Before I show you all the pictures of my daughters graduation party I wanted to share with you some of the delicious meals we had out in the backyard while many family members visited us here for Emily’s graduation. We had 13 guests come for the graduation and we had a ball!! It was like a gigantic sleepover…. everyone slept at our house for the whole week. Sleeping bags, blow up mattresses, sofas all had someone sleeping on them. We cooked most meals at the house as well.
This was our salad night
We made a delicious bow-tie pasta salad with grapes and chicken that my daughter Madeline had found a few years ago on the Cooking light website.
A beautiful fruit salad with cantelope, strawberries, raspberries bananas and apples.
Madeline cut some flowers from my garden and stuck them into a watering can I had outside my back door and voila!! Instant centerpiece.
We also made the amazing panzenalla salad from Ina Garten’s parties cookbook. We cut up some watermelon and served yummy bread. Notice the small white cups..Madeline cut some rosemary from my garden and placed it in the cups and it just added to the table and the smell is incredible! She got the idea from Matthew Meads book Entertaining Simple. He teaches how to make good use of things that you may already have and using them for different things.
We even tried to make it festive for the all the little boys by using my colorful plastic dishes and setting them on the footstool for their dining pleasures.
The mosquitoes started to come out and my mom had heard that if you use dryer sheets and rub them on your skin it will protect you from them.
We decided to wear them on our heads too! Ha ha…it did work! Then we played a great card game called Nertz!! We just laughed and laughed and had such a great time.
Simple and yet beautiful fun ideas for dining in your backyard.
Karins KottageWelcome to Karins Kottage! There is always something fun going on! You would think after becoming an empty nester couple that our nest would be very quiet and empty but our Kottage nest is usually more full than what we started out with!
You might find me hosting a birthday party or graduation party and a baby shower on the same weekend or a big outdoor get together with 25 of our friends and family in the backyard or maybe I might be in the kitchen trying out a new recipe for my hubby and I to grill on the BBQ for a quiet night for the two of us. I am passionate about entertaining and setting a beautiful table! I may or may not have an addiction to cloth napkins and fun salad plates oh and goblets too!
I think I will always have a home decorating DIY project in the works as long as my hubby is on board with me haha. We have painted A LOT in the 6 homes we have owned in the 35 years that we have been married as well as re-done multiple pieces of furniture, added wall and ceiling treatments, replaced lights, bathroom fixtures and even tiled floors! I have sewn what seems like a million window treatments for our home as well as for family, made slipcovers, and duvets and even a formal dress or two!
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Oh yeah food is calling me! Yep I use the dryer sheets also...good thing to blog about...Congrats to the Grad!
What a wonderful post!! When food and family are combined, it creates a good time and beautiful memories. Loved this!
XX 00
Wow, your table setting looks great! I would love to have a big party and sleepover like that.
~Liz
What an adorable "setting" and the food looks delish! What a special celebration!
Congratulations to your daughter! How fun that you had so much family come to help celebrate. What a lovely dinner. I love pasta salads in the Summer.
Have a super weekend!
XOXO
Jen
What a fun family gathering! All the food looks wonderful and what wonderful memories made here for all of you!
Looks like a blast and all the food looks delicious!
I've heard of that "dryer sheet" solution to pesky mosquitos. Glad to hear it works....it's so sad not to be able to get in the yard because of buzzing and biting nuisances. :)
Happy Weekend Ya'll!
Looks like so much fun and the food looks yummy!