friends invented.  Eight grown women re-enacting versions of parties we used to have when we were about 13 years old (minus the alcohol, of course). The only thing that could have made the night better is if one of us would have remembered that yesterday was National Talk Like a Pirate Day!

 

The last group of girls left around 11:30.  So much fun, so little time!  See you next month, girls!
 

Happy homemaking!

Crescent LoMonaco

The Coastal Homemaker

Red Wine Sangria a la Coastal Homemaker!

1 bottle red wine

1/3 cup citrus vodka

1/3 cup triple sec

1/3 cup brandy

1/4 cup sugar

splash of grenadine

1 bottle lemon-lime soda

lots of cut up fruit.  options may include, pineapple, peaches, apples, grapes, lemon, lime, orange, blueberries, strawberries.

Add all liquor, sugar and grenadine together in a 3 liter pitcher.  Stir well to dissolve sugar.  Add fruit, squeezing some of the citrus juice from the fruit into the mixture.  Chill for two hours.  One hour before party, add the chilled soda and stir.  Serve chilled and make sure each glass gets some of the yummy fruit.