This coming weekend marks Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer. Fire up the grill for burgers, make a fresh strawberry pie, or grill some asparagus. Gather with family or friends, head to the beach, or enjoy a picnic. All of these occasions call for great food, so let's get started with this collection of smaller recipes.
So, it’s FINALLY SUMMER—time for some deck and picnic party food.
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Memorial Day honors the people who gave their lives while serving in the armed forces. Once known as Decoration Day, which began after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union dead, it later merged with a similar Confederate holiday and eventually became a day to remember all American war dead.
😊All-American BBQ Classics
These are classic recipes, but while we think of them as bigger recipes, they can all be adjusted for smaller amounts, perfect for two or smaller households.
🍔Classic Backyard Grill Recipes
Chicken, burgers, and pork chops are all classic backyard grill recipes. Learn to make the perfect every time.
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❄️Cold side dishes for buffets
Cold side dishes are commonly used for outdoor summer parties and serve as buffets. Here are some summer classics you can make, small or big, depending on your needs. Don't forget food safety—see the section below.
🔥Hot side dishes
Hot sides for those two and smaller holiday dinners.
🥧Time for dessert
It ain't over until it's over. End the day with something special.
😊Sauce and rubs
Add some special flavors to your work.
🐕 forget the party animals
⚕️FOOD SAFETY
Let's be safe out there. Uncle Joe cannot have his burger rare, even though you wouldn't mind seeing him sick. It is your responsibility to keep them safe.
It's easy to forget food safety, but it's up to you to keep your friends and family safe. I frequently see dangerous food handling on TV food shows and other blogs. So, know the rules. PLEASE.
A few key safety points.
- Lots of hand washing and do not cross-contaminate.
- Cook to a safe internal temperature—see the FDA safe temperatures chart.
- Cold foods need to stay under 40°; if not, they are not safe if they are at room temperature for more than 2 hours (or 1 hour if it is over 90°).
- Check out the USDA Food Safety recommendations.
Please remember what it is all about. Have a great holiday weekend, and enjoy your summer.
DrDan
PS. Stay safe out there, and please follow your local health department's recommendations.
Publisher note: This is a re-edit of the previous year's ( since 2016) post. New recipe recommendations are added as needed to keep it fresh.
Charmaine says
Your recipes seem yo always be for gas grills.
We don't have a gas grill-for us, it's charcoal only. We enjoy the taste of charcoal, been doing it for 50+ years. Plus, it's easier to buy a bag, than have a heavy tank!
Got a note to all recipes for charcoal to be added!
Thanks
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Charmaine,
Welcome to the blog.
I usually mention charcoal grills in the blog posts. Generally, grilling is all about temperature control, so most of the tips on temperature for gas grilling in https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/grill-temperature/ also apply to charcoal grilling.
Adjusting the grill temperature on a gas grill is playing with knobs but with charcoal, adjustment is much more difficult, involving the amount and distribution of the coals and the amount of opening the bottom vent. By controlling the grill surface temperature, the type of grill does not matter. So, use a grill surface thermometer (available for around $15 on Amazon or at a big-box store), follow the recommended grill surface temperature guidelines, and you should be good.
Hope that helps.
Dan
Ashley says
Our beautiful English Golden, Abby, will be 7 years old this Saturday! I think she might love to celebrate her birthday and Memorial Day with a juicy burger or some pulled pork. Thank you!!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Ashley,
Welcome to the blog.
I'm doing pulled pork myself but the girls will eat anything. Just not very picky.
Molly and Lilly say high to Abby.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
michele strong says
I just stumbled across your site today and am already a fan! so happy I found you ☺ what kind of pups do you have? sometimes I can't tell the difference between an english cream retriever and a great pyrenees.. we were blessed with the most beautiful, smart, amazing.... pyr a couple of months ago! 😊
DrDan says
Hi Michele,
Welcome to the blog.
The girls are 4 1/2 yr old English Golderns. They are litter mates and have be the blog mascots since being babies.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Jean says
Dr. Dan,
I hope your feeling well. My whole family loves your recipes, your dog pictures, and you. Your a favorite of mine when sharing your recipes, your philosophy on cooking and while talking to friends. Friends come through the front door asking "what Dr. Dan recipe are we enjoying tonight". Your the best.
Take very good care of yourself.
Warmly,
Jean Rawlings
DrDan says
I snuck that in this post and very few saw it but I feel better I "told" everybody. Just chronic things getting worse.
If you can only stand for 10 minutes, it is hard to cook a new recipe and take pictures. I can cook but the extra 10-15 minutes it takes for the pictures is just a bit too much.
Also, with 450 plus recipes, it is getting hard to find good ideas. So more older recipes nobody saw and less new one. A new one when I find something I really want to do like the grilled Ribeye post. It is long and very complete. I enjoyed writing it and I loved the results.
Thanks for the note and good wishes.
Dan
Mike says
Thank you so much for the food safety tips, I didn't realize a lot of the things you wrote there!
Thanks DrDan