The BLT may be America's most well loved sandwich.  It's a diner favorite and one that we eat many times over the summer when the big slicers ripen.  For those not familiar with this sandwich, it's only 5 ingredients, bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiched between two pieces of toasted white bread spread with mayonnaise.  It's amazing and everyone I know has a weakness for it.

We love to host get-togethers, the garden looked so pretty and our tomatoes are big and ripe so we decided to have 30 people over for BLTs last week on a Thursday night, who knew Thursday night could draw such a crowd?  Making sandwiches sounds easy, doesn't it?  Not.  Not at all.  It took my husband over 2 hours to fry up 9 pounds of bacon and I could have used a hazmat team to clean up the grease that was EVERYWHERE.   While he was on bacon duty I made the potato salad, put out the flowers, set the tables, set out wine, beer and sparkly water, and decided to use paper plates and plastic cups thinking how brill I was to keep it simple.  But feeding 30 people is never simple.  Fun, yes, but simple, no.  I unwisely decided not to hire kitchen helpers of which I am forever cured, my new motto, no help, no party.   I enlisted a friend to pass the appetizers while I oven toasted 4 1/2 loaves of bread.  Pretty hectic in the kitchen, so it's a good thing I have a lot of lovely friends who are willing to pitch in.  We set up the buffet so everyone could make their own sandwich and I don't feel it took very long for each guest to get their sandwich assembled. We had cookies for dessert, if anyone had offered to help when they were responding to the invitation I asked them to bring a dozen cookies.  I wish I had taken a picture of the cookie table, very pretty with a dozen different types of cookies for dessert.   This was a great party.  The BLTs were so good, so perfect for summer and a definite treat.  Next day it took us a short time to dismantle the set-up and I asked my husband if he would have this party again, without any hesitation he said, "yes".  It was a fun night.


The zinnias on my header and the first two pictures above are a combination of the bi-colored Whirligig from Burpee that I grow in a little patch in my vegetable garden that I use for cutting.  The zinnias in the perennial border are the varieties Fantasy and Art Deco from Botanical Interests, also Berry Basket and Raspberry Sorbet from Renee's Garden.  I love the pink and purple border so much I'm doing the same border next year.

We had such a nice party last night, twelve good friends getting together to welcome visitors from New Zealand.  I firmly believe that people make the party and know I have the loveliest friends who arrive with smiles on their faces ready to have a good time.  It doesn't matter how much or how little work I do, it's really the people that make the party.

We planned to sit outside and the weather behaved for the most part, but I had a stack of shawls for the inevitable chill.  Even while I was determined to sit outside, honestly, I am the first one in the house when the weather turns.  When it did get chilly I wrapped everyone in shawls and we all looked quite beautiful and felt very warm!

The dinner menu was easy peasy.  We served wine from our recent trip to the Mendocino wine country, the 3 pictured are from Meyers, a happy accidental stop we made by mistake and turned out to be one of our favorite tasting rooms.  My husband loved their cab and wanted to buy a big magnum (is that what it's called? anyway it's that big bottle) and save it for a party, so this was the time.  We also bought some Chardonnay and Rose, I do love Rose for summer.  All the veggies were from our garden, just picked that morning, one friend brought the appetizer and another friend brought the cookies. A neighbor brought over a bag of plums so added them to the cookie tray.  I made two trays, one for each table.

You know I have a lot of parties, big and small, and I plan for each one the same way, a bit of detail planning and a bit of winging it, and the parties I like best are the parties I keep simple.  This was simple, but pretty and fun.  When we're outside the garden is always the star.  Before dinner we took a little turn around the garden with a glass of wine.

I took lovely leisurely pictures of the set up before the guests arrived, but once I set out the food it feels all frenetic and I stop and say "I need a picture" and my husband looks at me like I am out of my mind.  The foodie shots were taken in two seconds, I was allowed one shot per platter, oh the pressure!  I don't do any of this alone and have to give a wee shout out to my hubs who was the bartender, bar-be-quer, outdoor furniture cleaner and second in command of the clean up duty.  After our guests leave we spend half hour cleaning up, I can't bear to wake up next morning to see a mess.  I always fill the dishwasher, spot the linens and put them in the washing machine, then hand wash the big platters, he drys.  All that's left in the morning is put it all away and enjoy the memories and the flower arrangements! 

Gathering up the napkins and tablecloths, here, a colorful mixed up jumble of patterns from Le Jacquard Francais.

Nasturtiums and dill in aqua jelly jars.

Pray that the weather holds out.

Hand knit shawls just in case!

Arrangement for the buffet table.

Since table settings have been a favorite feature on my blog, I thought I'd do a recap and share the most popular ones from 2012.  Click on links for the story and more pictures.  Enjoy!








































Thank you so much for stopping by!  In 2013 I plan on making more party posts, so I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy sharing them.  And as a foot note, some of my knitter readers who do not normally follow tablescape blogs, (and YES, there are numerous tablescape blogs and these blogs are very popular!)  I never set a table just for show, ALL of my tables are meant for a dinner party I'm having.  I almost always try to share my menu with pictures of the food plus recipes and links when I can.  Just wanted to say that!