Published: July 04, 2008 02:21 pm      

SUMMER PARTIES: Simple tips from an expert

Is company coming? There are many ways to throw a summer party that even the host and hostess can relax and enjoy.

Even if throwing a summer party may seem like one of the most daunting of tasks, relax and take some cues from a long-time party planner.

“Your goal is to have an awesome party, to not tax out the fridge or stress your husband,” said Donna Eick, a Lockport caterer and owner of the new Bites on the Boardwalk in Olcott.

She advises to stick to a simple menu with items that can be prepared quickly and still look appetizing. Some ideas she shared recently include the following.

Easy tricks

“Take Stouffer’s Mac and Cheese and throw it in the oven” Eick said, “then put it in a steam unit and then garnish the top with sharp cheddar cheese to make it look like something.”

Also pick food that can also be prepared few days in advance, such as fruit and veggie trays. Each food item can be cut up and stored in separate plastic bags (making easy clean up even faster and easier) and can be kept cold for up to three days before the party.

Dress up

Dress up tables by skirting them or using tablecloths. Not only will your event look more pulled together, but this trick provides for additional storage space.

Putting a twist on the most basic of summer food staples can also give even the most neutral of tables splashes of color.

Salad bars

Instead of a basic salad, let guests build their own salad with a Chef’s Salad bar. Mix together lettuce, cabbage and carrots in a large bowl and provide bowls of extra toppings on the side. Use croutons, feta cheese, sunflower seeds, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, chickpeas and olives, and keep an assortment of bottled dressings nearby.

When it comes to a potato salad, don’t settle on the one that may have been rolling around a well-meaning relative’s car trunk for the last hour. Instead, have some fun by doing a baked potato bar. Wrap potatoes in foil and either bake or grill, and lay out several topping choices in bowls, such as salsa, chives, bacon bits and sour cream for guests to build there own potato.

Easy meats

For hamburgers and hot dogs, go beyond the standard condiments. Add more variety by including grilled onions, sauerkraut, salsa and sharp cheddar cheese.

If running out of food is a concern, consider using smaller plates. If the food does sell out fast, hot dogs can always be made in a pinch. After they come off the grill, keep them warm and moist by keeping them in a steaming tray and sprinkling water on them every so often to keep them from drying out.

“If you do two meats, figure that people will take one of each,” Eick said. “For chicken, figure everyone gets one a piece and have half a dozen more.”

Keep it cold

Worried about real estate space in the refrigerator? Turn your coolers into one by filling with blocks of ice or by freezing gallon-size containers of water to make your own. Just be sure to switch out the ice every day.

Also be sure to have other necessities on hand, such as a few 2-inch and 4-inch catering pans to serve food. Food can be placed in 2-inch pans on top of 4-inch pans filled with either ice or hot water to chill or to keep the food warm.

Eick first started catering 24 years ago. Inspired by her mom, Elsa Fink, mother-in-law, Helen Eick and Aunts Mildred Delmonte and Norma Harling, all of Lockport area, she created a cater business that is well known in the community. She also credits her children, Meghan, 28, Greg, 30, and Mandy, 31, and her employees for helping to create a business that “I just took a call from an attorney’s office in Buffalo who said they would change the date of their event so that I could cater it,” she said. “That happens to me a lot.”

“I just took an ounce of this from my family and a spoon of that, and that makes up my life,” she said.

Starting off by doing church dinners and volunteer work, her confidence grew as well as her reputation. Her latest endeavor, a restaurant named Bites on the Boardwalk in Olcott, features unique dishes made daily, such as the sea dog and broccoli salad, that are found nowhere else.

But with all of her success, she says she would be nowhere without her co-workers.

“I have wonderful employees by my side,” she said.

To add tasty and original signature dishes created by Eick herself, try the recipes below.

Buffalo wing salad

1 pound any pasta, strained and cooled

1 quart blue cheese dressing (any kind you like)

1/2 grilled cooked chicken diced

1/2 cup thinly sliced celery

1/2 cup thinly sliced baby carrots (save a little bit of the chicken, celery, and carrots to use as decoration later)

1/8 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce

1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles (save a few to decorate the top)

Make sure all ingredients are cool before mixing all ingredients together. Decorate the top of the salad with a bit of chicken, celery, carrots and crumbles.

Serves 20-24

Sub salad

1 pound any pasta, cooked, strained and cooled

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tbsp. dried oregano (mix pasta, oil and oregano and cool in the refrigerator)

1/2 pound thinly sliced salami

1/2 pound thinly sliced ham

1/2 pound thinly sliced provolone

1 head of iceberg or romaine lettuce, thinly sliced

1 pint of grape tomatoes, cut in half

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Note: All of the lunch meat can be cut and stored in individual plastic bags days in advance and stored in coolers

Mix lettuce and pasta, then save a little bit of the rest of the ingredients to decorate the top. Add 3 cups of Italian dressing. Mix together, decorate the top and place on a pan over ice to keep cool.

Serves 20-24.

Chocolate chip cookie bar

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla pure extract

3 cups flour

12-ounce bag of chocolate chips

Mix sugars, soda and baking powder in a bowl. Add eggs, vanilla and flour and half of the bag of chocolate chips. Mix, but be careful not to over-beat.

Spread cookie batter on parchment paper on a jelly roll pan. Press remainder of chocolate chips on top of dough and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

If you want to use mint chocolate chips, use all white sugar instead.

Elizabeth Page is a freelance reporter for Niagara Living Magazine.