Entertaining guests outdoors during the summer months presents certain challenges, like how to keep guest cool and refreshed. These simple outdoor dinner party tips will give you ideas on how to keep refreshments, décor and party mood light and cool from start to finish using lemons.
Keep Party Guests Cool With Chilled Lemon Water
Chilled lemon water will provide party guests with a cooling thirst quencher, but don’t serve the lemon water in a pitcher, dress it up a bit. Use a glass carafe or unusual shaped glass vase to hold the lemon water and it will become a focal point of the summer party.
Fill carafe or vase with water and lemon slice, then chill for at least one hour prior to guest’s arrival. Freeze several lemon slices to ad to the lemon water to keep the beverage cold. Place lemon slices in a single layer on a cookie sheet and pop into freezer until frozen. Then place frozen lemon slices into Ziploc freezer bag and store in freezer until needed.
Lemony Table Center Piece and Place ‘Cards’
Since it’s a summer outdoor party, keep the table center piece light. Better yet, make the centerpiece light and functional by mixing flowers and fresh fruits. Use a vase or bowl that has a low profile and is large enough to accommodate several flowers and fruits.
Use minimal amount of water in the bottom of the vase or bowl and arrange summer flowers (picked from your flower garden if possible) so that the flowers just stand above the rim of the vase. Tuck in a few clusters of grapes so they spill out over the edges for easy guest access and top with a few whole lemons for a pop of yellow color and to be eaten by guests if desired.
Lemons make a wonderful place ‘card’, just write the name of a guest on a lemon and set them atop plates. The guests can juice their lemons on fresh salads, fish or other party food during the evening.
Cooling Lemon Roll-Ups that Repel Mosquitoes
Make your own cooling lemon roll-ups to take the edge off the summer heat for party guests. Squeeze a lemon into a bowl of ice water, soak white wash cloths (one per party guest) in the ice water for a few minutes, then wring out excess water. Roll each wash cloth neatly, place on a tray and top with a lemon slice. Place tray of lemon roll-ups in refrigerator until ready to ‘serve’.
The cooling lemon roll-ups will help beat summer time heat and fresh lemon juice contains limonene, a compound that is a natural mosquito repellant.
