Complete Make-Ahead Summer Dinner Menu & Recipes

Related Topics:

The Best-Ever Garden Salad Recipe * The Best-Ever Hawaiian Potato Salad Recipe * The Best-Ever Glazed Baked Ham Recipe * The Best Salad Spinner Is The Oxo Good Grips Salad Spinner * The Best-Ever Carrot Cake Recipe * The Best-Ever Lemon Cupcakes Recipe ~~ An Adventure Story

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!

Click here to buy these pretty
Hawaiian melamine plates
from Amazon.
$1.99

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. If you would rather shortcut, you can order a ham by clicking on the ham picture shown above or you can click here. (I just noticed that this ham, which regularly retails for $72.99 is on sale at Amazon for just $29.99!) To check out The Best-Ever Glazed Baked Ham Recipe, a delicious one that is my family's favorite, just follow this link!

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.

Click here to buy this
fun platter from Amazon.
List Price: $29.99
Amazon Sale Price: $12.50

Click here to buy this attractive
tomato print by Lauren Hamilton
from Amazon.

The Best Salad Spinner Is The OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner. It is Amazon's bestseller and it 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.

Click here to buy the
Oxo Good Grips Green Salad Spinner
from Amazon.
List Price: $33.50
Amazon Sale Price: $29.99

Potato salad is one of those comfort 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 you can just click 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.
$32.99

Crudites do a wonderful job of rounding out this meal. They provide color and crunch and, of course, more nutrition. Best of all, they are easy and when I put a plate of them together they disappear faster than lightning! (On the other hand, if my family opens the fridge and sees a bag of whole carrots or a cucumber, they are NOT going to be eating those vegetables!)

So in terms of this meal, I always prepare carrot coins. I used to buy baby carrots but I no longer consider them an option for my family. (Read why in Baby Carrots ~~ When Is A Carrot Not A Carrot.) I also always prepare cucumbers and bell peppers. They are, if you will, the foundation of our crudites selection.

Depending on when the vegetables will be eaten and how much time I have to prepare them, I build up from there. I might add broccoli, cauliflower or cherry tomatoes but of course, the choice is endless. You can add any vegetables you desire.

If we are eating them at home, we have a fun fish-shaped platter that we use. My boys are teenagers but they still love those fun touches. If we are taking the vegetables to a potluck or a dinner, I will put them on a pretty white platter that I have although I am looking at the serving tray on ice shown below and thinking I ought to have one of those! A final option is the trusty Ziplock freezer bags. I use them when we are taking the vegetables on a trip, like to the campground. They are sturdy and malleable which means that when I squeeze them into the cooler, they are happy to fill whatever nooks and crannies are available. They are usually the first item out of the cooler when we arrive at the campsite!

Dip? Oh yes, we have to have dip. (As a matter of fact, dipping it is the only way one of my sons can eat a carrot.) For convenience, we often by a healthy choice salad dressing from the grocery store. However, we also frequently put together a natural lemon dill dip mix like one of these.

Click here to buy the Party Dip poster
by Greg Brown from AllPosters.com.

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 comees 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.

Click here to buy the
2-in-1 Revolving Serving Trays
from Amazon.
$39.99

Click here to buy this
fun bread knife
from Amazon.
$11.00

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 , you can just click here.

Click here to buy this highly unusual
salt and pepper shaker set
from Amazon.
$9.99

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.
$19.99

Click here to buy this
hand-brushed acrylic red pitcher
from Amazon.
$17.99

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 and to find the recipe, you can just click here.

Click here to order your
Fiesta 20-piece dinnerware set
from Amazon.
List Price: $192.00
Amazon Sale Price: $95.99

Make every summer meal fun with this great picnic ant tableware. It features a large platter, a salad bowl, four plates all decorated with red and white gingham checkers and...ants! Some of the pieces are also available separately.

Click here to buy this fun
ant tableware set
from Amazon.
$19.98

The Ants Go Marching Ten By Ten , Hurrah, Hurrah!
The Ants Go Marching Ten By Ten , Hurrah, Hurrah!
The Ants Go Marching Ten By Ten,
The Little One Stops To Say "THE END"
And They All Go Marching Down To The Ground
To Get Out Of The Rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"THE END"