
My
campfire fiesta won't exactly have decor. After all, hanging streamers and piñatas from the trees is a guaranteed way to get heckled by adjacent campers. But I will be needing provisions and gear — everything from aluminum foil for cooking the
marshmallow cream puffs to a
cute tablecloth to cover the picnic table.

After a long day of pitching tents, cooking
food, and preparing
dessert, the gang at your
campfire fiesta definitely deserves a drink. No camping trip is complete without beer, so fill a cooler with plenty of ice and ask guests to bring their own brews. I'll also pick up a few bottles of red and white wine.

This week I'm celebrating the waning days of Summer with a
Mexican-inspired menu for my
campfire fiesta. But I know that if I don't serve
s'mores, there may be a wilderness mutiny. So I'm bringing along milk chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers to make the traditional fireside treat.

When my friends and I go camping, the food planning comes first. Once we've figured out who's making every appetizer, cocktail, main dish, and dessert, we focus on other details like who's bringing bug spray and how to get where we're going.
So for this week's campfire fiesta, I'm forgoing invitations in favor of a flurry of emails to work out the logistics.