Recession Entertaining

Jun 11, 2009 by Katelin

So today I was a little down.  As someone who loves to entertain, being broke after paying for a wedding, and having your house out of commission for a bit while contractors are working is a bit hard.

But then I remembered something.  I am Katelin Taylor and never have such small things kept me from having a great time hosting friends.  I have been a broke student most of my life.  And I have plenty of friends who have even offered to do the hosting if I plan the event, or invited me to do cool stuff at their place (props to one of my coolest friends in Baltimore that suggested we make Ginger Ale from scratch together.  You can find the recipe and instructions here.   Some of the ingredients may be a tad bit pricey, but you don’t need to much of them and think how fun it will be.)  So Yay my gracious friends, and the spirit of innovation.

Then I thought to myself that you my readers might like to know how to entertain well, even if you don’t have somewhere to entertain or much cash on hand.

So I decided to post a few suggestions and an offer for you to give me other ideas:

Picnic at a park.  Yep all the cool kids are doing it.   It is all over the message boards.   Even restaurants are having backyard grilling like this event at Evening Star Cafe:

The Big Summer Backyard BBQ
This Sunday At The Evening Star Cafe
Sunday, June 14 | From 12:00 – 7:00
Join us outdoors at the Evening Star Cafe this Sunday for a fun neighborhood afternoon full of food, beer, wine and friends. We roast a whole pig or two, serve housemade hot dogs, corn on the cob, seafood skewers and cool summer soup – along with fresh lemonade, a slew of craft brews, and at least a half-dozen of our favorite summertime wines.
Open Fire Pig Roast
Homemade Red Apron Hot Dogs
Shrimp Skewers & Fresh Corn
6 Craft Beers On Tap
6 Summertime Wines
Tons Of Fun For Everyone
All are invited and theres no fee to attend. Tickets will be sold for all food and drinks at the event and yes, we’ll have a tent just in case it rains. For more information, call 703.549.5051. Reservations are not necessary.

So call up some people and check out some of the great parks Arlington has to offer.  We live in Ballston and have a park that allows grilling and has picnic table a block from the house.

Bon Air Park on Wilson Boulevard has picnic tables, grills, volleyball, tennis, a walking and bike trail, even a playground- so your friends with kids might actually come.  Arlington Parks Service has a great sight where you can look up park features, rent space online, even reserve a tennis court.  I think they have a great website that is really useful, especially this time of year (when it doesn’t thunderstorm every night of course).Â

Low on the moola?  Catch another great trend that is resurfacing: potluck.  Throwing a swank shindig can be expensive, but when times are tough people want to see each other more than ever.  The bonus is summer potluck is easier and cheaper than any other season.  You can make or even buy great pasta or potato salad relatively cheap.  Hot dogs, sandwiches, lemonade all pretty easy on the budget.  And everyone has a friend who makes awesome brownies for any potluck they go to.  I never snub the great American tradition of Hotdogs on the grill, and sometimes a sandwich can be pure heaven, so hey why not.  Just try to communicate with people so you don’t have twelve seven layer dips and offer useful cheap items for people struggling for ideas.

Have other great ideas for hosting people either sans place, or sans moola?  Please post or email me.  I will feature other ideas and tips as they come to me and would love to hear what you are doing.  Bonus points if you hit both criteria.

Related posts:

1. Recession Entertaining- Wii Party Game Nights have been around for ages, but a couple...