One last big one: white party dress codes and the backyard seafood boil
Late August has a particular feeling to it. The evenings are shortening, everyone is back from wherever they went, and there is a shared sense that you have got about three weekends left to use the garden properly.
That is what drives the end-of-summer blowout. It is a wrap party for the season. Two formats keep coming up: the white party, where the dress code does the styling for you, and the seafood boil, which is the most fun you can have feeding twenty people from one pot.
The white party, and why it works
A dress code is the cheapest decoration you will ever buy. Tell everyone to wear white and the party styles itself. Every photo looks coordinated, the garden looks bigger, and you have spent nothing.
Say white or cream so people are not panicking about the exact shade. Warn them about the food. And put something dark in the space to stop it going flat, whether that is navy linen, dark greenery or black serving pieces.
The seafood boil is easier than it looks
One pot. Everything goes in it in stages. You tip the lot onto a covered table and people eat with their hands.
The staging is the only technical part. Potatoes and corn first because they take longest, sausage next, then the shellfish right at the end because it is ruined by two extra minutes. Total cooking time is under half an hour once the water is up.
You need a stockpot bigger than you think. For a dozen guests you are looking at 20 litres minimum, and a burner that will actually heat it.
Cover the table before you tip
Newspaper is traditional. Butcher paper is better and photographs miles better. Roll it down the whole table, tip the boil straight onto it, scatter lemon halves and corn along the length. When it is done you roll the paper up with everything in it and the table is clear in ten seconds.
Quantities, roughly
Per adult, for a boil: 200g of prawns or mussels, one small corn cob, two or three baby potatoes and 100g of sausage. Scale up by about 20 percent if it is the only food you are serving. Buy the shellfish the morning of, not the day before.
Plan for it getting cold
Late August evenings turn faster than people expect and everyone is dressed for a heatwave. Have blankets somewhere accessible and get the fire pit lit before you need it.