I love having company over, firing up the grill, and catching up with people I don’t see every day. Especially over long holiday weekends. And, of course, the day is filled with great food. Since I’m out of practice, things will be easy, yet tasty. If you need simple recipes for your Memorial Day cookout, I’ve got you.
Serve Lillian Russo’s (Long Island, NY) Hot Dog Onions and everyone will be requesting a hot dog at the cookout.
“I tried many different hot dog onion recipes,” explains Lillian. “I mixed and matched them until I got the perfect combination!”
The onions are caramelized, tangy, and sweet. This is a quick and easy-to-prepare recipe. You could even use them on top of a grilled cheeseburger.
How how to improve grilled chicken? Make barbecue chicken and use Karen Carr’s (Cape Carteret, NC) Mamma’s Barbecue Sauce recipe.
“My mother always used this recipe for her ribs and chicken,” shares Karen. “She always made her own sauce and we loved it!”
This is a basic and delicious BBQ sauce. It leaves room to adjust the recipe to suit your taste buds.
Sweet, savory, and a little tangy, I adored this sauce. Homemade barbecue sauce is very easy to make and this will be popular at your next BBQ.
At my house, we love baked beans. Rose Rauhauser’s Four Bean Baked Beans With Ground Beef are practically a meal in itself.
“This is a family favorite even though it takes time, it’s worth it,” thinks Rose. “They freeze well also.”
If you’re having a large group of friends and family over, this recipe will be perfect. It feeds a large crowd. There are four types of beans, ground beef, and bacon. Super hearty, the sauce is tangy and sweet just like you want in baked beans.
“I’m always asked to bring it since many people who don’t usually like potato salad seem to like this one,” explains Betsy Wolfe (Ft. Worth, TX). “I’ve taken the best elements from two family potato salad recipes and have made this version for years.”
Like dill pickles? Then you’ll love Betsy’s Heirloom Potato Salad. Dill flavor shines bright in this side salad.
It’s a hearty potato salad with crisp sliced celery and zesty green onions. This potato salad is lightly dressed so if you want a very creamy salad, add more mayo. But try this as Betsy shared it because it’s quite tasty.
No day is complete without dessert and on Memorial Day I like to serve a patriotic-looking one. Savannah Gentry (Elkton, VA) shared her super easy Berry Delight Cake that’s perfect.
“I had taken a cake recipe I had discovered and revamped it with this dish,” reveals Savannah. “I had extra fruit lying around the house that I had previously diced for another dish and wanted to use it up. This was the perfect dish to do so with.”
Five ingredients make for a festive dessert. It’s everything you love about a frosted cake but deconstructed. Chunks of French vanilla cake are layered with your favorite frosting, strawberries, and blackberries.
I opted for buttercream frosting and Savannah chose chocolate. What I love is this recipe can be doctored with different fruit and frosting. This got lots of thumbs up in the Test Kitchen.
If you, too, are hosting a Memorial Day party this weekend, these Blue Ribbon recipes will help you plan a great menu. Round it out with grilled hamburgers and you’ll have a happy crowd. Happy Pinching!