Casual & Chic BBQ

What better way to gather friends and family then with a relaxed and easy backyard BBQ. That's exactly what we did for Mother's Day this year, with some of my favorite Mothers... My Mom, my Aunt Debi who is like a sister/mom, My sister Mandy who is due with her first babe this August and my Boobie, the Queen B. Aunt Debi better known now as the Garden of Eatin' invited the whole gang over to celebrate. There were 20 people coming over. Here's how Debi made this BBQ easy and relaxed for herself and her guests... 1. Make it an easy menu: Burgers, hot dogs, grilled corn, salads, a chip bar and dessert. 2. Delegate: Aunt Debi asked all of the "daughter's" to bring salads. 3. Serve a signature drink: We made a rose sangria with fresh fruit and mint. It was so good, Boobie was throwing back a glass of it... 4. Use pretty paper plates: Don't kill yourself with washing the dishes for this size of a party. Unless you have enlisted some help, make it disposable. There are so many pretty plates out there today...you can find these in our Little Miss Party in a Box! Add some fresh flowers to the table and ask your husband to turn the napkins into roses (that's right, who knew Uncle Steve was so crafty?!) and you've got yourself one heck of a tablescape. 5. Eat cake. We had a birthday to celebrate so Aunt Debi went ahead and made her famous marble cake. Well not just her marble cake...but four layers of it! She slathered it with chocolate buttercream frosting and then we were eating cake for days to follow. I'm not complaining. She also asked my mom to bring some cupcakes and cookies. And my sister brought the fruit. The perfect dessert assortment. The photos above were all taken by the Garden of Eatin'. She is sharing her recipes for the burgers and cake on her blog Simply Beautiful Eating.