Here’s a Labor Day Gourmet Grilling Party Menu for those of you who might like to entertain!
For so many years, the neighborhood I lived in had a Gourmet dinner group that gathered for a dinner party one weekend every single month. There were twenty of us. This is one of those dinners that we had, and this menu was a big time favorite of all of our gatherings.
How to make a centerpiece for a summer party:
To create this centerpiece for your Labor Day Gourmet Grilling Party, use a rubber band to wrap asparagus around formula (or coffee) cans, stick a glass inside and arrange flowers in the glass. Wrap raffia around the asparagus to cleverly cover the rubber band. Aren’t they wonderful centerpieces?
Our menu:
The featured beverage…
Blueberry Margaritas (edged in sugar): Yum!
The appetizers…
Herbed Lima Bean Hummus: This is very, very good. You have to play with the spices a bit to get the flavor that you’re looking for, but it’s unique and summery and perfect with veggies or pita chips or crackers.
Fresh Blueberry Salsa: It sounds unusual, but it’s a very summery approach to an appetizer, and it works. Dip a chip or two in this stuff, and you might have trouble stopping.
The starter…
Chilled Zucchini Soup with Lemon- Cumin Shrimp & Cilantro Cream: These can served in small tea cups or another small cup. Dunk the shrimp, and then sip the soup out the cups. It’s a gorgeous soup for an extremely hot day- great choice.
The main meal:
Gorgonzola- Stuffed Beef Burgers with Sauteed Wild Mushrooms & Caramelized Red Onion Marmalade: Oh My! Everything about these burgers is perfect- the mushrooms, the marmalade and the hint of gorgonzola. These are definitely gourmet, and no extra condiments are needed.
Grilled Corn Salad: This is always a favorite salad recipe. It has a creamy vinaigrette that completely makes the salad. Everyone will ask for seconds!
Watermelon & Avocado Salad: This salad is the classic mix of watermelon, feta and greens, but it also has avocado added in. It’s tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette. It’s a very good summer salad.
The dessert…
Fresh Peach Ice Cream with Vanilla- Scented Peaches: This is a creamy, creamy ice cream loaded with fresh peach flavor (not frozen peach chunks), and topped with peaches that have marinated in a vanilla bean-wine simple syrup. Oh yeah!
All recipes for this Labor Day Gourmet Grilling Party Menu are fantastic, and each would be a welcome addition to a Labor Day Barbecue. Have a terrific holiday weekend of grilling, eating, relaxing & hanging out with friends. Be sure to try out a new recipe or two.
All recipes listed can be found by clicking on the recipe titles above.
I love that centerpiece, I might have to borrow that. Lori all the food looks fantastic but I really want a sip of that margarita!
I’m intrigued by the Herb/Lima Bean Hummus. I love hummus and have never heard of this kind; I have no doubt that it’s great though!
What a beautiful spread.. and your photo’s are fabulous Lori!!
The Gourmet Club menu looks stunning! It is funny, how I stumbled upon your food blog as I just posted our Cooking Club evening.
Your evening screams summer and it all looks so beautiful! I have made a note about the floral arrangement. I need to do that next time.
Wowser, those burgers look huge! What an awesome food lineup.
This all looks fabulous! A nice twist on traditional dishes.
Do cooking groups do cook-offs or show downs? This menu would beat the best of the best!!! This is Summer Sunshine in all its glory! Thank you for letting us share, Heather:)
P.S. My Recipe Girl Button is acting up. Any ideas???
Where do you live? I’m call the moving van so I can join your gourmet group.
everyone looks perfect and so delicious!
Now that is what I call a centerpiece!!!
What a meal! I was just telling a coworker about your gourmet club. What a blast. I’m all over that burger and ice cream!
That sounds delicious!
Wow, all of it looked terrific! Where do you live? 🙂
~ingrid
Those centerpieces are amazing! And that spread of food looks amazing as well.
This food looks GREAT! It’s so vibrant and festive. Enjoy.
That sound you just heard is my tummy grumbling! Great menu!
By the way, I’ll be retweeting this tomorrow (@huggingthecoast on Twitter) as part of a special Labor Day Weekend Twitter Marathon.
Now that is one party I would like to have attended. Fabulous food
What a fabulous menu! Everything looks amazing!
Beautiful…everything…and very clever centerpiece!
Now that’s a gourmet group – lucky you! I love all the blueberries and will have to try the margarita.
Wow – I wish our neighborhood parties were more like this!
Yumm!! I too wish I lived in your neighborhood. The meal and the setting looks fantastic!
Wow I wish I lived in your neighborhood! Everything looks absolutely wonderful! I love your centerpieces. So original!!
The gorgonzola burgers have my drooling! I recently had a bleu cheese burger and was thinking that stuffing a burger with gorgonzola would be so mouth-watering.
Love that centerpiece idea!
Wow…YUM! I want to try the burgers, hummus and corn salad. Thanks for sharing!
Wow Lori, what an arrangement you’ve got here! I love all of it! Fabulous post my dear!
What an incredible line up! Love the centerpieces, what an excellent idea! The burger, oh heavens. We are going to have to give that one a try.
wonderful menu…including the centerpieces…lots of inspiration for me! I enjoy your blog so much…
I love the neighborhood gourmet club.. I just wish I had neighbors!
The asparagus centerpieces look good, but I’d rather have the asparagus wrapped in proscuitto! 🙂
Great menu ideas! I love the center piece. I may have to make that blueberry salsa this weekend!
Umm, can I come over for Labor Day, what a great menu! 🙂 I love the asparagus centerpiece, once I saw one with an artichoke in the middle of a bouquet of purple cabbage and I’ve been trying to recreate it ever since!
How fun to be part of a group like that! The menu looks wonderful and I love those centerpieces…so creative and pretty!
What a great summery menu! I love the color and the unusual idea of the blueberry salsa. Great idea! Beautiful centerpieces, too. Wish it was *actually* the end of summer, though. So hot lately : /
AWESOME menu!! I’m all over that hummus and peach dessert, especially 😀
Wow, wow. What a menu! Definitely some inspiration for the weekend.
The fresh blueberry salsa looks great….I’m going to try it. I’m on a blueberry kick right now. And yes, the centerpiece is lovely. Fun to use vegetables with flowers.