Cute watermelon candle from the segment available at: www.cargoinc.com

White Wine Sangria

bottle white wine
STAR FRUIT OR 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and thinly sliced using a star cutter cut out star shapes
blueberries, strawberries and raspberries
1 cup apple juice
1/2 bunch fresh mint leaves
1 (12-ounce) can seltzer water

Mix ingredients together, add fruit and garnish with mint leaves.
Ice cubes

Makes 8.

Napa Olive Tapenade

1 cup green olives

1 cup black olives

2 Tbls. capers

dash cayenne

1 tsp. Italian seasonings

1 Tbls. parsley

2 Tbls. fresh lemon juice

3 Tbls. pine nuts

2 tsps. garlic

approx. 4 Tbls. olive oil

1 package cream cheese

Put capers, olives, pine nuts, chopped parsley, garlic and olive oil into a food processor and pulse  Season with lemon, cayenne and Italian seasoning.  Adjust seasoning and olive oil as needed.

Use a topping over cream cheese and serve with Lavosh Star Crackers or baguette slices.

*optional cut out tiny stars from roasted red pepper for a cute festive look!

Grilled Skirt Steak Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

Marinade: 1 lb. marinated skirt steak (outer)

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1/2 cup olive oil

2 1/2 Tbls. balsamic vinegar

marinade at least 8 hours or overnight, grill meat to medium doneness.  Cut steak across the grain into very thin slices.

1-2 tablespoons steak seasoning

6 cups chopped romaine lettuce

¼ red onion, thinly sliced

2 avocados, sliced

½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved

⅓ cup blue cheese crumbles

Croutons

2 slices thick cut good quality bread such as sourdough

3 Tbls. olive oil

1 tsp. oregano

½ tsp. garlic powder

Blue Cheese Dressing

1 cup mayo , (I prefer reduced fat olive oil mayo)

¼ cup plain fat free Greek yogurt or sour cream

½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Salt  to taste)

fresh cracked black pepper (to taste)

2 tsps. apple cider vinegar

Cream, half and half or other milk to make a little less thick

½ cup crumbled blue cheese

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes and place in a bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown, toss with oregano. Allow to cool.

While croutons are baking, prepare the blue cheese dressing. In a blender or food processor combine mayo, Greek yogurt, Worcestershire sauce, salt, black pepper, vinegar, and milk and pulse until smooth. Add half of the blue cheese crumbles and pulse again until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and gently stir in remaining blue cheese crumbles. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat your grill to medium heat

Grill steaks 4-5 minutes on each side until cooked to desired doneness. Allow steak to rest for 5 minutes on a cutting board, then thinly slice across the grain or it will be tough!!!!

Arrange salads with lettuce on the bottom, then top with steak, avocados, red onions, tomatoes, croutons, blue cheese crumbles, and blue cheese dressing. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Watermelon Cupcakes

Using round cutter cut out pieces of watermelon, top with cool whip, season sprinkles and sliced almonds, place in green cupcake liner to represent a watermelon!

Sources and Tips:

DIY’s- you can use an inexpensive frame as a tray, just pop in seasonal paper

Layer seasonal ribbon on a white table for an inexpensive a festive table

Cute watermelon candle from www.cargoinc.com  by watermelon dessert

Nod to Southwest-DIY stir sticks, mix in a little faux southwest plants with fresh flowers, I love vintage glasses, recently found some Vintage Blakely Oil and Gas AZ Cactus Glasses for sangria

Signature Cocktail-white wine sangria, use berries, granny smith apple cut out in shape of stars

Appetizer-easy to make olive tapenade served with seasonal star crackers from Lavosh found at Sprouts market

Entrée-main takeaway is your serving steak (skirt steak is so flavorful once marinated and is inexpensive. Grill ahead of time so you are not in the heat of the day behind a grill, melting!!!

Dessert-watermelon cupcakes-so cute, easy, everyone will love! Cut out watermelon with round cutter, top with cool whip and sprinkles, almonds and place in green cupcake liner