Simple Summer Entertaining with Easy, Flavorful Snacks

A guide to simple summer entertaining with a flavorful and easy snack recipe.
This post has been sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Summer is all about enjoying the little things, savoring those sunny evenings, swimming in the sea, and enjoying being in the company of your favorite people. Summer is also about tasty, al fresco meals and taking it easy as much as possible, right? So, let’s put all of those things together and host a carefree, stress-free summer shindig! Here’s how.

A Guide to Simple Summer Entertaining

Summer Supplies

There are so many fun summer happenings and holidays. My little trick to keeping things as simple as possible is stocking up on ‘evergreen’ summer supplies. Or rather, supplies that you can use and reuse throughout the summer. Instead of grabbing fireworks serveware for the Fourth of July, snag a few colorful and/or patterned items to mix and match from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and everything in between.

I also like to keep a few different sets of napkins and ‘decorative’ towels on hand – a few of my go-tos for summer include a dark blue denim-like towel that can be used as a runner or small tablecloth, small wooden utensils, mini milk bottles for the cutest little tropical mimosa glasses, and lots of pastel tissue paper to use for homemade confetti and beyond.

Stick to Snacks

Want to keep things easy breezy? Stick to snacks this summer. If you’re inviting a group of friends over, don’t stress yourself out cooking a huge meal – this isn’t Thanksgiving (not that I would complain if it were!). Instead, stick to snacks. Grab a large pre-made salad, the one we picked up is from Sam’s Club and it’s got fresh berries, chicken, goat cheese – basically the makings for a perfect summer salad.

I’m also particularly fond of these flavorful Member’s Mark Crab Cakes topped with chipotle yogurt sauce and fresh cilantro. They’re easy to make in batches, in case you need more on the fly. They’re also frozen, which means if you don’t eat them all, you can save them for a little snack for yourself! Or, I suppose……share. But, that’s totally up to you – they may be too good to share! Here’s how to whip up your own batch (or two):

We broke up the Crab Cakes to fit them on the smaller crackers, but you can certainly eat them whole, too! Just ditch the cracker – or find a larger cracker that’ll fit the entire Crab Cake; they’re a good size! If you’re in need of more summer recipes, Sam’s Club is making it easy for you with a hub of featured pairings – and a sweepstakes, too!

Signature Drinks

Sure, you want to please everyone, but don’t break the bank filling up a bar for your summer shindig. Instead, select 2-3 signature drinks to have on hand. We always have water ready to go for guests (this time we picked up a pack of DASANI® water water bottles), along with one alcoholic beverage, and one non-alcoholic beverage. For the alcoholic sip, keep it simple. Either mix up a punch or find a recipe that you can make with minimal ingredients. Might I suggest a sweet and summery margarita? And, for the non-alcoholic beverage, try a sparkling lemonade! Top it off with lemon rounds to give it a little summery garnish.

How are you getting ready for the sunny summer months? I’ll be focusing on simple summer entertaining and spending as much time as possible outdoors. Hello, bike rides and summer Sunday brunches!

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