SUMMER COCKTAIL PARTY

To throw a summer cocktail party has to be the easiest way to entertain.  Prep time is minimal, guests come for max 1 to 1 1/2 hours, and if you keep it on the small side (20-26 people) you really get to talk with all your guests. I rent wine glasses - they deliver them and pick them up dirty the next day.  For 55 cents a glass it's worth it!

 I served:

Shrimp Cocktail - still a crowd pleaser.  I bought the shrimp already cleaned and peeled but I always make my own cocktail sauce.  It's so easy I'm not going to bother writing out the recipe.  Just pour ketchup in a bowl, add as much fresh horseradish as you like (taste as you go if you like it hotter add more), squeeze 1/2 or a whole lemon in it, and a dash of tabasco or worcheshire sauce.  That's it.

Crudite - cut up whatever veggies you like - I like peppers in different colors because it's pretty on the platter.  I sometimes make my own hummus but quite frankly even your basic grocery store now sells pretty good ones.

Chips and quacamole - another crowd pleaser.  Again I usually make my own quac but we have a mexican take out place that makes fabulous quacamole so I made a quick stop there and plopped it into one of my own bowls.  (I didn't even feel quilty about that).

Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwiches - made these from scratch from an Ina Garten recipe but I don't think people like these sorts of things anymore.  They were very popular in the past.

Rosemary Cashews - MY NEW FAVORITE SUMMER RECIPE!
Every summer I attack my Barefoot Contessa cookbooks.  You should see the folded pages, yellow stickems, and literally splattered dirty pages of the various books that I have of my favorite cookbook writer/TV cooking show host, Ina Garten.  This summer I have been going through her BAREFOOT IN PARIS Easy French Food You Can Make At Home book.  I make a batch of these cashews once a week using the fresh rosemary from my garden.  Please try them,  you will never put out a bowl of plain nuts again.

ROSEMARY CASHEWS

Copyright 2004, Barefoot in Paris Cookbook by Ina Garten, Clarkson/Potter Publishers, All Rights Reserved

Serves 8

1 pound roasted unsalted cashews

2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the cashews out on a sheet pan.  Toast in the oven until warm, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, sugar, salt, and butter.  Thoroughly toss the warm cashews with the spiced butter and serve warm.

I have made these hours before a cocktail party and served them at room temp and they are still fantastic.