Crowd Pleaser

This summer is shaping up the be the summer of visitors- just how we like it! After moving to Boston we knew our time with family and friends would be limited so we are trying to make the most out of the few days we have with everyone on our turf!

This weekend Joey's parents were able to come out and spend some quality time with their boy. We were planning a laid back weekend and kicked it off with a casual dinner at home. Let me tell you, I LOVE having people over. I feel like such a dork doing all of these house project and not having people over to see them, so when we plan on having dinner guests I am all about it.

I wanted to cook something light, because as I mentioned last week, it was HOT! I have big problem eating heavy greasy food when the weather is close to triple digits. It makes me feel like a fatty fatty 2x4.

Our meal was some of my favorites- Lemon Linguini with Chicken, Arugula and Watermelon Salad, and Angel Food Cake with Fresh Berries.  They are all SUPER simple, and you should definitely put them on your list for go-tos on a hot summer night. (I swear in my head I just heard John Travolta and Olive Newton John sing " those suuummmmmer niiiiiiiiiiiiights!!")

This is the exact recipe that I followed for the lemon pasta, and the author is my Mom! When I moved, she wrote a notebook full of all my favorite recipes so that I would be able to have a little taste of home. The photo above tells you exactly what to do and I only strayed from the instructions slightly. First, I used 1lb. of spaghetti instead of linguine and I also added 1 peeled and chopped cucumber to add a little crunch. I was able to prepare this the night before because it is best when it chills in the fridge for 24 hours so all the yummy flavors soak in to the pasta.

I severed the lemon pasta with an arugula and watermelon salad. Another super simple salad that has just 4 ingredients- arugula, cubed watermelon, thinly sliced red onion, and feta cheese. Drizzle with some balsamic vinaigrette and you have a fresh and juicy side for the pasta dish.

We finished off the night with straight out of the box angel food cake, fresh strawberries and blueberries, and fat free whipped cream. I just let the berries marinate overnight in about a tablespoon of sugar and lemon juice to take some of the tartness away. Delish!

All of these recipes can be made a day ahead, so no worrying about clean up or timing everything right, just pull them out of the fridge and serve!

We had a great weekend with Joey's parents and we look forward to having more guests here in bean town.

Anyone else have any go-to summer recipes that are crowd pleasers??

XOXO Katie

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