Summer hosting: everything you need for a dinner, a girls' trip or a kids' party

The Guardian

a day ago

There is something so deliciously informal about summer hosting. Gone are the elaborate table lays, multiple courses and floral arrangements of the colder months. In exchange, we simply dust off the garden furniture, open a pack of olives and hope for the best. Picnics in the park segue straight into rosé-fuelled suppers – usually under the dappled shade of a tree your partner has been aspiring to prune since the sun first appeared.
Through these little moments with family and friends, it becomes apparent that hosting is more than a hobby; it's a love language. Independently of what's served at the table, hosting is a way of providing meaningful in-person interactions in an age when much of our lives feel digitised and somewhat mundane.
I learned my dinner party talents from my grandmother, who – despite being quick to tell me to not over-gild the lily – would throw the most gorgeous dinner parties: three courses, handmade pastry and paired wines. Tucked up in bed, I used to hear people laughing through the floorboards late into the night, and feel electric at the thought of being able to one day curate that environment myself.
Fast forward to my adult life, and I think that a lot of us feel we don't have the time to be handmaking anything: focused for now on climbing a career ladder, raising children, or even just nursing a hangover. Thankfully, we have Ocado: with high quality produce, ease of delivery and a plethora of quality pre-prepped options, it helps me maintain the community and soul of hosting, without overstretching myself. No matter the occasion, Ocado can deliver. Here's how I would bring some of the most special summer moments to life …
Every summer as young adults, my friends and I used to pile into my parents' home in Devon, with very little planned other than escaping the heat of London and working on some competitive tan lines. In typical post-teen arrogance, we had yet to acquire driving licences so organising a food shop in advance was paramount, and it usually featured a concerning amount of tequila.
'Special moments demand a suitably special menu'
Years later, we're still escaping London together, still with the same urgency for a celebratory drink, but now less to do with the end of exams, and more likely to do with engagements, house moves and pregnancies. Special moments like these demand a suitably special menu, and Ocado has everything you need to make the weekend sparkle. With an Ocado order due the evening we arrive, we head to our destination in eager anticipation. A girls' getaway awaits.
The first night catch-upAs anyone who's been on a girls' weekend away will know, the night of arrival is usually unexpectedly intense, all excitement at bagsying the best bedrooms and catching up. Having food ready to go is key. First call of duty is drinks and nibbles: Gran Luchito lightly salted tortilla chips and Ramona's original houmous does the dream 'girl dinner' make. Add a pre-chilled bottle of Daylesford Chateau Leoube sparkling Provence rosé for a sense of celebration. Unpacking can wait; it's time to gather around the kitchen table (or if the weather's being kind, the garden) and toast to the years gone by. Though the friendships might have stayed the same through the years, individual life stages have shifted a bit. With at least one of the group usually expecting or pumping, it's nice to provide an alternative. I tried the Wild Idol alcohol free 0.0% sparkling rosé while I was postpartum and it's the closest I got to replicating the ceremonial ambiance a glass of fizz creates. Alcoholic or alcohol-free – it's nice for everyone to feel involved.
Once we're swept up in chat, we don't want a high-maintenance main course. I'd probably serve something fresh, zingy and quick like the M&S king prawn skewers with chilli, garlic & paprika alongside grilled zephyr courgettes and a grain salad on the side. For pudding? Trufru chocolate strawberries and Pukpip dark chocolate banana bites; they're the right side of indulgent (chocolate on a girls' trip is a must) without overloading you just before sleep. It would be remiss not to acknowledge that a bottle of Casamigos Reposado tequila has slipped into our delivery … a nod to our previous partying prowess. Did anyone remember the limes?
'Having food ready to go is key'
The second day jauntDay two is more wholesome: a coastal walk with an Italian inspired picnic. Heads are slightly sore, but spirits are high after spending the morning sitting on each other's beds nursing coffee and rehashing details from the night before. With partners back at home, there is some initial bickering about who'll carry the picnic bags, but thankfully Ocado delivered the Three Rivers cool bag, and that's deemed aesthetic enough for someone to take charge.
We squeeze into as few vehicles as possible and head to the coast, blasting the playlist that saw us through our uni clubbing days. About 40 yards from the car park is where lunch is first suggested, but one of us has Google Maps and a Duke of Edinburgh bronze award, so we muster onwards until we find a suitably aesthetic viewpoint. No trusty bench, but the Three Rivers picnic blanket and picky bits – the dream. Out come the M&S semi-dried tomatoes & Italian mozzarella, M&S Italian vignola prosciutto and M&S dressed pesto houmous with breadsticks. A few of us are valiant enough to brave 'hair of the dog' so we open the Mirabeau x Fever Tree rosé spritz, a milder option for lunchtime drinking with branding that feels as nostalgically Famous Five as we do in our 'hiking chic' outfits. After lunch, we finish the walk with a dip and detour to a local ice-cream shop. With sand between our toes and the sound of chatter from the group as we drive back, it's hard to imagine a better place to be.
The final day adieus For the morning of our last day, brunch is a game of 'finish the fridge' resulting in an eclectic smorgasbord of leftovers. Outfits are reallocated to their correct owners and bags are zipped before we sit down for our last meal. Thankfully I've thought ahead and added a Moju ginger dosing bottle to the delivery so everyone can energise themselves before reuniting with the family. Before the girls pile into their respective raisin-and-toy-cluttered cars, I slip a Jude's flat white coffee milkshake into each of their cup holders – a treat for the traffic as they hit the motorway. These are the moments of being a hostess that mean the most – it doesn't need to be labouring at a stove to prove your culinary prowess, but just a little gesture that says 'I see you and I love you', from stocking their favourite drink in your fridge, to ordering a postpartum Ocado delivery to their door.
My daughter's first birthday party is probably the best example of hosting with heart. In the lead up to the day, I felt unexpectedly vulnerable. I had changed so much from a naive pregnant girl to a woman who had raised a baby through her first year and I think part of me was grieving the loss of those first months of her babyhood. So much of motherhood is yearning for them to reach amazing new milestones, while also feeling loss as they outgrow parts of their younger identity – it's wanting all versions of them simultaneously.
'A garden party is the perfect way to celebrate a child's birthday'
In my day-to-day life, I'm a frivolous person with a penchant for making a statement; but for sentimental milestones, I pivot and exclusively want something simple and nostalgic. I was like this with my wedding dress too. When the event itself has so much emotional weight, you don't need the bells and whistles for it to feel special. I think a garden party is the perfect way to celebrate a child's birthday and just because you're at home doesn't mean you can't outsource some of the prep. An Ocado delivery the day before alleviates some of the mental load.
Decorations and games
If you have kids, chances are your sitting room is as scattered with toys as mine. The truth is we all have sufficient ways to entertain children, but it's nice to bring the group together with some new activities. Under the shade, I would set up a teddy bear's picnic with the Rex London wooden tea playset. Using existing soft toys as decoration is a great way to ensure you're not consuming one-trick wonders for a party, and you could pop a little party hat on each of the teddies; it'll look really sweet and is always a hit with the quieter children. For the more energetic kids, I'd add the Rex London skittles set to my basket – nominally for the youngsters, this game also attracts the dads as the party progresses, and scoring a strike soon becomes a niche form of suburban peacocking. Lastly, I would order the Rex London chalk eggs. My daughter adores using these on our patio and it inadvertently adds such a sense of whimsy to a party to have pastel children's drawings decorating the floor. Then, instead of party bags, I'd do a slice of cake and a Hoot bubble wand each – my daughter is young, so one larger item is a better bet than lots of small bits.
'Pop a little party hat on each of the teddies; it'll look really sweet'
For the kidsMy husband will of course be at the BBQ – potentially a more productive way to peacock. DukesHill Lincolnshire sausages cook really well on a grill and I'd serve them into Ocado sliced hot dog rolls with lashings of ketchup; such a failsafe. I'd offer this alongside bowls of M&S sweet potato fries and some optimistic cucumber batons. I love the Wholegood organic wonky cucumbers for this. As tableware, the Talking Tables summer bon paper plates because I'm wiser than letting flocks of toddlers near my china. It wouldn't be an English garden party without serving Belvoir elderflower cordial for the kiddies and alcohol-free adults, and then for pudding, Ocado's British strawberries and the Jude's very vanilla multipack: handy pre-portioned tubs of ice-cream in a beautifully whimsical pastel stripe.
For the adultsFirst birthdays especially feel like more of a celebration for the parents than the baby, so it's nice to make the event enjoyable for the adults too. Serve in ice buckets for low maintenance hosting: The Uncommon English bubbly rosé multipack (which I tried at an event and was so pleasantly surprised by), Laylo sauvignon blanc (an English based company that will make you rethink tinned wine) and bottles of Birra Moretti. It would be remiss to not point out that I have also picked these drinks for their colour palettes, chosen to fit with the pastel themes throughout. Speaking of surreptitiously sneaking in colour, I would pop Yvonne Ellen picnic wine glasses next to the drinks to prevent uproar at the tinned wine offerings.
For food, though a few wayward hot dogs will absolutely make their way to the adults, I would also serve some M&S antipasti sharing platters and bags of sea salt & balsamic vinegar of Modena Kettle chips to tide stomachs over until cake o'clock. As the cake is served, I would also add cans of premixed Pimm's No1 with lemonade to the ice buckets – Victoria sponge and Pimms is a truly British combination that's enough to make anyone feel patriotic. No cucumbers required.
This is my bread and butter and how I built up my original following online. Some of my favourite people to host are the hardest to pin down: my goddaughters' parents, my brother, friends who (unlike me) find themselves in gainful employment. Usually the busier they are, the better dinner party company they are – coming to the table full of tantalising stories about a demanding industry or an area I know little about. The best kind of dinner party is when you mix these groups. When your table is full of diverse and dynamic people, it almost feels like a materialisation of how full your life is. When the group is so good that the conversation flows freely, it doesn't really matter if the food isn't made from scratch. Enter, Ocado …
'If you come to my house, you're going to leave thoroughly spoiled'
The table layI am the kind of person who thrives off in-person interaction, so I may not text you hourly but if you come to my house, you're going to leave thoroughly spoiled. The start of this process is the table lay and for a soiree, I go all out. Coupes for champagne, Villeroy & Boch Vivo red wine glasses for Hugo spritzes and their white wine glasses for supper pairings – name a drink, and I've laid the glassware for it. All of this adorning a freshly pressed tablecloth. Then, to inject some colour, the Duralex Picardie jungle green tumblers, echoed by two green candle holders at the centre of the table and eucalyptus in stem vases along the length.
The meal As for what I'd serve, when I imagine my dream dinner party there are a few of my closest friends there who have dietary requirements (namely a pesca-vegan). It can make people feel unseen if they're not catered to, so I like to start the meal with a wide range of nibbles. The great thing about summer is that it's much easier to serve chilled food, meaning you can prep anywhere from hours to a day in advance, depending on your time. The night before, I would use the Sound Seafood smoked boneless mackerel fillets to make a paté with lemon and cream cheese, notably heavy on the horseradish. This can then chill in the fridge until just before guests arrive, when I'd serve it as a starter surrounded by plain salted crisps, crudites such as chicory and breakfast radishes (a soak in iced water adds to the peppery crunch) alongside hunks of hearty brown bread. To take this dip to the next level for my guests, I'd top it with Elsinore trout caviar. Simultaneously, I would open some M&S Collection giant nocellara olives which are just such a showstopper – creamy, glossy and briny, they are the Chanel of olives. For those who don't eat fish, I'd serve a pot of M&S Collection red pepper & walnut dip.
As a main, it would be remiss to not make the most of Ocado stocking Isle of Wight speciality tomatoes. They are the most flavoursome, beautiful vine tomatoes, so hypnotic in their eclectic colouring and size that I've even been known to drape them along the table as a decorative centrepiece. Here though, we roast them. Wrap a head of garlic in tinfoil and pop in a tray alongside your tomatoes on the vine (covered generously in M&S organic extra virgin olive oil). Roast low until bursting, before removing the vines and blending with mascarpone, fresh basil and the roasted garlic bulbs for a deliciously simple tomato sauce that pairs perfectly with linguine and grated parmesan.
'Drinks are arguably the most important part of the meal'
The drinksAnd now we reach the drinks, arguably the most important part of the meal. What you serve is going to dictate the vibe of the evening and so naturally I'd start with two bottles of chilled Nyetimber classic cuvee. This sparkling wine is the signature product of the south England-based vineyard: complex, elegant and intense, it's the perfect drink for an adults-only soiree. After a toast, I then like to follow with an offer of cocktails before we settle into wine.
For a cold grazing platter, it has to be the trending drink of the moment: a Hugo spritz. For the spritz to be right, you will need St Germain French elderflower liqueur, Bombay Sapphire gin, Faldeo prosecco, mint and soda water. As a non-alcoholic cocktail option, I cannot rave about Botivo enough. I first tried this aperitif at Club Soda, the sober-curious store in Covent Garden, and Bovito has since gone on to collaborate with giants of the gastronomic world, such as Berry Bros, Ottolenghi and Maison François. Serving Botivo at a dinner party is a subtle way of communicating that you're in the culinary know. As we move on to our main course, I'm pairing the pasta with Bowl Grabber vinho verde – an affordable and well-rated Ocado wine. Concessions have to be made somewhere in the budget and with a wine this good, no one will even know it's happened.
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