With summer just around the corner, families are already planning their big events for the season, whether it’s a cookout with friends, a family reunion or a 4th of July celebration. Rather than spending your whole day cooking, consider having a catering company do the work while you relax and enjoy your time with family and friends. You’ll feel less stressed, get to spend quality time with your guests and the catering company will even take care of the food cleanup for all of their equipment and dishes.
If you do decide to hire a catering company for your summer event, planning out your menu can get a bit tricky. There are a lot of things to consider, including what the weather will be like, how much space you have, how many people you’ll be serving and whether those people will have space to seat and eat.
Dishes for Hot Days
Let’s say you are expecting very warm weather for your event – it is summer, after all. There’s no rule that you can’t have hot foods even though the weather it warm. Some of our favorite summer treats are hot dishes, whether it’s BBQ chicken, hot dogs or burgers. Plus, these are all dishes that will be simple for your catering company to prepare and serve.
However, you should also think about having something cool to go with your hot meal. Make sure there are plenty of drinks, especially water and lemonade, to keep you guests hydrated. Then, add on cool side dishes like coleslaw and maybe even some ice cream or strawberry shortcake for dessert. These will balance out your hot dishes so that guests don’t feel too warm or too full after eating.
To Sit or Stand?
Sometimes you just don’t have the space for everyone to be able to sit and eat at a table. For example, it may be hard to find room for all of your relatives if you’re having a big family reunion this summer. That’s okay, because there are plenty of options which you can have your catering company serve even though some people may be standing as they eat.
First, consider doing a lot of small servings throughout the day rather than one big meal. That way, even if you only have a few tables, people can eat when it’s convenient and the staggering of eating throughout the day will allow more people to get a chance to sit when they need to. Some options for this are a fresh summer salad with plenty of colorful fruits, bruschetta with a tomato and garlic topping and fresh veggies with dip. You can also serve items like hot dogs, ice cream cones, and other food items which can easily be eaten while standing.
