We’re almost halfway through May! Along with summer vacations, the school year ending, and graduation season upon us, many families will be hosting summer cookouts for holidays and special occasions alike. Gathering with family and friends for summer cookouts and celebrations is always a lot of fun, but can also be a lot of work between the planning and preparing. We’ve come up with a few ways to help you prepare ahead of time to make your next cookout or celebration go as smoothly as possible.
Establish Your Headcount
Before you can plan for food and refreshments, decorations, tables, and table settings, you must first determine a headcount for those attending your event. Once you’ve established a rough estimate of those attending, consider adding 5-10 additional people to your plan to account for anyone bringing an unexpected guest. It’s always better to have too much than not enough.
Develop a Menu
After your headcount is established, start planning your menu. Start with the main course. Whether you’re looking at grilling hamburgers and hotdogs, steaks, or smoking pork, you’ll want to ensure your side dishes align with your main course. If you’re hosting a potluck-style meal, start making a list of dishes that guests can bring that will compliment your main course, so that you can give ideas to your guests when they ask what they can bring. Alternatively, if you’re hosting the entire meal and not requesting guests to bring a dish, you can plan the rest of your menu based off of your main course.
Purchase, and Prepare Ahead
Rather than purchasing and preparing all of the food the day-of or the day before, try to purchase canned goods and non-perishables ahead of time that have a shelf-life and store them in your home so you aren’t doing too much running around in the days leading up to the event. If you’re able to, prepare some of the food ahead of time and freeze it so that you can easily defrost and re-heat some of the dishes, rather than cooking everything at once. The day or two leading up to the event, purchase and prepare your fresh items (slice vegetables and fruits and store them in air-tight containers in the refrigerator, slice buns and store them in air-tight bags and packages, bake desserts ahead of time and decorate them the day-of). The more you can do ahead of time, the less pressed for time and busy you’ll be leading up to the event and during the event.
Plan and Prepare for Overnight Guests
If you have family or friends attending your event from out of town that plan to stay with you, make up your guest rooms ahead of time to prepare. The week before your event, wash sheets and linens, vacuum and clean the room that your guests will be staying in, and clean and set up the bathroom with extra toiletries and towels. Setting up ahead of time will eliminate some of the work you have to do leading up to the event. This is especially helpful if you can close the doors to the guest rooms to keep them clean and ready for your guests for a few days.