Table Details:

Dinnerware & Serving Dishes c/o Horchow, Matouk Table Linens, Sferra Napkins (in petal), Hudson Grace Napkin Rings, Blue & White Vases, (Claudia Pierlot Dress, on sale)

Summer is almost upon us, just a few short weeks away, and just the thought of it has me craving something refreshing. When I think of summer, backyard barbecues and being with friends and family are the first things that comes to mind. We don’t have a backyard or the warm summer weather but that doesn’t mean we can’t have our loved ones over for an easy summer meal. We’re actually heading to my parent’s house in the foothills this weekend to celebrate my brother’s high school graduation and we’ll be able to get a little bit of everything we love about summer in.

When entertaining, we like to cook as much of the meal as possible without spending the entire day in the kitchen. Shortcuts, like picking up dairy free and gluten free muffins at the market for dessert, definitely help out, especially for those like me that can’t bake. Typically we don’t make any baked goods, so we’ll either ask friends or family to make something or pick up treats at one of our favorite bakeries.

One of my favorite things about entertaining is setting up a proper table to set the mood. It all depends on how much food we’re making and how many people we’re having over, but even for the smallest get-togethers, I still like to set something nice up. I always go overboard on flowers to bring a little bit of the outside in and freshen up the room. For serving, we usually do a buffet style so everybody can pick and choose what they want and how much they want. I recently got this set of five serving trays from Horchow and love how they’re all uniquely different but still cohesive.

Eating a mostly plant based diet, we wanted to serve an entree that could satisfy everyone. Vegetables can still be fun! We found this recipe on Minimalist Baker and used it as inspiration for our Grilled Summer Squash. We cut the 6 Sunburst Squash horizontally so we could grill them for a few minutes on each side. To pour over the Squash we combined 3 tablespoons of Tahini, Juice from 1 Lemon, 1 Tablespoon of Maple Syrup and then added a couple of Tablespoons of water to make the dressing pourable. We topped off with Hazelnuts and Grilled Red Onions. It was delicious super simple and light for summertime.

These Matouk white embroidered placemats have made a home in our dining room. They bring a delicate touch to our vintage Milo Baughman dining room table & Jonathan Adler chairs. These crisp white plates sat atop them for this setting and we finished it off with these Sferra linen napkins in a soft petal shade. I also love these scalloped napkins, these blue and white ones along with this floral Spode dining set.

I rarely make up an entire recipe but often find inspiration from Pinterest and then I improvise from there. I was looking up ideas for crostinis and ended up just going with what was in season at the market. I started with spreading a thin layer of goat cheese, a dollop of raspberry jam, a drizzle of honey, a thin slice of apricot and finished off with rosemary. I heard they were delicious, so we’ll just go with that!

If you have a spiralizer, this Cold Zucchini Noodle Salad is so simple, fresh and yummy. I used the spiralizer on the thinest setting so that the Zucchini Noodles came out the size of spaghetti. To finish the salad I dressed it in Basil Infused Olive Oil, Aglio Olio Spice Mix (Garlic, Parsley, Chili Flakes, Sea Salt), fresh Basil and some lemon zest. This is also a favorite of mine to make for lunch during the week since it’s so quick. For another side dish, we roasted a combo of cauliflower, kale, asparagus and yellow squash in light olive oil and salt and pepper.

Horchow is also having a Memorial Day Sale this weekend: Take 20% off + enjoy Free Shipping on select products at Horchow.com! Use code: MEMORIAL. Offer valid 5pm CST 5/25 – 5/31

Thank you to ShopStyle & Horchow for sponsoring this post.