Summer

June is one of my favorite months of the year, probably due to associating it with the start of summer vacation as a kid. Even now as an adult, many years past even my college or grad school days, I still love the start of summer! There’s an energy and lightness that comes along with the summer solstice that begs to be celebrated, which is why today I’m joining up with my pals at Dr. Oetker Virtuoso to share this sangria recipe. Appropriately enough, I’ve dubbed it a sparkling summer solstice sangria, and loaded it up with mango and raspberries so it’s super fruity and delicious, but not overly sweet. Paired with your favorite Virtuoso pizza, it makes for the perfect casual summer cocktail hour on the back patio or front porch.

We head out tomorrow on our big annual camping trip and I could not be more excited. We are in serious need of a little getaway! Today (as I’ll be chopping, mixing and prepping over here), I’m sharing 12 seriously delicious camping recipes to inspire your own camp feasts.

This post was created in collaboration with V8. Real veggies for real people. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that help make The Sweetest Occasion possible! Last summer I was pregnant and could not get enough of everything frozen and fruity. This summer it is insanely hot on the east coast and I have had precisely zero interest in turning …

This post was created in collaboration with Lunazul Tequila. One sip, and you know. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that help make The Sweetest Occasion possible! Since closing on our house a few months ago, we’ve been doing quite a bit of entertaining even by our standards. Of course we love to entertain as it is, but …

I make no secret of the fact that ice cream is legitimately my favorite food. Ever. Of all time. No contest. I’m smart and I don’t let myself eat it every day for every meal the way I would love to, but I do love me a good ice cream cone in the summer. Playing …

Few summer treasures make me quite as happy as fresh summer peaches. I usually just snack on them as is, but I also love them in cocktails and even pancakes! With the height of summer gardening season about to reach its peak here in our area, an ode to the peach seemed appropriate. Today I’ve …

This post was sponsored by Foodadz. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that help make The Sweetest Occasion possible! It’s no big secret that I am a big fan of a summer picnic. I’ve made that pretty clear over the years. Sometimes though, picnics can feel like a lot of work! Preparing food, packing everything up, …

Turns out, today marks the start of the last unofficial weekend of summer. Does anyone have any idea how that happened? Labor Day here in the States makes for an awesome long holiday weekend, one that feels bittersweet at the end of summer without all of the craziness of, say, July 4th weekend. We’re planning …

Can we talk about the world’s yummiest campground food this morning? Because I’m telling you, this is where it’s at. We’re talking campfire mountain pies! Have you ever had them? I’m finding that far too few people seem to know about these delicious little creations, but today I’m setting out to change all that. They’re …

We’re two days out from our camping trip and today we’re putting all the finishing touches on packing. Thursday morning we’ll be filling up our coffee mugs, loading up and heading out. This big annual trip actually takes place on an island (in the Thousand Islands along the St. Lawrence River) so while we have …

Ice cream. And lobster. Absolutely my two favorite foods in the whole wide universe. Followed very closely by cheese. But I digress. Turns out, I love an ice cream party like you wouldn’t believe. Load up on your favorite flavors and the cutest ice cream cone wrappers, cups, spoons and sprinkles you can find and …

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. There’s little I love more than a summer lemonade stand! I grew up on the old family farm, outside of town, surrounded by hundreds of acres of fields and woods. It was awesome, but it pretty much meant that having a lemonade stand was …