Burgers and Bubbly

Over the weekend a few of us threw a couples baby shower for a friend of ours.  Our friend Amanda is expecting her first baby (a girl!) in early August and we knew we needed one more celebration before the baby's arrival.  She's already had more traditional baby showers, so we wanted to do something more casual and relaxed, and we wanted to include the guys too.  We decided on Burgers and Bubbly, perfect for summer, casual enough but of course celebratory with the bubbly too. 

We kept things really simple.  Burgers on the grill with lots of favorite toppings - pimento cheese, blue cheese, white cheddar, bacon, jalapenos, avocado.  For sides, we made a brussels sprout slaw, summer corn salad and a watermelon salad.  All were perfect because they could be made in advance and served at room temperature.  (No cooking during the party except for the burgers!)  It was also kinda nice to have a change from the normal burger and bbq sides.  The brussel sprouts had a fresh, lemony vinaigrette with lots of grated pecorino cheese.  The summer corn salad was simple and fresh with arugula, a few peppers and tomatoes.  And the watermelon salad had yummy feta and mint.

For dessert, we served King of Pops popsicles in different flavors - sea salt chocolate, raspberry rosewater, banana pudding and fresh peach with agave.  Summery, easy and if you haven't had them, they're so good!  Along with the pops we had mini cans of Sofia champagne for us girls to toast.

If you're interested in putting together a similar menu for a party, links to the recipes we used are below:

Brussels Sprout Salad with Red Onion and Pecorino - we used about half the amount of pecorino

Summer Corn Salad - we omitted the feta cheese since we were also using it with the watermelon

Watermelon, Feta and Mint Salad - We used a cranberry pear white balsamic from Pour Olive, but any balsamic vinegar would be delicious.  Also, we used less feta cheese.

We had so much fun and loved spending the evening with friends.  I think I asked Amanda 50 times if she was "ready" and quizzed her about what everyone has told her are "absolute necessities" for newborns  I think it's so funny how much they change from one person to the next.  We're ready for this sweet baby to get here and can't wait to include the kiddos one day for summer burger and popsicle nights!