10 Ideas for Green Get-Togethers

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Photo: Alexandra Vietti, Earth911

8. Homemade Beauty Products Makeover Party

A girls’ night in is a way to connect with friends, save a few bucks, and learn some new beauty tricks. Having an arsenal of beauty products requires only a cupboard stocked full of items like avocados, oatmeal, yogurt, lemons, and, yes, beer (makes hair shiny). Get homemade beauty product recipes from PlanetGreen.com.

Go as girly as you want with cocktails like the Lei Maker or Tea Rose Martini. A menu of light and healthy snacks feels right. Serve Salmon Sliders with Curry Remoulade, spicy Popcorn with Sriracha Butter and Parmesan, veggies with Svelte Green Goddess Dip, and some Sexy Low-Fat Cupcakes with Fresh Berries.

9. Bike Ride Brunch

For an all-ages bonding experience sans carbon footprint, plan a group bike ride followed by brunch back at the homestead. MapMyRide.com lets you create a route map that can be emailed to invitees. A leisurely five to seven-mile ride will take about 45 minutes to an hour so the group should meet at a starting point early in the morning. Riders will be ready to chow down afterward so assembling brunch ahead of time is key.

Park and Pedal: Bike Commuting Made Simple

Before the ride, make a large fruit salad and set up the slow cooker for Irish Oatmeal so there’s food ready to serve as soon as you return. Also before the ride, fry up some bacon and assemble the components for Baked Eggs with Spinach and Tomato. Then all you have to do is crack the eggs into the casserole dish and pop in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Mix up some classic Bloody Marys or creative Blood Orange Mimosas to go along with the feast.

10. Farmers Market Barbecue

The idea here is to support local produce and products as a group. Each guest brings something from a farmers market that can be grilled, like sausages, fish, asparagus, zucchini, even watermelon. To prep, fire up the grill — it’s as simple as that.

It might be a good idea to have some olive oil or melted butter and a brush at the ready for easy basting. For cocktails, see what’s in season and available at the market, but two ideas are the Rhubarbarella Cocktail and the Black ‘n’ Stormy with early summer fruits.