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April 21, 2014 · 12 Comments

Summer Entertainment Hacks

Blog· Food and Drinks

I participated in an Ambassador Program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Brancott Estate Wines. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

Summer is almost here, which means it’s time to prepare for the hot weather, pool season and lots of entertaining. I am lucky enough to have a pool at my house that I can enjoy but having a pool means our house is always the ‘entertainment house.’ I can’t complain because I love to entertain and enjoy time with my friends and family.

Since I entertain often, I have come up with and found tons of Summer Entertainment Hacks that I wanted to share with yall.

Summer Entertainment Hacks

I know that when I have guests over, I always tend to have TOO much food and TOO many drinks. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I know I waste a lot of money by overbuying. When you’re having a party this summer, use this rule: Have 3 bottles of wine for every 4 people and 4 cocktails per guest.

Keep 3 bottles of wine for every 4 people and 4 cocktails per guest when summer entertaining.  #summer #hacks #entertainment

It’s not often that I have leftover wine, but during the rare occasion, pour the leftover wine into a canning jar to keep it for up to a week. You can either drink this wine or use it while cooking.

Use a canning jar to keep wine for up to a week.

Speaking of leftover wine, did you know you can freeze it to cook with later?

Freeze leftover wine to use in sauces #summer #entertainment #hacks #party #cooking

Don’t you hate when you’re eating an ice cream cone in the middle of the hot summer and the cone starts leaking all over you? I seriously hate that, one hack that I’ve learned is to simple put a marshmallow at the bottom of the cone. How simple is that?

Place a marshmallow in the bottom of your ice cream to keep the ice cream from leaking out of the bottom! #summer #entertainment #hacks

Freeze grapes and throw them in your wine to keep your wine cool. This will allow your wine to stay a great temperature without being watered down by ice.

Keep wine cool with frozen grapes.

The last thing we all want to do during or after a party is the dishes! Cut back drastically on dishes by using a muffin tin to serve condiments. Chop onions, serve pickles, mayo, mustard and anything else you can think of!

Use a muffin tin to serve condiments at t BBQ

We’ve all been there – we have forgot to chill the wine! No one wants hot wine in the summer time so if you need chilled wine fast, put ice and kosher salt  in bucket. Your wine or champagne will chill in no time!

Combine Ice and Kosher salt to chill white wine and champagne #summer #hacks #entertainment

Don’t work during your party, instead plan ahead! Pre scoop ice cream before the party and keep it in the freezer. Use a muffin tin to store the ice cream and all the servings will be the same size.

Cut back the time you're working during the party by pre scooping your ice cream and keep it in the freezer.

Keep things festive and  fun by freezing water balloons to keep your drinks cold.

Freeze water balloons to keep drinks cool in the summer.

We eat as many strawberries during the summer time as we can and one of my favorite hacks is using a straw to take out the stem! It’s so simple!

Use a straw to remove a stem from a strawberry

I’m sure you noticed the large amount of wine hacks that I shared, it’s mainly because I love enjoying a glass (or bottle) of wine. If you can find a light wine to drink during the summer, you will have no worries. Lucky for you, I’ve done all the hard work – you know taste testing lots of wine and I’ve found a wine that you won’t want to miss out on.

Brancott Estate Wines introduces its new variety of vintages, “Flight Song.” Harvested earlier than other wines, this process results in a full-flavored and complex wine that is naturally 20% lighter in calories. I’m not one to diet or watch calories but when I can find a drink that is already naturally low in calories than it’s a bonus! Flight Song is a  light, crisp and refreshing wine that is great for the summer time and even more perfect to give your guests.  You’ll be the best host around if you provide Brancott Estate Wines and use these simple Summer Entertainment Hacks!

One last hack for you – Always have a Reason to Wine!

Always have a reason to Wine!

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Comments

  1. Jamie says

    April 23, 2014 at 10:57 am

    These are seriously amazing pins!! I’m pinning so I can remember all of them!!

    Reply
  2. shaunatorres says

    April 27, 2014 at 12:37 pm

    Oh my goodness, these tips are amazing… I love throwing parties and get togethers but had no clue how much wine/drinks to have on hand. Thank you

    Reply
  3. Emily Reid says

    April 27, 2014 at 1:49 pm

    Great tips! Love the one with frozen grapes!

    Reply
  4. Megan says

    April 27, 2014 at 2:29 pm

    Love this post!! So timely, and the images are super pin worthy!

    Reply
  5. Daisy says

    April 27, 2014 at 2:48 pm

    Dropping a marshmallow into the bottom of an icecream cone is such an awesome idea! I will do this the next time that my son has friends over.

    Reply
  6. Debi@ The Spring Mount 6 Pack says

    April 27, 2014 at 7:35 pm

    I never knew you could freeze wine.

    Reply
  7. Brett says

    April 27, 2014 at 8:21 pm

    Wow these are fun hacks! Yay for wine hacks!!

    Reply
  8. cynthial1956 says

    April 29, 2014 at 12:31 pm

    Such great ideas! I always freeze my leftover wine. I am not a big white wine drinker, so I usually have some left when I have guest. Love the grape idea! Thanks for sharing this at the In and Out of the Kitchen Link party!

    Reply
  9. anglemoine says

    May 2, 2014 at 8:51 am

    HI! Thanks so much for linking up at The Wednesday Roundup Link Party! Great tips! I love the marshmallow in the bottom of the ice cream cone! Genius!!!!

    Reply
  10. Jennifer Johnson says

    May 2, 2014 at 9:49 am

    Great tips! That is a good guideline for drinks too.

    Reply
  11. cynthiamurdoch says

    May 3, 2014 at 1:16 pm

    Great entertaining tips – I love the grape idea. I’ve pinned this for future reference! Visiting from SITS

    Reply
  12. Cindy Eikenberg says

    May 4, 2014 at 7:17 am

    Hi Betsy – wow, I am loving all of these ideas and pretty genius to put any leftover wine in a canning jar!!! Thanks so much for sharing at Best of the Weekend – pinning! Hope you have a happy Sunday and a fabulous week!

    Reply

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