Autumn Entertaining

Autumn in Phoenix is a time to reconnect. Everyone scatters to their cooler locations during our hot summers, but when the temperatures begin to fall, the sidewalks roll out and the town becomes lively again.

We had missed seeing many of our friends the last few months and decided to have a gathering to celebrate friendships and good health.

I have always believed that the first hour of any event is an indicator of the success or failure of said event. In order to make this extra special, a fall theme was in order.

For the cocktail hour, tailgating came to mind. The front of our home faces east, and at 5:30 p.m. it’s the ideal time to hang out on the front terrace.

Using our vintage 1974 Triumph TR6, the trunk became the basis for the cocktail distribution. I made the banner from old scraps of decorative paper, carefully selecting those patterns that look most like fall.

Since some of our friends drink and others don’t, we always offer both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The non-alcoholic options were apple cider and boxed water. The boxed water is my attempt to cut down on plastic bottled water and can be ordered online at https://boxedwaterisbetter.com.

A deep copper tub is tucked to the right of the TR6’s trunk and houses both red and white wine. My cocktail of the evening was a Clementine Thyme Margarita. The recipe from Hola Jalapeno calls for tangerines but they are not in season yet so I substituted Cuties for the juice. Here is the link to recipe.

The porch and front entrance were colorfully appointed for the season.

After securing their drinks, the guests lingered on the front porch with simple appetizers. A dear friend of mine, Joe Pepe is a fabulous woodworker. I was so delighted and surprised when he sent me this charcuterie board. This is the first time I have used it! To see his amazing creations click here.

Using maple leaf cookie cutters, the cheese shapes add a bit of fun to the fall theme.

This beautifully grained board is 29″ long and 9″ wide ~~the perfect size for entertaining!

In addition to the charcuterie board, I made a Maryland crab dip that was warm and bubbling out of the oven, served with Stacey’s pita chips. Click here for the recipe.

The weather was pleasant and it was a delightful evening under a full moon. Dinner followed on the back porch but that will be a separate post! Looking forward to reconnecting with all of you this fall!