We live in a part of the country which I will admit has summer fun written all over it……however a lot of the fun we have here is that the locals here our extremely laid back and welcoming. We meet about twice a month a group of friends at a local park for concert music and family fun. The whole family is invited and everyone is required to bring a couple of dishes and their families main meat. The thing I like about this kind of entertaining when the weather is nice is that their does not have to be a hostess the park is the hostess and their are bathrooms and water fountains provided. There is plenty of play area for the children and many of the families bring bubbles, bocci, and we always bring a frisbee for our son. Pets are invited as long as they behave! There is something about a summer night, a grilled turkey brat, friends, music, and a cheap glass of chardonnay.
The last time we went my daughter who is 15 did not want to go so we let her bring a friend and they had an incredible time. My son plays with kids from 4 to 14 and he has a great time! I was asked last weekend to bring an appetizer and dessert. I brought spinach dip which I made with Lipton Secrets but you could always use Knorr or even a generic brand. Everyone raved over my dip! For dessert I made banana bread which as a frugalite I have a ton of frozen bananas in my freezer so this too was a very simple easy frugal dish! This was gobbled up just as quickly.
The next day my husband and I were like most of what we brought we had already had on hand or purchased on sale so this evening cost us about ten dollars for the five of us and lets just say there is no where else we can go out to eat for that price tag unless we are being invited over to someone else’s home.
However for me its not just about the money where else could I hang out with my friends where we talk a little bit, eat a little bit, dance a little bit, play a little bit. We don’t have to worry about upsetting a waiter or waitress because we stay from 6 til 9:30. There is no tip to calculate we just all pitch in to make it a successful evening! Some people bring tables and huge coolers. We always put our food out on someone’s tailgate but we bring a cooler as well. If my son reaches in to the wrong cooler to grab out a drink no one is upset we just all share all our goodies. The next time you want to get together with your friends think about meeting at a park and check your local area listings for summer concerts or fall events.