the
great Summer
party
guide
What you hold in your hands is
a basic users’ guide to
summer
We know, like every New Zealander you feel you are equipped
from birth with the natural ability to enjoy the lazy, hazy, crazy
days, of a hummer of a summer down under.
It can be a hectic time. It’s not just summer. It’s Christmas.
It’s New Year. It’s the school holidays. It’s the family vacation.
It’s the road trip. It’s beaches and barbies. It’s long weekends
and daylight saving. And it’s all arriving at once. So here are a
few helpful hints about how to get you and your family through
the best and the worst of it, by being the host with the most
this summer.
Have a great summer.
food
GLORIOUS
food
It used to be that food in summer fell in to two distinct categories:
- Food that can be cooked on a BBQ and�
- Food to be eaten with food that can be cooked on a BBQ.
But the days of Dad taking a handful of bangers
and turning them into fossil fuel are gone.
There is just no excuse for a burnt banger in a
bun. Having said that, sometimes only a sausage
sammie and sauce will do the trick.
Another trick to remember when you are hosting a
BBQ or beach party this summer is making sure
there is plenty of food available when people are
having a drink. Chippies are not a magic sponge
and we all know what can happen when people
drink on an empty stomach.
Some other helpful ways of avoiding cousin Kevin
turning into an embarrassing wreck is to not keep
serving drinks or topping up the glasses.
Having some interesting non-alcoholic drinks can
help people to pace themselves.
Check out the yummy recipes on the next few
pages to get your taste buds in the right mood for
summer...
bbq
Marinated
steak
For about 1kg steak:
2 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp wine vinegar
1 Tbsp sesame oil (optional)
Measure the marinade ingredients into a screw-top jar and shake to combine. Place the beef in an
un-punctured plastic bag and add the marinade mixture. Massage the bag so the beef is covered with
the marinade, then set aside for 30 minutes or longer (refrigerate overnight if desired).
Preheat the barbecue and oil the grill or hot plate lightly. Lift the steaks from the marinade and place
them on the barbecue. Cook the steaks for about 3 minutes per side (you may need to vary the cooking
time depending on the thickness of the steak and how rare you want it). Remove the steaks from the
barbecue and allow to rest for about 5 minutes, before serving.
Variation: For something a little different, try using this marinade on skirt steak (which comes in larger
pieces, each about 500g). Score the outside of the steak lightly, then marinate as above. Cook the steak
as above but increase the cooking time to 5-6 minutes per side. Rest the cooked steak for
5 minutes, then slice it thinly with a knife held at 45 degrees to the board. Pile the thinly sliced
steak into split French bread or rolls.
Smoked
Tuna
+ Cream Cheese Dip
For about 1 1/2 cups:
250g lite cream cheese
1 lemon
185g can smoked flavored tuna in spring water
1-2 Tbsp chopped herbs (eg parsley and/or dill)
1-2 tsp hot pepper sauce (optional)
Place the cream cheese in a bowl. Finely grate the zest of half the lemon and squeeze the juice.
Add the zest and juice to the cream cheese, then stir to mix.
Open and drain the tuna. Tip the drained tuna into the cream cheese mixture and add the herbs and
pepper sauce, if using. Stir until evenly mixed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
To serve: Sticks of carrot, cucumber, celery, radish, red or yellow peppers, pita bread wedges or crisps,
sliced French bread, crackers etc.
Pita bread wedges: Warmed pita bread wedges are a great way to make a dip or spread more substantial.
Arrange pita breads on an oven tray, then brush (or spray) one side lightly with oil. Place the tray in an
oven preheated to about 180°C for about 5 minutes or until they are lightly browned. Remove from the
oven and cut into wedges as soon as they are cool enough to handle.
For pita bread crisps, lay the pita breads flat on a board. Holding a knife parallel to the board, carefully
cut the pita breads into two thinner layers (this is easier with some different brands of pita breads).
Cut the halved bread into wedges and arrange on oven trays. Spray lightly with oil, then bake in an oven
preheated to 180°C for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Cool and use immediately or
store in an airtight container until required.
tropical
Fruit
Salad
3 kiwi fruit
10-12 strawberries
3/4 cup orange-and-mango
fruit juice
1/4
cup coconut cream (optional)
1 tsp fresh mint, finely chopped
Peel the mangoes and remove the flesh from the stones. Cut into pieces (similar in size to canned
peaches). Using a sharp knife remove the skin from the pineapple. Remove the core and chop the flesh
into small pieces. Peel the bananas and kiwi fruit and chop into bite-sized pieces. Rinse the strawberries
and cut in half.
Combine all the fruit in a large bowl. Add the fruit juice and coconut cream. Transfer to a serving
bowl and sprinkle with mint. Cover with Gladwrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour
before serving.
Pacific Heartbeat Team, National Heart Foundation
5 mangoes
1 small-to-medium pineapple
3 large bananas
HOW TO
KEEP THE KIDS (AND
AND YOURSELF]
ENTERTAINED
Summer holidays are all about having fun together – and kids will always have more
fun if you play too. Some of the best laughs are watching Dad fall over at Twister, or
Mum jumping with fright at Snap! And a great summery party is about having fun
with your family and friends.
Mix in plenty of things you can all do together
during the party, instead of just eating and drinking.
Here are a few ideas. But get creative and come
up with your own as well.
SLIDES
If you have a sloping bank and a cardboard box,
you have the perfect kids’ distraction this summer.
Bust open a couple of large cardboard boxes for
sleds, get the kids to sit on the cardboard holding
up the front and shove them off down the slope.
They’ll spend hours skidding and sliding. But be
warned. It will look like so much fun, you’ll want
to have a go too.
Or you could try a long strip of plastic and a
garden hose waterslide.
Make sure you find a space that’s far away from
roads and driveways so they won’t run into any
trouble. Before the kids get started, check the
area for any sticks, stones or broken glass and get
them to go one at a time to avoid bumping heads.
TREASURE HUNT
Bury a prize in the sand give them a few clues
and they’ll be going for hours. You never know
they might find a few rings and watches while
they’re at it. You can play this inside on rainy
days too.
KITES
No better way to make use of a windy day.
And there are bound to be a few this summer.
You could even try making your own.
HOW TO KEEP THE KIDS AND YOURSELF ENTERTAINED
continued...
GO LO TECH
RETRO
Get some of the old board games out. Odds are
that your kids have forgotten how much fun
Twister, Monopoly, Cluedo and or Drafts can be.
It’s the same with cards. A game of Snap! can
have everyone on the edge of their seats.
You can’t beat the trusted games that kept you
entertained as a kid. Remember sack, threelegged and egg and spoon races, and elastics
using an old pair of stockings? Then there’s hide
and seek, musical chairs and pass the parcel.
Knuckle bones and pickup sticks are always good
fun too – and you can make your own with stones,
straws or kebab sticks.
classics
Get out all the old sports gear for a game of
backyard cricket, touch, softball or frisbee.
For big groups ‘Simon says’ and charades never
fail to get a laugh.
HAVE A THEME
It’s always tricky to come up with the perfect party theme, so why not road test a few of these
this summer:
Circus / Cheap / Creepy / Coro St / Chess / Croquet / Cricket / Geeks / Girly
Garden / Gaudy / Grunge / Gnomes / House / Horror / Heroes / Hotel
Hair (the musical) / Heartthrobs / Isosceles triangles / Interesting / Icy
Infomercial / The letter I / Kiwianna / Killer whales / Karaoke / Karate / Kinky
Kings & Queens / Lycra / (famous) Lovers / Ladies’ night / Leprechaun
Leisure / Leopard print / Queen / Quiet / Quirky / Quick / Quarantine
Undercover / Umbrella / Upside-down / Under-the-sea / Uni-student
Vet / Vegetable / Vegas / Vanity / Victorian / Wet / Weta workshop / Weird
Witches & Wizards / World / WWW dot / WWF / Williams / X-treme sports
Xray / X-files / X-tremists / Zoo / Zorro / Zigzag / Zoolander / Zips & buckles.
Soy
chicken
pieces
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2-3 tsp root ginger, finely chopped
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Remove the skin from the chicken and cut the
chicken into 8 pieces as follows:
Place the chicken on a strong chopping board.
Pull out each leg and cut through the natural line
which separates the leg from the breast. Divide
the legs into thighs and drumsticks. Separate the
breasts from the carcass by filleting as cleanly as
possible from the rib cage. Bend the wings back
and cut through the joints between the bones.
Save the wings and carcass for making soup.
Cut the breasts in two lengthways.
Arrange the chicken pieces in a roasting or
casserole dish. Combine the soy sauce, tomato
sauce, garlic and ginger and pour over the chicken.
1 Tbsp cornflour
1/2 cup water
Cover and cook at 160°C for 40 minutes. Turn
over the chicken pieces and cook at 135°C for
a further 30 minutes or until tender.
To make the sauce, drain the cooking juices into
a small saucepan. Scoop the fat from the top of
the cooking juices. Add the lemon juice. Bring to
the boil. Mix the cornflour and water to a smooth
paste, add gradually to the saucepan and stir
until thickened.
Pour the sauce over the chicken pieces and return
to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
Pacific Heartbeat Team, National Heart Foundation
1 chicken, size 8
2 Tbsp soy sauce (low salt)
1 Tbsp tomato sauce
corn
fritters
For 3-4 servings:
1 cup self-raising flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup soda water or
low fat milk
2 Tbsp Thai sweet chilli sauce
1 tsp each cumin and paprika
425g can whole kernel corn,
drained
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
2-3 Tbsp chopped coriander
1 medium red (or green) pepper,
diced
Small amount of oil to fry
(see below)
Measure the flour into a medium sized bowl.
Add the eggs, beer (or other liquid), chilli sauce,
spices and salt, then stir together to make a
smooth batter.
Cook batches of fritters for 3-5 minutes per side
until golden brown, or cakes until they are lightly
browned on both sides and firm when pressed in
the centre.
Open the can of corn and drain the corn well,
then stir the kernels into the batter along with the
remaining three ingredients.
Drain cooked fritters on several layers of paper
towels. Keep cooked fritters or cakes warm in the
oven until all the mixture is cooked, then serve
immediately topped with the salsa above, or bowls
of sweet chilli sauce.
Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan – for
‘traditional’ fritters you will need oil 5-10mm
deep, or for corn cakes, rather than fritters use
1-2 tablespoons.
Serve with sweet chilli sauce and sour cream for
dipping.
Oka i’a
raw fish
2 tomatoes
1 small cucumber, seeds removed,
chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/2
green or yellow pepper
1 1/2 cups coconut cream
1 cup water
Rinse the fish and cut into cubes. Place in a shallow dish and cover with the lemon juice. Leave to
marinate for at least 2 hours, or overnight in the fridge.
Drain off the lemon juice. Add the spring onions, cucumber, tomatoes, pepper, coconut cream and
water. Sprinkle with pepper and mix well. Transfer to a serving bowl. Cover with Gladwrap and chill
before serving.
Pacific Heartbeat Team, National Heart Foundation
1kg fresh fish fillets (mullet
or gurnard is best)
Juice of 5 lemons
3 spring onions, chopped
THIRST
QUENCHERS
A glass of orange juice is lovely. Sharp, tangy, cool and sweet. Yes,
one glass is fine. Three glasses? Well, your teeth start to feel a little
furry and your tongue curls a bit at the edge.
You wouldn’t want to spend an entire evening
drinking orange juice. And yet it can often be the
only alternative to alcohol at a party.
In summer people can get very thirsty. A good
innings of beach cricket over the burning sand
can reduce anyone to a panting, sweating,
gasping, beached whale.
So don’t let the only remedy available be alcohol.
There are some really good low alcohol drinks
available now. And there is always a cool
alternative to alcohol. As host you have a real
opportunity to make something memorable with
your own concoctions for non-alcoholic drinks.
Try out a few of these non-alcoholic cocktails
on your friends, they’re sure to please...
Cube Twist
4 wedges lime
1 pinch cinnamon
150mls cola
Ice
Fill your short glass with ice. Squeeze and drop
in the lime wedges. Top with cola and sprinkle
cinnamon on top.
Pineapple Punch
3 cans mashed pineapple
1 litre milk
200gm coconut shreds
Ice cubes
Pour pineapple into a large bowl, add
milk and coconut shreds, add ice to chill,
stir and serve.
Light Fizz
20mls elderflower cordial
3 wedges lime
2 mint sprigs
150mls lemonade
Ice
Fill your tall glass with ice. Squeeze
and drop the lime wedges on top.
Pour all the other ingredients over
the lime wedges. Place in the mint
sprigs and stir well.
Herbal Zest
30mls lemon & ginger cordial
150mls Chi
1 long slice of cucumber
Ice
Place your slice of cucumber into
your tall glass and then fill with ice.
Pour lemon & ginger cordial and top
with chi. Give a quick stir and serve.
Tropical Taste
50mls pineapple juice
50mls cranberry juice
10mls passionfruit pulp
2 wedges orange
Ice
Fill your tall glass with ice. Add the
ingredients in the above order. Stir well.
the good old
And don’t forget
e and Soda and
faithfuls like Lim
Bitters
Lemon, Lime and
PARTY SHOPPING
CHECK LIST
FOOD
PLASTERS & SUNSCREEN
Make sure when you’re serving alcohol that there
is enough food available. Include plenty of variety
and make it substantial, not just chippies and rice
crackers. Remember it’s the holidays so whatever
you don’t use today will probably get eaten tomorrow
(but make sure you clean, cook, cover and chill –
check out www.foodsafe.org.nz for more tips).
Sure as eggs someone is going to stub their toe at
hopscotch, cut their finger slicing tomatoes, or
burn their thumb trying to whip something off the
BBQ. And don’t forget to provide sunscreen and
some spare sun hats so that people don’t end up
burnt.
check out www.foodsafe.org.nz for more tips).
DRINKS
A TORCH
Make sure you have lots of variety and not just
alcohol. People need plenty of fluid on hot days.
Someone is bound to lose his or her wallet or
sunglasses or partner in the night.
RUBBISH BAGS
ANTACID
Have lots available and plenty of bins or bags
dotted around the place. Keep the recycling bin
handy too.
It is still the best thing to settle your stomach after
trying Bob the neighbour’s special chilli sauce.
MUSIC
Check out your stereo and make sure it works
before everyone turns up. Have a guitar around.
There is bound to be someone who can belt out a
tune. Supply some lyric sheets and bring out the
spoons and shakers so everyone can join in.
You’d be surprised how many choruses you know
and how few verses. Spare a thought for your
neighbours when it comes to volume though!
A GOOD SENSE OF HUMOUR
Face it everything is not going to go to plan.
Roll with it.
BE A
RESPONSIBLE
HOST
Host a party your friends and family will want to remember. That means looking after
your guests and making sure they not only have a good time, but that they get home in
one piece. Hosting a party is a big responsibility so here are some ways to make sure
your party goes off without a hitch. Because we’ve all seen the ads and know what can
go wrong when people drink too much.
Plan to do things other than eat and drink
Look after young people around alcohol
The best bit about this time of year is catching up
with people and having fun. Plan fun games or
activities to get people up out of their chairs and
talking and laughing. And try to include people in
your party that may not have plans these holidays.
Keep an eye on everyone, especially young people
around drinks. They’re not as bulletproof as they
think.
Don’t keep serving your friends until they are drunk
If you see someone getting too tiddly, get them to
ease off the alcohol and offer them some coffee or
a yummy non-alcoholic cocktail instead.
Provide substantial food - not just chippies
Chippies and rice crackers are not a magic sponge
and we all know what can happen when people
drink on an empty stomach. Whenever you’re
providing alcohol, provide food that stays in the
body longer and takes time to digest like bread,
pasta, spuds, meat and cheese. Make sure there is
always plenty available and keep passing it around.
And remember to have some vege options too!
Provide appealing low or non-alcoholic drinks
Put as much thought into the non-alcoholic drinks
as the alcoholic ones.... coffee and water are good
but also try some interesting non-alcoholic cocktails
or low alcohol drinks.
Serve alcohol responsibly or not at all
Don’t keep topping up half-full glasses and don’t
push it if someone refuses a drink.
Arrange safe transport for your guests or
somewhere for them to stay
Don’t let people drive home after they’ve been
drinking. Call them a taxi or give them a pillow and
a sleeping bag and point them towards the couch.
THE BEST WAYS
to tell them THE PARTY
IS OVER
Turn the music off or put “I will always love
you” on repeat.
Announce a sing-along. Grab someone’s
hand and start in a boisterous version of
“kumbaya”.
Start serving coffee.
Turn all the lights on.
Ask people to help you with the dishes.
Start vacuuming.
Call taxis/organise transport for people.
Tell them the party is over and to go home
(some people just don’t take hints).
THE SUMMERY
SUMMARY
That’s it.
Hopefully you’ll find a little titbit of information in here that will make your summer
one to remember. And for more tips visit www.hadenough.org.nz
And more importantly we hope your family and friends realise that you really are the
host with the most this summer.
Relax. Enjoy and re-charge those batteries.
AL555
ISBN: 978-1-877373-47-3