2. Cooking is not required. Summer is hot enough without having your oven on for hours as you prepare food for the party. In the summer people tend to eat lighter. This, coupled with the idea that tapas/mezze (small appetizers) are best suited for cocktail parties, allows you to serve scrumptious appetizers, salads, or chilled soups that require no cooking at all. Here are some simple and convenient suggestions:

• Personal Crudites with Dips - Arrange radishes, halved mini cucumbers, Belgian endive leaves, and other vegetables in a small glass bowl, making sure that each guest will have one. In the centre of each bowl, place several tablespoons of your favourite Summer Fresh dip, such as Artichoke & Asiago Dip, Roasted Red Pepper Dip, and Spicy Hummus.
• Stuffed Tomatoes - simply cut the top off of the tomatoes, hollow them out, and fill with Summer Fresh 3 Lentil Salad, or Greek Couscous. You can even top them off with some Baba Ghanouj or Roasted Vidalia Onion Dip.
• Cucumber Boats with Tzatziki - cut a cucumber into 3 inch thick pieces and cut these pieces in half lengthwise. Scoop out the centre of the cucumber and fill with Summer Fresh Tzatziki.
• Mini Spinach Loaf - Cut the top off of a small circular pumpernickel or ciabatta bun and scoop the inside out and fill the hollowed out bread bowl with Summer Fresh Spinach Dip or Spinach & Artichoke Dip. Cut a loaf of bread into cubes and use to dip.
• Mini Pita with Bruschetta - cut mini pitas in half and fill each half with Summer Fresh Bruschetta. If desired, you can also put some lettuce in the pitas.
• Grain Wraps - Spread Summer Fresh Roasted Red Pepper Dip on a large wrap. Place several spoonfuls of Summer Fresh Seven Grain salad or Multigrain Quinoa Salad at one side of the wrap and roll the wrap up. Cut in half on a diagonal and serve. For some extra colour, use wraps made with different vegetables, such as spinach and sundried tomato.
• Hummus Pinwheels - Have your local bakery slice a loaf of white or whole grain bread lengthwise, so that the slices are longer, or buy a whole loaf and cut it yourself at home. Trim the crust from the slices of bread, and spread Summer Fresh Hummus on the slice. Cut some olives and red peppers into thin slices, and place several slices at one end of the slice of bread. Starting from the end where you placed the olives and pepper, roll the slice of bread, then slice the roll into 1inch pieces for the pinwheels.

3. Warm things up a bit. If you do want to have some warm appetizers, a variation on the previous tapas and mezze idea that requires a minimal amount of oven or microwave cooking is to have some small hot appetizers. For a fantastic variety of convenient, quick, and impressive warm appetizers, just heat up some Summer Fresh Pakoras, Falafel, Samosas, and Fritters, and serve with Summer Fresh dips, such as Tzatziki, Roasted Red Pepper Dip, Artichoke & Asiago Dip, or Madagascar Dip . All it takes is 6 minutes in the oven.

4. Jazz it up! Nothing sets the mood for a classy cocktail party like some subtle jazz music playing in the background. This will help put your guests at ease and give the party a relaxed mood.

5. Be inventive. Don't limit yourself to serving drinks that are already well known. Try experimenting with some new combinations and develop a signature drink that will wow your guests.

6. Have a selection of "mocktails." Not everyone drinks alcohol and you do not want to exclude anyone from the party. There are plenty of delicious drinks that you can serve that have no alcohol:

• Virgin Colada - blend some crushed ice, 1 measure of coconut cream, and 2 measures of pineapple juice. Pour into a glass and decorate with a pineapple wedge.
• Alcohol free Sangria - Stir together 4 cups orange juice, sugar syrup, 8 cups grape juice, the juice of 6 lemons, and 6 limes together with ice cubes in a large pitcher or punch bowl. Add slices of orange and lemon.
• Honeymoon - combine crushed ice, 1 measure honey, 1 measure orange juice, 1 measure apple juice, and 4 teaspoons lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Shake and pour into a martini glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

7. Use trendy cocktail ingredients. With a little bit of research, it's easy to find out the newest, trendiest ingredients and incorporate them into cocktails. Some of the hottest cocktail ingredients right now include tea, pomegranate, Elderflower, ginger, and cucumber.

8. Don't forget the ice! Often overlooked, ice is a key ingredient for cocktail parties, whether it is used for chilling, serving drinks on the rocks, or serving frozen cocktails.

9. End the evening with some coffee. Coffee (without alcohol) will help refresh your guests.

10. Use your judgement. Make sure that guests who should not be driving have a way to get home. A responsible host should always arrange for a taxi to drive home guests that have overindulged. Also, don't be afraid to stop serving alcohol to guests that have had one too many.