Summer Fresh
“Summer, summer, summertime…time to sit back and unwind.”
To celebrate the long holiday weekend a friend invited me over for some backyard grilling and dining. I was put in charge of setting the table and making the drinks. I was thrilled with my assignments and made plans to go all out, including coming up with a theme – Summer Fresh.
Anchored by the color yellow, Summer Fresh brings together the 3 S’s: soulful, southern, and sophisticated. Bringing this theme to life was fun to do and came together better than I envisioned.
The Tablescape
The ‘before’ picture shows how easy to is to elevate a space with just few coordinated pieces. It doesn’t have to be fancy to be beautiful.
The Food
Succotash is the quintessential summer fresh dish made with straight-from-the-garden ingredients. Our version was a variation on this recipe. Since I hate lima beans and okra, I substituted with edamame and zucchini.
Bacon-wrapped beef ribs
Grilled lettuce wedges
Succotash
Watermelon & Prosciutto for dessert
The Drink
What’s more Southern than sitting on the porch, sipping a tall glass of ice cold lemonade? This Lemon & Cucumber Lemonade Vodka Cocktail was the perfect summer fresh drink. I took a shortcut and used store bought lemonade (freshly squeezed) and sweetened it with thyme-infused simple syrup. It was soooo good!
Bon Appétit,
Traci
