Summer made its presence known in a big way this past holiday weekend with HOT sunny days, a little pop-up rain, and plenty of humidity to go around! I guess it was fitting for a weekend full of festivity to celebrate the final days of the season! And maybe we made a mistake picking this weekend to fill with projects…especially since many of them took place outdoors! But we did get a lot checked off the to-do list and still managed to squeeze in a fun evening…serving up some summertime sweets and sips to try and squelch the oppressive heat! Following an evening game, some fellow soccer families stopped by for a treat in our backyard…and a serve-yourself ice cream sundae bar was a welcome sight for exhausted players (and parents too!) A sweltering summer evening made us all screaming for ice cream! (or a cold cocktail!)
icy treats beat the summer heat…
setting up a sundae bar is such a simple thing to do…and really doesn’t take much pre-planning! you can grab everything you need from the store or scour the fridge and pantry for all the goodies you need to sugar-up some icy scoops of cream! for a little fun and color coordination, i covered the jars of purchased toppings with black & white paper and washi tape to hold the labels…
and decorating spaces for a semi-last-minute gathering can also be a cinch…just one or two colorful additions of poms, banners, or flowers can make anything look special! autumn is right around the corner so i decided to perk up my patio poms with touches of fall color without completely letting go of summer!
and my vintage baby tub, which i normally only use for large parties, still works perfectly for this small event since it will hold plenty of icy drinks as well as individual containers of ice cream!
i used a porcelain candy display (from my visual designing days) to make a centerpiece for the sundae table. i scrunched up tissue paper i had on hand, taped it to the back, and used colorful shred to tuck in around it. really simple and it looks super festive–like an exploding pinata! and even though i have an advantage with Giggle offering me plenty of display items…a home is filled with things that would make equally whimsical displays! try a trophy, a toy, stuffed animal, or child’s art creation…maybe an unusual figurine or even a framed photograph–all free & perfectly willing to take center stage on a treat table! no matter what you choose…just have fun!
plating up the appetizers & sundae toppings ahead of time made it much easier to quickly put everything out before guests started to arrive. a small selection of munchies went right on the patio table for easy access…
we served up simple beverages…
cucumber water…
and for the adults, honeydew coconut cocktails…(the link to this recipe is on friday’s post)
refreshing!
and this totally scrumptious root beer–which is really beer but tastes like soda (could be dangerous!)…might now be a new “must-have” for all our gatherings!
finally, something really icy…
lastly, but definitely the highlight of the evening…ice cream! scooping it into mason jars earlier that afternoon let us take them straight from the freezer to the ice when everyone arrived…and even though it was a steamy evening–they stayed nicely chilled in the tub!
it was easy for everyone to help themselves around the “toppings” table which was lit up with a couple battery lanterns…
i love adorable disposable products like these sweet wooden spoons!
i know you see me use washi tape and paper labels all the time…but it’s so easy and they really can be helpful! for example, one of our friends thought that these mini caramels were chickpeas before reading the tags! (i guess it WAS getting dark!)
plenty of toppers to go around!
it was warm enough outside the sauces stayed saucy!
and in my opinion, you can’t have a sundae bar without sprinkles!
serving up some icy fun!
more caramel please!
and the great thing about ice cream in jars…the extras were just as good the next day!
…we all scream for ice cream!