Easy Entertaining: Fall Bonfire

To kick off last weekend's festivities, Ben and I had everyone over to our house for a bonfire. I really wanted to incorporate some of my favorite fall details but didn't have a lot of time the day of to do a lot of food prep.

The complete spread plus a bulldog!

Instead, I tried to plan ahead and come up with a few things that could just be creatively assembled, if you will.

Here are a few of the things I came up with:

Popcorn Bar

This was a super simple set-up. I just popped a few bags of popcorn and set out bowls of mini M&M's, cheese, seasoned salt and salt & pepper. I also took a few brown paper bags and cut them down to more of a bowl size so that guests could put there popcorn in them, flavor and shake.

S'Mores Bar

Also really easy to pull off! I just bought all the ingredients- graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate- and then added a few more items that I thought would bring in the fall theme. I added peanut butter, nutella and pumpkin butter (the only item that I made from scratch)!

Mulled Cider with homemade cozies 

I also served hot cider along side a pitcher of dark rum for spiking. I served it in mason jars but knew that hot glass + hot liquid = burnt hands so I stopped by my local Goodwill store and picked up two long-sleeved kid's sweaters. After a run through the wash, I cut the sleeves into 2-3 inch sections and slid them onto the mason jars. This trick accomplished it's goal of keeping everyone safe and added a great pop of color.

Other dishes included Persimmon Spoons, made by taking a persimmon pudding I bought at a charity bake sale and making it into bite sized pieces. From there I just squeezed a bit of carmel into the porcelin spoons and placed the bite-sized pudding on top. I also had some roasted mini-hotdogs with three easy sauces. The first was a spicy orange marmalade, then hot mustard and ketchup mixed with a few spoonfuls of curry powder.

Assembling the persimmon spoons.

Along with great food, I tried to create a cozy environment by setting up bales of straw around the fire then using all of my outdoor pillows for a little color. Major props to my sister for moving all the straw since I'm allergic:). I also hung paper lanterns which gave a nice glow!

I think the best part of the night, hands down, was seeing all of our friends! Especially those who came in from out of town. We had a wonderful night which was made a little bit easier by some pre-planning and assembly-only treats!