When most people think of a dinner party outside with a Southern menu, they immediately think barbecue.

I decided a great way to meet some new neighbors in our Memphis community was to throw a dinner party. Since we have such lovely weather in the spring and early summer, I thought an outside party on our renovated patio with our new patio furniture would be the best idea. Since I was already thinking about the all-important Southern hospitality, a traditional Southern menu would be perfect.

When most people think of a dinner party outside with a Southern menu, they immediately think barbecue. Since we have so many great barbecue places in town, though, I just didn’t feel like trying to compete. Instead, I went back to my own Tennessee roots and pull out some old family favorites: fried chicken, scratch biscuits, coleslaw, fresh green beans from my garden, plenty of sweet tea and peach cobbler.

There were plenty of things I did ahead of time to make the day of the party easier for me. I purchased cabbage that was already cut up for coleslaw to mix with my homemade dressing. I washed two cut-up chickens, placed them in two deep bowls, covered them with a marinade of buttermilk, salt, pepper and paprika, covered the bowls with plastic wrap and placed it in the refrigerator overnight. I had my husband go out to the garden and pick a basket of fresh green beans, which I washed, chopped and refrigerated for the next day.

I also bought some freestone peaches in cans for the cobbler rather than using fresh. Freestone peaches have a great flavor and the natural juices from the can make the cobbler creamy and delicious. I’m all about easy when entertaining, and I knew this particular brand of peaches would be as tasty as fresh for my dessert. Finally, I made up my sweet tea concentrate by bringing a pot of water with two cups of sugar almost to a boil (without actually boiling), removed it from the heat and added my tea bags to steep until the mixture was dark and strong. I put that in the refrigerator as well, and my “day before” party prep was done.

The morning of my party I put the green beans in a large stockpot with cold water, one ham hock and some fresh ground black pepper. I let them simmer until they were tender and cooked down and added kosher salt to taste. I had my husband set up the deep fat fryer outside to keep the fried oil smell out of the house, dredged my chicken in flour, salt and pepper and fried it up until the skins were crisp and just golden. I mixed up the buttermilk and mayonnaise dressing for the coleslaw and added it to the cabbage.

Finally, I measured out my flour, added the rest of my ingredients and rolled out three-fourths of the dough for biscuits to bake in the oven. I dropped the remaining dough by spoonfuls in the peaches with their natural juice and sprinkled them with sugar to bake off when the biscuits were done. By the time my guests arrived, I was adding water and ice to my tea and getting ready to serve. Both the new neighbors and our old friends enjoyed this taste of Memphis in our own back yard.