Who does not like a great summer garden party?! With upcoming summer, I am sure many of you will organise garden parties and would like to impress your vegan & non-vegan guests. I have decided to write this article to give you a few ideas on preparing the perfect party.
I absolutely love organising house/garden parties and it normally takes me a couple of days to make everything ready! I always plan it at least a month ahead so I have something to look forward to. Usually, there are around 15-20 people invited at the time, so it takes a lot of time to prepare everything perfectly. I am very lucky that I can always count on my partner and sister-in-law for help in preparations. It is so much fun doing it together!!
If you have not hosted a party before, I have a few tricks that may help you to keep everything under control:
I make a list of foods that I want to make and put them in different categories, so you're not swamped and overwhelmed with preparations on the day of the party.
Cakes can be baked 1-2 days before the party and they will still taste amazing.
There are some salads that can be prepared the night before i.e. potato salad.
Make sure that most of the dishes are easy to prepare but you still make 1 or 2 ''show off'' pieces ;) -> ONLY if you are ready for it!! Do not put too much pressure on yourself. You will end up not enjoying the party, which is pointless. You are organising it to have a great time with your friends and family so stressing it is a joy-killer.
Leave yourself plenty of time. There are so many things that can go wrong. Make sure that you always have a back up plan i.e. last time I was finishing my cake just minutes before the guest were arriving, I found my electric mixer not working!!! I had to do it all by hand... The results weren't as I expected, and I was stressing because the cake was supposed to be a masterpiece. At the end it didn't really matter as it was still delicious!
Do your shopping a couple of days earlier.
I love preparing everything by myself because I have lots of time. If you do not have time just ask your guest to chip in i.e. bring a dessert or pop in earlier to help in preparation. Extra pairs of hands are always welcome!
If you invited non-vegans to your BBQ/garden party, you have to realise that some of them might be a bit wary of the food you prepare so it's always good to go for something they are familiar with i.e. some good burger patties (Iceland no-bull burgers are my favourite), crisps, potato salad or coleslaw, hot-dogs.. Once they try 'regular' food they will be more likely to try everything else and I am sure they will love it!
I have prepared a few recipes and ideas for BBQ/braai food for this summer. They are delicious, easy to make and will definitely make everyone smile and want to go vegan!
Drinks: water, ciders i.e. Old Mout (kiwi & lime yum!), sangria, Aldi has delicious vegan red wine!, beer. For vegan drinks check: http://www.barnivore.com/
Starters/sides: asparagus with tahini dressing, green beans in sesame, corn on a cob in foil on BBQ, potatoes wrapped in tin foil baked in charcoal, rainbow hummus i.e. beetroot & spinach, chopped carrots & cucumbers, tomato & pomegranate salad, potato salad, Mediterranean salad, broccoli & raisins salad.
Mains: chili sin carne & rice in tortilla bowls, sweet potato & spinach& walnut pesto in tortilla bowls, gyros salad, Iceland no-bull burgers, Linda McCartney sausages, falafel, mezze cake (Bosh recipe), potato bake.
Dessert: tomato cake, carrot & apple muffins, apple pie, milk tart.
With some of the recipes I improvise and some I prepare using recipes from the internet or cook books: English ones as well as Polish.
The Bosh book is really good for the party food. I also use: www.jadlonomia.com, www.wegannerd.com, www.ervegan.com, http://minimalistbaker.com/, Jamie Oliver or BBC Good Food any many more!
I often go through a few recipes and just combine them together to make it exactly as I like it :)
What party food do you love preparing? Let me know in the comments!
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