Hot Weather Entertaining

Happy Friday, Everyone!


We're very excited this weekend because we are going to be entertaining our first Kitimat house-guests!  When you live this far away from home and off the beaten path, visitors are a major cause for excitement!  And of course, I embrace any opportunity to release my inner Martha.  And so, I spent a lot of time last week perusing my cookbooks and browsing the blogs, looking for just the perfect menu items.


Naturally, I wanted to bake.  I've been working on a number of coffee cakes lately, and, with images of leisurely coffees on the patio, I'd planned to make a few.  In particular, I'd wanted to try this delectable sounding Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake with Blueberries which I discovered on My Sweet and Savory. Also, Mommy Topics.com featured these delightful American Pie Cupcakes; these are seriously cute, and I could just picture serving them up for dessert.  I found another gorgeous dessert or coffee break idea  at Purple Chocolat Home; Strawberry Shortcake Cookies.  Wonderful!  My guests would be well fed, and I would get to try out some fabulous new recipes.  I started making my shopping list.


Well, thankfully, I didn't go shopping right away.  There isn't going to be much baking going on in this house, and believe me, my guests will be happier for it.  A hot spell has moved in and the air is stifling.  It's 28 inside the house and there's just NO WAY the oven is going on.  (I realize that those of you who live in warmer places than Northwestern BC may be wondering what all the fuss is about, but trust me, this is hot for us.  I 'm a delicate Northern flower and I don't do heat well.)

It's actually quite funny when you think of it.  Monday's post was about bread pudding and how it was perfect for chilly winter and summer nights.  Honestly, when I baked that, I was wearing fleece jammies, with the fireplace going, and was drinking tea.  It was cold!  And now, we have all retreated to our cellars, only to emerge in the evening when it cools down, or, as we did today, to go foraging for Creamsicles. The sad thing?  By next Sunday I could be back in my fleece jammies in front of the fire.  But this weekend, it's going to be HOT!

And so, of course, a menu change!!  We're planning on lots and lots of outdoor cooking!  We recently received a Brinkmann Charcoal Grill and Smoker as a gift, and we had our inaugural grill tonight.  For my guests, I'm going to do grilled pork chops tomorrow night, and I'll definitely be reprising the Butterflied Chickens I blogged about a few weeks ago.  We're going to head to the river for a few campfire suppers; there we can share British Columbia's rugged beauty with our guests as well as enjoy the cool river breeze.  We'll have to keep our eyes peeled for bears as there's been a lot of sightings lately.

Yes, that's a Grizz

For breakfasts, I'd planned a lot of big family style brunches, complete with breakfast bakes, pancakes, and stuffed french toast.  Since anything that heavy would probably do us in, I'm switching to a continental buffet, with an assortment of breads, yogurt, and cheese.  I'll probably do one big breakfast, maybe on Sunday, just so I don't feel too guilty!


Lunches will be simple.  Sandwiches are always popular and are perfect to take along should we decide to go on a drive or hike. That just leaves one category...


My beloved desserts!


Well, it turns out you can make some pretty tasty sweets without turning on the stove!  I'm planning to make a batch of the strawberry mousse that I used in my Strawberry Festival Cake and serve it in dessert bowls, perhaps with some thin sugar cookies.  As well, I'll buy a tub of vanilla ice cream and, on the nights we're grilling, I'll make some quick and easy toppings by grilling fruit on the barbecue while we're eating our supper.  Pineapple is great, as are strawberries. I've found a few recipes for cakes that you cook in a skillet on the grill, so I may try out one of those.  And of course, at our river camp fire cookouts, we'll be sure to bring along all the fixings for s'mores!!


And there you have it! Once the weather cools I will be able to bake again, and when I can I'm going to be trying out all those amazing recipes linked to above!  In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the laid back and relaxed type of dining that comes along with the warm summer sun.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Molly loves cookouts!