Food & Party Planning Ideas
Fall For Outdoor Dining
Celebrate the Season with Outdoor Entertaining Ideas from Wilton
Outdoor dining is not just for summer anymore. Today, more and more people are transforming their outdoor spaces into extended living areas and enjoying time with friends and family al fresco. With new products ranging from outdoor fireplaces and heaters to deluxe grills and elaborate furniture, homeowners are able to make the most of their open-air spaces much later in the season.
"With comfortable temperatures, beautiful scenery, and the sounds and smells of leaves underfoot, fall is an ideal time to entertain outdoors," said Nancy Siler, vice president of consumer affairs, Wilton Enterprises. “With the right menu, your outdoor meal can be a true celebration of the many delicious foods unique to the season.”
Be Corny
Two of the most symbolic autumn foods are corn and pumpkins. So, serve them up with Wilton's Cornbread Pumpkins. Simply bake cornbread mixed with Cheddar cheese in a 9x13" sheet pan. When cool, cut individual pieces with a large metal pumpkin cookie cutter and serve.
Spice Things Up
What better to serve with cornbread than a delicious pot pie? Not too heavy, but warm and comforting, Harvest Salsa Pie combines ground beef and vegetables from the harvest, blended with a tasty salsa kick. For added autumn flair, cut leaves from remnant pie crust using Wilton's six-piece Harvest Mini Metal Cutter Set. Paint the leaves in seasonal colors using pesto spread, barbecue sauce, mustard and ketchup. Decorate the salsa pie crust with the pastry leaves, bake and serve.
The Apple of Your Eye
No meal is complete without a sweet dessert. This rich Caramel Apple Cheesecake will bring delight to your dinner party with some of the season's best. Simply fold apples and cinnamon into a rich, sour cream cheese cake batter and pour into a graham cracker pie crust. Frosted with a sour cream topping and drizzled with caramel, this rich dessert is sure to be the perfect indulgence to top off your harvest meal.
A New Trend in Entertaining
People are entertaining at home and they're spending more and more of that time in their own backyard:
- Citizens are connecting at home: Americans seek comfort and connection with others. And more so than ever, this is found at home. (2003 Yankelovich MONITOR®)
- Homeowners are focusing on outdoor spaces: When asked what one feature they would add to their home if they could, homeowners said: deck (16 percent), water feature or pond (16 percent), pool (15 percent), patio (11 percent), garden (10 percent), porch (nine percent). (USA Today, 2002)
- Products make it easier to be outdoors later in the season: Outdoor fireplace sales rose 17 percent in Q3 2002 compared with a year earlier. (Hearth, Patio & Barbeque Association, 2002)
