When the living is easy ...

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Make the most of lazy summer weekends by hosting an unhurried buffet, relaxed birthday celebration, or a casual end of the year baseball party.
Pull out all the lawn chairs, beach blankets, and beach balls you own! These make perfect decorations for your summer party. Sand pails, beach umbrellas, straw hats, flower leis, and beach music will help set the mood. A pop-up tent is a good way to create a shaded play area for the smaller guests.
Both picnic food or a barbecue menu would be perfect for a summer party. Sandwiches, hot dogs, or hamburgers are all good choices to feed your hungry guests. Serve chips or cookies in clean, new plastic sand pails. Lay picnic blankets in the yard where guests can sit and eat. Fill paper cups with fish-shaped crackers or other small treats and place an umbrella straw upright in the middle. Fruit smoothies served in tiki cups will help the children cool down and stay hydrated in the hot sun.
For sweet treats, either popsicles or an ice cream sundae bar are a sure hit. You can create an Ice Cream Cart by setting up a table with cones and ice cream at one end and a variety of toppings in serving bowls at the other end. Guests can “order” their scoops of ice cream from an adult, and then add their own toppings. Don’t forget the whipped cream and cherries!
Tips on serving cold food outdoors

Cold Food
You can hold cold food without temperature control for up to six hours if you meet these conditions:
Hold the food at 41 degrees or lower before removing it from refrigeration
Label the food with the time you removed it from refrigeration and time you must throw it out. The discard time on the label must be six hours from the time you removed the food from refrigeration
Made sure the food does not exceed 70 degrees while it is being served. Throw out any food that exceeds this temperature.

Hot Food
You can hold hot food without temperature control for up to four hours if you meet these conditions.
Hold the food at 135 degrees or higher before removing it from temperature control.
Label food with the time you must throw it out. The discard time on the label must be four hours from the time you removed the food from temperature control.
Information from National Restaurant Association SERVESAFE Guide

Banana-Strawberry Smoothie

2 Bananas
2 cups fresh strawberries
1 cup milk
1 cup frozen yogurt

Slice the bananas and strawberries, and put them in a blender with the milk and yogurt. Blend on high until smooth. Pour into glasses, add a fun straw and serve.