Complete Make-Ahead Summer Dinner Menu & Recipes

On this page, you will find my complete summertime menu which includes recipes for tossed salad, glazed baked ham, Hawaiian potato salad, country seed bread, Hawaiian punch and even a couple of dessert options. I have been making parts of this meal for up to twenty years and assembling the whole menu periodically for the last eight. As a Mom of teenage boys, lots of food is always welcome and anything that provides delicious leftover possibilites, fantastic!

Of course you can choose whichever components of this meal that you like. You can simplify it by eliminating the baked ham and serving deli ham instead. Or maybe you have your own family-favorite potato salad so you'll take a pass on the one I've included. However you choose to create your menu, I hope you'll enjoy some of the ideas on this page and that some of these recipes will become favorites of yours, too!

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collection of melamine plates.

How would you describe the best-ever glazed baked ham recipe? In my opinion, the recipe for the best baked ham would have to be fairly easy to put together and yield an absolutely delicious result. This recipe does just that. It is actually very easy and the result will melt-in-your-mouth.

Find The Best-Ever Glazed Baked Ham Recipe by clicking right here.

If you would rather shortcut, you can buy a ham and have it delivered, with free shipping, right to your front door by clicking on the ham picture shown above or or by clicking right here.

For a little ham-themed humour, you might enjoy visiting my page, Ham Around With Me.

This oval-shaped earthenware serving platter is handpainted and features...ants and gingham! It is 16 by 11 inches and will do a wonderful job of serving your ham or your hot dogs!

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of Ant picnicware.

The Best-Ever Garden Salad Recipe is a special recipe that I take to potlucks and occasionally make for my family. It is a yummy recipe for a tossed green salad that features a wonderful low-fat dressing.The recipe originates from the Looneyspoons: Low-fat Food Made Fun cookbook authors, Janet and Great Podleski.

To check out The Best-Ever Garden Salad Recipe, click right here.

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tomato print by Lauren Hamilton
from Amazon.

The best salad spinner is The OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner. It is Amazon's bestseller and has also received by far the most five-star Amazon customer reviews. Plus, I can personally vouch for it. We have had this kitchen tool in our kitchen for years and we love it! To read my review and more details about the OXO salad spinner you can click right here.

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Oxo Good Grips Green Salad Spinner
from Amazon.

Potato salad is one of those foods that tastes better the next day. That suits me perfectly on occasions when I want to have part or all of the meal made ahead of time. This one definitely gains a lot of flavour overnight and I wouldn't dream of serving it on the day I made it!

Not the simplest potato salad recipe ever, this is certainly one of the most delicious ones! It contains more vegetables than the average potato salad and a slightly lighter-tasting and healthier dressing that still manages to be true to a mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip) based potato salad.

To find The Best-Ever Potato Salad Recipe, click right here.

The Cold Bowl on Ice is an attractive acrylic bowl that will help keep your salad chilled. You simply fill the base with ice. The cold will travel into the bowl and chill the food. I think that the fact that the bowl is acrylic is a bonus in the summertime when life tends to be more casual. It is break-resistant and dishwasher safe, perfect for The Best-Ever Hawaiian Potato Salad.

Don't use this bowl for transporting your potato salad unless you place it in a cooler with plenty of ice. The real purpose of the Cold Bowl on Ice is to keep your salad cold while it is on the table and people are serving themselves from it.

Click here to keep your salad cold with this
attractive serving bowl from Amazon.

Perfect for keeping your crudites cold, this dish features a deep bottom tray for crushed ice and three food trays that sit above. It also comes with a removable cup for placing your dip in. Each of the trays on top has a lid to help keep the cold in and the insects out. Perfect for supper, this tray is made of clear acrylic so it won't be easily broken.

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2-in-1 Revolving Serving Trays
from Amazon.

The Best-Ever Country Seed Bread Recipe is a delight to throw together using your bread machine. Most recipes for your bread maker are easy, but not all are as delicious as this one is. It always receives rave reviews and is a staple at our house.

If you are travelling, you'll want to make this bread the day before but otherwise, I would choose to make it the day of your dinner for there is nothing like the smell of a loaf of homemade bread fresh out of the bread machine.

To read my entire page about The Best-Ever Country Seed Bread, click here.

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Tom Douglas by Pinzon Kai
8-Inch bread knife
from Amazon.

We love this Hawaiian punch and we serve it at parties, at special breakfasts like Christmas and Easter and when we just feel like treating ourselves. It is delicious, easy and nutritious plus we always feel like the day is special when we make an out-of-the-ordinary drink in the morning. It is a great family recipe although the measurements for adding rum are given. We have never found it necessary to do so though.

This recipe originated from the Culinary Arts Program at Maui Community College. I am sorry to say that I have absolutely no idea where I found it but I am pleased to say that we LOVE it. It's perfect for any party or gathering plus we often have it for a special breakfast, at a birthday party and my son even dressed as a Hawaiian and sold it at a cultural fair at his middle school. (Everybody loved it!)

To read my entire page about The Best-Ever Hawaiian Punch, click right here.

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hand-brushed acrylic red pitcher
from Amazon.

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Fiesta 20-piece dinnerware set
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salt and pepper shaker set
from Amazon.

What a fantastic and fun bowl set! Made of Earthenware, it is dishwasher safe. Perfect for a spirited table setting!

Click here to buy this
fun bowl set featuring ants and red gingham
from Amazon.

"THE END"