Summer is finally here for many of us! The sun is shining, gardens have been planted, outdoor parties are booked and ice cream trucks are chiming their sweet little ditty. A change of season means a few changes in your kitchen. Here are some tips to get you going for this beloved time of year.
1. Swap your Plates. For summer, you may be changing up your bedding and going with a lighter-colored duvet cover for the season (I've gone with blue stripes this year and love it!). Doing a similar swap in the kitchen with plates also ushers in that summer palette of bright lightness. Trade out your darker-colored plates for pastel and white shades.
2. De-clutter your counters and use fruit as a decoration. I had Kahlua and cassis liqueur hanging around for ages on my counter (don't ask me why!); putting them in a proper cabinet and showcasing local, fresh produce on a pretty platter is a much better look for summer.
3. Start an herb garden. For roughly ten dollars, you can buy several herb starts that will pay off all summer long. Basil, thyme, rosemary, mint and lavender are all easy to grow and are quite economical considering how many clippings I use during my summer season. Plus, tending an herb garden is a great project for a beginner green thumb. That's me! My husband is in charge of the garden; I'm in charge of the herbs.
4. Place summer appliances where you can reach them. Dust off the cobwebs and pull the following towards the front of your cabinets: blender, waffle iron, food processor, ice cream maker, rice cooker. All of these appliances make food easy to assemble without having to turn on the oven — so key in summer heat!
5. Stock up on some inexpensive wines for summer. I love Prosecco and many varieties are very reasonably priced and complement grilled, summer foods beautifully. Besides, who doesn't love some bubbly!? You'll set a festive mood instantly. Throw a handful of fresh berries into each glass for a lovely look and delicate flavor.
6. Create a ready-to-go picnic basket. A picnic basket already prepared with linens and silverware makes impromptu park gatherings and picnics a breeze! Just add bread, cheese, and some fresh fruit and your self!
7. Pick up a few extra ice trays. Nothing is sadder than getting ice for a cocktail and realizing you're fresh out. I've gotten my priorities straight this summer and bought a few extra ice trays.
8. Clean your stove top. Just do it, you'll be glad you did!
9. Find a pitcher for summertime ice teas, lemonades or spiked punches. Estate sales, thrift shops and garage sales are all good resources for this type of purchase. The more variety in shape and size (I have quite a few I also use as flower vases in the summer), the better.
10. Flip through old cookbooks and mark a few new, summery recipes you'd like to try. It still amazes me how my old cookbooks surprise me with new ideas, which change from season to season. A more pointed, seasonal search may steer you into creating dishes you've never tried!
Will you try any of these tips? Do you have your own way of ushering in summer to your kitchen? I'd love to hear about it and add to the list!
Related: My Top 10 Tips for Hosting a Dinner Party
(Images: Leela Cyd Ross)
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Like this idea and most of this list, and I know, I know, but: I couldn't help but suppress a snicker about #1, change out my plates. Man if I had the money for two sets of plates, I'd still not have the room for two sets of plates. :) I'm going to interpret this as "change out my dining linens," and swap placemats, tablecloths, and napkins. And then I'ma dust off my ice cream maker and buy more ice trays!
Thanks for 9 ways to welcome summer! (Yeah, plates...I could now afford a new set but I can't afford a big kitchen to put them in!
way back when i first saw martha stewart, she had mixed up plates on her thanksgiving table. since then i realized they don't have to match...and they cost about 25 cents apiece at a second hand store. you can take them to a dinner party and give them to the hostess! no washing! try it!
yes misscis, all of my plates are from the second hand store - great way to keep cost down and super fun, motley look! didn't realize martha had done something similar - she knows everything!
I clean my stovetop every time I do dishes - do other people not do this?
Also - blue and white Currier & Ives dishes are good any time of year! I don't have room for a second set (as much as I'd love one).
The cookbook advice is good. I always need a little reminding/inspiration on how to cook summer produce again. And how to cook without turning on the oven when it's 90 degrees out.
I would add one more suggestion - make homemade lemonade or lemon shakeups! Nothing says summer (or rather, summer fair) to me more than a lemon shakeup.
Yes to all of these!
vintagejenta, what is your favorite way of making a lemon shakeup? it sounds delicious!
I desperately need new ice trays. There are large cracks down the middle of my current ones.
But these are great suggestions. I especially like the one about stocking up on some light alcohol, summer wines. We recently bought a case of a muscat spritzer called Frivolo with this exact purpose in mind.
You just inspired me to go clean my stove!
Every summer I take my crock pot, toaster oven, rice cooker, and coleman stove out to my covered deck and do almost all of my cooking out there. My husband has a name for my summer kitchen but it's kind of rude in a funny way, but it saves me from heating up my unairconditioned house. Since the gas and charcoal grills are nearby and we do most of our eating out there it saves the kitchen from being too much of a mess too.
I definitely don't have room for extra sets of plates. We just got summer bedding (hand-me-down from my parents), but in that case it's worth the extra storage space to be more comfortable. There are a lot of things I would rather have before buying a second set of plates. We have clear glass plates, looks fine all year round.
@Nora Rocket, I snickered at the seasonal plates, seasonal bedding, single-purpose appliances, and multiple pitchers. I had to wonder if the author rents a storage unit all for these things! My house is huge by city standards but I wouldn't have a place to store any of those items.
I'm also curious about a lemon shakeup -- never heard of it!
Having homemade lemonade and sweet tea on hand are definitely perfect ways to celebrate summer.
Oooh, having had an automatic ice maker in my freezer for the last year or so, I totally forgot that I'll need more ice trays now that I don't have one! I bought one awhile ago to freeze wine, herbs, whatever else in small batches, but never used it for that purpose, so I probably should get a couple more for that and just for ice!
To me, summer kitchen prep consists of one major thing: make sure to have all the fixings for Pimm's Cups!
i have a tiny kitchen in a small 2 bedroom condo, but have room for single use appliances, seasonal bedding and multiple pitchers! i consider them all necessities, year-round. seasonal plates? well, do the acrylic picnic versions stored in the basement count?
Seasonal plates? Well, I guess if you have the space to store them... I barely have enough room for the year-round stuff we've got.