So what do you do when it’s your month to host bookclub and there’s a pandemic? I’ve got the solution – host your book club in the driveway!
You can still have an elegant & safe book club gathering, just remember 2 things –
1. space your seating 6 feet apart,
2. and package your food selections in individual servings. That’s it!
That way no one is breathing on everyone else’s food! Oh, and pray for good weather! Still skeptical? Check out this blog post to see how I put on the perfect southern driveway book club evening!
First step, think of your driveway as your outdoor living room! There are five main components that you need to think about in your “room”
- TABLES for serving food,
- LIGHTING if your book club is held after the sun goes down.
- Outdoor POTTED PLANTS that can create added decor elements to you “room”,
- A MENU of items that can be served at room temperature, and a cooler to keep refreshments cold.
- and a CENTERPIECE for your outdoor seating area, such as an outdoor rug.
Here’s some pics of how I set up the party: Food & drinks on the serving table on one end, flanked by our potted Gardenias, and happy yellow Mums – Hello Fall!
And then I arranged the seating (6 feet apart) in front of the Garage door, flanked by these potted lilies, and around my outdoor rug, that was rolled up in the back of the garage. (It’s amazing what you can find in your garage!)
Since the sun set soon after our event started, we used the driveway lights, and I included a homemade light feature using Ball jars & tea lights for the food table. I’m all about ‘Use what you got decorating’!
I love to have a theme when I host Book Club, usually one that is relevant to the book choice. This month’s selection was set in Charleston, South Carolina 🌴, one of my favorite places! So naturally I chose a Southern theme! We read “The Southern Book Club Guide to Slaying Vampires“ by Grady Hendrix, and it was quite the page turner! (I know it sounds crazy, but it was SOO good, I read it in 3 days!!).
However, since the subject matter includes 🧛♂️ vampires, I wanted to create a spooky vibe as well. I thought a black & white color palette lent itself well to both themes – which started with my black and white gingham tablecloth from @amazon (Link here) and extended to my cocktail napkins and cutie black and white striped straws!
To integrate a spooky feel, I added ‘Blood Red’ Sangria to the menu, along with ‘Graveyard’ cookies with a red velvet center and a dark ‘dirt’ cocoa exterior. See recipe for Sangria below and cookie recipe here!
Blood Red Sangria
Course: DrinksDifficulty: Easy8
servings5
minutes4
minutesSimple, elegant sangria recipe with only a few ingredients!
Ingredients
1 bottle (750 ml) red wine (merlot or a Spanish red)
2 cups pomegranate juice
1/4 cup Grand Marnier or any Orange liqueur
2 cups sparkling water
1 orange – sliced
2 cups ice – or frozen wine cubes
Directions
- Mix first 3 ingredients together in a pitcher, stir well and refrigerate overnight, or 4 hours at a minimum.
- Remove from refrigerator and add sparkling water, and stir. Add ice cubes and sliced oranges. Enjoy!
Notes
- Recipe thanks to @cravingsofalunatic.
Next, it would not be a party at my house if I didn’t offer an excellent selection of Vino! So I filled my stainless steel beverage tub from @Frontgate (link here) with sparkling waters, Chardonnay, Prosecco, and a classic Cabernet.
Here is more about my choices from @winestore if you’re interested in really good wine selections that are easy on the budget! If you’re not familiar, Wine Store is a NC based wine retailer that makes shopping for affordable wines easy to all wine drinkers, not just the oenophiles! Check them out!
- Novellum Chardonnay – $10.99 – a great full-bodied white choice that’s not too buttery, with bright lemon-lime & apple flavors
- Overbrook Cabernet – $9.99 – at this price, this Cabernet is a gem! Not heavy on the tannins, with berry & red cherry notes – watch out! it goes down so easy!
- Raffaello Prosecco – $9.99 – My girls love some Prosecco! It’s light, floral bubbles make me so happy! At this price, it will make you happy too!
Of course, if you are serving wine, you need cheese and charcuterie to go along with it! Right?! And since I can’t create a monster charcuterie board for all to graze upon, I decided to use cardboard take-out boxes from @hobbylobby and waxed paper treat bags from @amazon to serve individual cheeseboard servings. (See pics below for what all I included in my individual cheeseboard servings)
I wanted everyone to get a bite of all the best parts of a cheese board. So I just used some extra long toothpicks to skewer some grapes and make some antipasti picks. I simply skewered a cherry tomato, a piece of salami & a mozzarella ball on each one. I then just used the waxed treat bags to package each treat, and packaged them up in the cardboard take out boxes. So everyone had their own!
The final ingredient was probably my favorite – the quintessential Southern hors d’oeuvre, the beloved Cheese Straw!
I have to say, I think I’ve perfected them! It’s an insanely simple recipe, but to make them right, you need a stand mixer with paddle attachment and a cookie press. Don’t even try it without the stand mixer! It has to mix for 15 minutes to get the cheese & butter fully whipped! I ,of course, had to make 2 batches to get the seasoning just right. We like things a little bit spicy in my house, so in my second batch, I doubled the amount of cayenne pepper! Check out my recipe here!
Hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we did! By all accounts, the Driveway Book Club was a huge success! I am lucky to live in a neighborhood with some amazing neighbors, who are now dear friends! Enclave Divas Book Club rocks!!
🥰
