Ideas For A Cocktail Party

We are home from Florida! It was a fantastic week of hot sun, golfing, swimming, cocktailing, and nightly golf cart trips out to look for the gator (sadly, we never saw him). On our second night, we had a small cocktail party out on the lawn to continue the celebration of my Dad's 60th birthday.

The hors d'oeuvres were simple, tasty, and a big hit! They included:
Bruschetta Two Ways: small toasted bread rounds. Half topped with a thin layer of goat cheese and a dollop of fig preserves. The other half topped with a mixture of cream cheese and pesto (store bought in this case).
Cucumber Tea Sandwiches: Thin bread slices topped with either mayo or cream cheese, thinly sliced cucumber, a few chopped tomatoes and a sprinkle of fresh dill.
Spinach and Artichoke Dip: One can of artichoke hearts, chopped. One package of chopped frozen spinach, defrosted. Something creamy like mayo, cream cheese, sour cream, or greek yogurt. Mix everything together, top with grated parmesan cheese, a sprinkle of paprika for color and bake in a 400 degree oven until hot and bubbly, about 15 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips.
Tacky birthday themed paper plates from the dollar store are optional.

Equally as important as the food, of course, is the bar. Since the weather was very warm that evening, most people stuck with summary drinks. Mount Gay Rum, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and seltzer (nicknamed Grums) was the most popular libation.

Back to our normally scheduled posting.

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