Summer Eco-taining Essentials
Memorial Day is THE party kick-off event of the summer entertaining season. Get the party started right with my Summer Entertaining Essentials for Summer entertaining on-the-go or on demand.
I will share my picks for this summer’s entertaining must-haves that will take you through every summer holiday and every day summer entertaining whenever they pop up. Also, I will ensure that you’ll be entertaining in style as he brings the latest fashions to your tabletop with his “colors of the season” entertaining décor tips… And throw away those paper plates, for good, because I have great tips on environmentally friendly, sustainable entertaining for your summer eco-taining arsenal.
https://vimeo.com/42851366
Setting the table for the perfect summer entertaining on-the-go or on demand is as simple as 1-2-3!
First, start with the perfect bag of party tricks! I believe that keeping all your Summer entertaining essentials in one convenient and easy accessible place is key. My go-to Summer tote is make of Land’s End canvas and is the perfect eco-friendly Summer carrying bag made by Lands’ End. It is water resistant with plenty of storage for all your essentials.
Beach towels do double duty as picnic blankets or tablecloths. Fun vintage inspired pattern help set the festive tone. This beach towel, provided by Lands’ End is the perfect Vintage pattern tying in the color palette from the entire table.
Second, throw away those paper plates, for good! and opt for Bamboo plates, silverware, and serving pieces. These items, made by Core Bamboo, are made from 100% organically grown bamboo. They are finished with natural oils to make them food safe and the lacquer comes from natural cashew trees. If and when you do throw them away, they are 100% biodegradable and compostable, leaving you guilt free!
Thirdly, bring the hottest fashion colors to your Summer party with re-usable and disposable napkins. MY DRAP tear-off napkins are the only 100% cotton napkins on a roll that come in a variety of colors and sizes that can be mixed and matched for a mega dose of fashion colors. Guests get the feel of cloth napkins in a disposable that are good for the environment, making you “look marvelous” (and feel marvelous too)! The best part about these napkins is they can be washed and reused up to six times!
The perfect compliment to the MY DRAP napkins is the Table Chameleon Napkin Rings, which I designed and produced and are the perfect summer entertaining essential! The Table Chameleon Napkin Rings are designed to bring a bit of character to your table in whatever way you please with a variety of colors and styles. Easy to use, the 3/4″ thick hand-cut acrylic rings are held together with magnets and feature inserts in four different designs – London, Ada, Saturn and Miami – in the colors, red blue, orange, and green. To switch out the inserts, there are four simple steps: slide, slip, snap and create! All you have to do is slide the pieces apart, slip in the insert, snap the two pieces together and create the look you want for your table! For more information or to purchase The Table Chameleon, go to my website!
To be the ULTIMATE Eco-tainer, make sure you party like a Local-vore!
A local-vore is a person dedicated to eating food grown and produced locally. There are a lot of reasons to eat locally grown and produced foods.
- Less resources (primarily fossil fuels) are expended packaging and easy transporting from Farm to Table.
- It supports the local economy – more money remains in our local community.
- It is healthier – processing and preservatives are less important since the food doesn’t have to travel so far.
- It is safer and thus local-vores are less susceptible to foodborn illnesses.
- It is more honest – honesty in terms of the food source and the growing/producing process.
- And last but not least – it tastes better!
Here are a few examples for shopping for like a local-vore that I incorporated into this segment by shopping right here in NYC:
Asparagus – NJ Native
Beef – PA Native
Mushrooms – NJ Native
Cheese – NY Native
Crab Cakes – NJ Native
Tomatoes – NJ Native
“Like Us” on Facebook and “Follow Us” on Twitter for more of Mark’s recipes, tips and tricks!
The Patriotic Table
Between Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day there are plenty of reasons to throw a patriotic party this summer, so I’ve created a spread that will do both you and America justice.
Start with a basic white tablecloth (everyone should have one in their entertaining arsenal) and add blue and red to create the palette that we are all so familiar with. Colored napkins and utensils pop against the white dinnerware and really drive the theme home.
Now get really creative! Don’t stop at the settings. Go all out with your color theme and carry it through to the food.
Not only are cupcakes a truly American invention, but these have a fun twist: they’re meatloaf! In the true spirit of summer parties, I’ve taken combined the powers of a barbeque with meatloaf. And they’re of course, absolutely perfect for July 4th – America deserves cake on its birthday too! Finally, your guests will love these creations topped with mashed potato frosting. Find the recipe here.
Tip: Add height to your serving platter by setting it on top of inverted bowls.
Wash them down with my berry patriotic red white and blue sangria with blueberry and raspberry ice cubes! Use a classic white sangria recipe and be sure to add red and blue berries. Serve in an acrylic wine glass over jumbo ice cubes filled with the blueberries and raspberries – jumbo cubes filled with flavor are a “hot” trend this summer.
And to truly follow through, fill a doughnut vase with colored ice cubes instead of water for a surprisingly colorful centerpiece.
I created Table Chameleon napkin rings so that you can customize your accessories for any occasion. For this table, add red and blue paper to your napkin rings in the complementary color of their napkins so that each setting is a smaller red white and blue canvas.
Citrus Blend Table
The Citrus Blend Table brings together the hottest colors of the season; lemon, lime, and tangerine. Once again, I’m starting with essentials, and building the theme with colorful accessories. Keep your eye out for the unexpected use of items you may already own, and get color inspiration from the season. When the flowers are in bloom and the fruits are fresh, use colors that reflect the joyfulness and lightness of summer.
Simple Gerbera daisies come alive in a container filled with lemon and lime slices to drive home my color theme. It also serves to bring the same colors out in the stand of food, and contrasts nicely as a second display piece. Use the pitcher that held sangria at your last party to double as a vase in an effort to be re-purposeful.
In keeping with my color theme, I’ve created a seafood and crudité tower, choosing foods that are beautiful shades of yellow, orange, and green. Not only that, but citruses like lemon add the perfect hint of tang to seafood to help bring out its rich flavor without overpowering it. Once again, thank you to food stylist Deb Winston. I’ve used my Melamine dinnerware and bowls to double as a food stand, which saves me the trouble and expense of buying one for a single occasion! And I used citrus colored votive candle holders to give each guest their own individual dip.
I’m all about being re-purposeful. Use one set of napkin rings as the perfect contrast to your citrus colored napkins, but use a second set in complimentary colors as stands for dessert! To cleanse the palate after your seafood tower, present guests with a hollowed lemon cup filled with refreshing sorbet. Another tip – to keep your summer entertaining “green” and good for the environment by using recycled cutlery.
What’s better for a citrus table than a citrus cooler? Create a refreshing and energizing cocktail with a crisp citrus blend of grapefruit, lemon, and lime juice with a zing of candied ginger! Shake and serve over citrus peel flavored jumbo ice cubes in an acrylic tubler – the #2 essential glassware for the summer. And of course, this can always be made as a mocktail!
Mix’n and Match’n Table
I designed the Mix’n Match’n Table to show how to bring color and eclectic taste together and make it work. It goes to show you that you don’t have to have a complete set of anything to entertain in style! dress up a simple white table cloth with a multi-colored sarong – it does double time as fashion for your table when it’s not on you! Not only does it bring fantastic color to the table, but it has great energy as well. It reminds me of being on the beach, and all that color will have your guests feeling like summer, and ready for something cool and crisp!
Now that you’ve got that great base of color, tone it down a bit with white melamine dinnerware, like these bowls and platter, that make the great color of the salads pop! Salads are the perfect choice for working with a palate because they can include so many beautiful, summery colored ingredients. Instead of creating one large salad, create mini salads. Guests can toss their own mixtures of the smaller salads and base ingredients to match their own taste. A special thanks to Deb Winston, food stylist, for setting these up.
In the spirit of being crisp and cool on a hot summer day, I created infusion restorative water. Impress your guests with this spa-like beverage which blends the flavors of cucumber, dill, and lemon to make a refreshing and hydrating summer beverage. Ditch the expensive flavored waters that come in bottles and make your own. The Infusion Pitcher makes this process as easy as it is fun!
Color your infusion with jumbo ice cubes filled with the same ingredients as the water itself. I used a Jumbo Ice Cube Tray, and filled it with thin slices of lemon, cucumber, and dill, creating pretty garnishes that aren’t hard to drink around because they’re frozen in place! Speaking of drinks, mix it up! Use acrylic wine glasses for the water, and serve the wine in a tapered tumbler – the perfect stemless wine glass! And for an extra splash of color, why not some citrus colored votive candle holders?
Using white melamine dinner and salad plates makes the color around it pop! But get playful with things like my table chameleon napkin rings and bright napkins that are matched to the utensils to pull it all together, creating the mixed and matched color scheme that is perfect for a summer party!
