Tag: Side Dishes

Planning a BBQ Clambake Party

Barbeques are popular for events such as the 4th of July, birthday parties, receptions, and going away parties. No matter why you have decided to plan a barbeque party, the memories that will come from it are sure to stick with your guests for many years to come, provided that you plan ahead. Alternatively, a new popular type of barbeque is a barbeque clambake. Clambakes are typically held in a pit on the beach, but if a beach is not available, you may want to consider holding your clambake right from your grill.

1) First, no barbeque would be complete without guests. Plan ahead of time, checking with your potential guest for scheduling conflicts and issues. Finding a date and time that is suitable for everyone should not be to far as long as you everyone enough advanced notice. Remember that not everyone will be able to come, no matter how much notice you give them, so do not get discouraged if you do not get as many RSVPs as your originally hoped for.

2) Be sure to check the weather for that type of year. If you live in a climate that cannot be predicted, then you may want to have a backup plan just incase unusual weather comes. You cannot predict things like rain and thunderstorms ahead of time, but you can make sure that you hold you barbeque during the time of year that will be pleasant to your guests. A barbeque in cold weather may hold more negative memories of trying to keep warm rather then good memories of family and friends.

3) You will need to purchase the items for your clambake. The traditional items you will need is Clams still in the shell, seawater(if available), corn still in the husk, and potatoes.

Side dishes can also be bought, but are not necessary since the potatoes and corn can act as such. If you feel that you need other side dishes, the simplest approach to side dishes is chips and dip. Chips and dip do not require any cooking on your part, and will still be loved by the majority of your guests.

4) Depending on the theme of your party, you may or may not want to purchase decorations. Festive decorations can be found at any local party or general store. You may also consider purchasing decorations that can be stored and reused at a different time, such as reusable tablecloths and Tiki torches. Give your clambake a beach theme by adding tropical music and you may even consider adding some sand.

5) The day before you party, you will want to make sure to thaw, prepare, and marinate the meat you will be cooking. Store the meat stored away, soaking up the marinate until it is time for it to go on the grill. Prepare any side dishes that you can ahead of time.

6) The day of the party, get up early and start preparing for it. You do not want your guest arriving while you are still cooking or hanging decorations. It should only take you a few hours at most to prepare the area in which you will be having the party, but the reactions from your guest will probably seem as if you have been planning this for weeks.

Place your clambake on the grill, layering your already cooked potatoes, corn still in the husk, and your clams on the grill. Then grill these until the corn and clams are complete.

Picking the Right Grill

Charcoal Grills

Charcoal grills are one of the most used types of grills. Charcoal grills utilize charcoal and lighter fluid to heat up and cook your food. Charcoal grills come in all shapes and sizes, and vary in cost.

Charcoal grills come in small sizes, which are ideal for apartment dwellers or people with small homes. Once you have used your charcoal grill, you can clean it, and store it away.

One of the most noticeable features when using charcoal is the flavor of the food you cook. To cook with a charcoal grill, you must buy charcoal briquettes and lighter fluid. Charcoal is a one use item, and will need to be discarded after each use. Charcoal can be picked up at your local superstore, gas station, or grocery store, and is typically pretty inexpensive. Charcoal must be light and allowed to burn until the charcoal is no longer on fire, but is red embers. The best way to get the pile to burn is by stacking it in a pyramid.

Propane Grills

Propane grills are also useful for someone in small areas, since they can come in smaller sizes.

Gas grills work by a spark igniting the gas within the grill. Gas grills typically have a knob or button in which you push, which in turn activates a small hammer. The hammer hits the top of an ignition crystal. Then the burner mixes the gas with oxygen and spreads it all over the cooking surface.

Propane grills use propane gas to cook your food. If you want to quickly cook foods while still maintaining a grilled flavor, you may want to consider Propane grills.

Gas grills, unlike some of the other grills types, have the ability to come with many different types of cooking surfaces. These different cooking surfaces include a BBQ surface, a flat grill, and a ribbed grill. Some grills even offer these types of surfaces as none stick, which allow you to cook a whole array of foods that you would not be able to cook on a grill otherwise. You will be able to cook your whole meal, including side dishes if you plan correctly. Some gas grills even contain a Wok type surface for cooking pasta and rise dishes, or a full rotisserie set that allows you to cook rotisserie chicken.

Natural Gas Grills

The easiest grill to use is by far the natural gas grill. Natural gas grills are designed to hook directly into your homes natural gas line, eliminating the need to provide the fuel source. Natural gas grills are also one of the easiest grills to clean since you do not have to worry about cleaning out the charcoal or wood.

Natural gas grills are a little more complicated then smaller grills, so they require more room.

Smoker Grills

Smoker Grills are used when flavor is the number one priority. Smoker grills use wood to slow cook your meat. Flavor can be controlled by using different types of woods.

Some of the common types of wood

Cherry – Similar to apple, but slightly bitter because most Cherry wood comes from chokecherry trees. / Use on Poultry-turns skin dark brown.

Sugar Maple – Smoky, mellow and lightly sweet. / Use on Fish & Beef.

Hickory – The most highly used wood, both commercially and for home use. Has a strong, heavy, bacon Flavor. / Use on Pork, Ham, and Beef.

Oak – A lighter version of mesquite. Red oak is quite Similar to mesquite; white oak is milder. / Use on Beef & Fish.

What You Need To Know About Potato Salads

Potato salad is a dish, usually an appetizer, made, obviously, from potatoes. However so, it still varies throughout different countries and regions of the world. Potato salads are more classified as side dishes than salads for they generally just precede or the follow the main course.

Many would claim on having made the best potato salad and would offer the truest and most authentic way of making it. But no matter what is said by many, the best potato salad, or any kind of salad at that matter, is purely of personal preference. Some like their potato salads mingled and just oozing with its dressing, some would prefer theirs to be really soft and tender, and others would want their potato salad to be crispy.

Potato salads are oftenly served along with hot dogs, barbecue, hamburgers, roasts and cold sandwiches. This kind of salad is categorized more as a casual fare and more oftenly served during outdoor barbecues, picnics, and other sorts of casual events or meals. But this fact is not stated to underestimate their savory goodness.

Potato salads are definitely a popular menu choice of various chefs and cooks for preparing food for a large crowd, and since they can be made in large quantities with utter ease, they can also be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator until it is their time to be served.

You must never worry about emptying your wallet when going to the grocery store to buy whatever ingredients you need for you potato salad. The ingredients needed for potato salads are inexpensive and very much affordable. Thus, you do not have to worry about making one yourself because it is, in fact, quite easy.

You would need two pounds, or approximately six large potatoes which are peeled and quartered; two stalks of chopped celery; one finely chopped onion, of which you could cook using a microwave on high level for just one minute to be able to reduce that hotness, if you want, that is; four green onions that you have sliced for just of an inch thick; one large carrot, shredded; cup of a sweet pickle relish; cup of chopped red onion; one teaspoon of dry parsley; a half teaspoon of mustard seeds; you would also need pepper or salt for the taste, along with balsamic or wine vinegar, and also with yogurt or a nonfat mayonnaise.

Of course you have to cook the potatoes in boiling water for approximately fifteen minutes, or when the potatoes are already barely tender. You have to check every minute or so after the first ten minutes have gone by. Once you have confirmed of the cooked status of your potatoes, cut them into smaller pieces. After that, just leave them be so that they will cool down. Then, you should mix the other ingredients you have also prepared in a large bowl. Once you are confident that you mixed them finely, add your already cooled potatoes, and then mix them, altogether, well.

When all these are done, chill your self-made potato salad, but just do not forget to stir it a couple of times during the chilling time you have alotted for it.

Your Thanksgiving Party: Day of Preparations

Are you in the mist of planning a Thanksgiving party? When it comes to Thanksgiving parties, a large amount of focus is placed on the planning and the preparation. While it is always advised that you plan and prepare for your party in advance, there are some things that just cannot be done until the last minute or, at least, the day of your party. That is why it may be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the last minute party preparations that you will have to make.

Depending on the size of your Thanksgiving party, you may need to make additional accommodations for your guests. These accommodations may likely include seating arrangements. If you need to set up additional tables and chairs, it may be a good idea to save that task until the day of your Thanksgiving party. This will prevent your home from being cluttered with additional tables and chairs; tables and chairs that may very well be in your way.

Since a Thanksgiving party is not complete without Thanksgiving decorations, there is a good chance that you will be decorating your home. If you do choose to decorate your home, for your Thanksgiving party, you may want to leave the decorations until the last minute. Of course, you can always put your decorations up early, if you want to, but there are a number of benefits to leaving them down until the day of your party. Those benefits include the lack of dust that will accumulate on those decorations and the less likelihood of them getting damaged before your party even begins.

If you decided to incorporate a Thanksgiving dinner into your Thanksgiving party, you may have prepared some of your foods and side dishes early. While you can prepare a number of dished in advance, there are some that need to be made at the last minute. Whether you are cooking a turkey or preparing a fresh salad, you may need to do your cooking on the day of, likely the morning of, your party. Even if you are just serving snacks and drinks at your party, you will want to wait until that day to start setting them out.

Another task that you may want to leave until the day of your party is the cleaning of your home. While you can also start to prepare your home a few days before your party is set to take place, there are some cleaning tasks that you may want to leave until the last few hours. These tasks may include a quick dusting, as well as a quick vacuum. Waiting until the day of your Thanksgiving party to sweep or vacuum your home will help to ensure that your home is as clean as it could possibly be.

In addition to the above mentioned tasks, you will likely find that there are number of other tasks that you may like to complete on the day of your Thanksgiving party. If you are currently in the planning stages, it may be a good idea to develop a party checklist or a party planning schedule. This may make it easier to decide what you should and shouldnt save until the day of your Thanksgiving party. In addition to giving you a set schedule to follow, you will also likely find that planning your party ahead of time, even at the last minute, will make it easier for you to enjoy yourself, even before your Thanksgiving party begins.

PPPPP

Word Count 581

Should You Incorporate Dinner into Your Thanksgiving Party?

Have you recently made the decision to host a Thanksgiving party? If so, do you plan on incorporating a Thanksgiving dinner into that party? While a large number of Thanksgiving party hosts do, you are not necessarily required to. If you are unsure as to what you would like to do, it may be a good idea to examine the advantages and disadvantages of pairing a Thanksgiving dinner with a Thanksgiving party.

Perhaps, the biggest disadvantage to including a Thanksgiving dinner with your Thanksgiving party is the extra preparation. Lets face it; it isnt easy to cook a Thanksgiving dinner, even a small one. Depending on the size of your party, you may find it extremely difficult, or even impossible, to prepare dinner for each and every one of your guests. That is why a large number of party hosts only choose to serve their party guests snacks and beverages.

In addition to the extra preparation, you will also find that including a Thanksgiving dinner with your Thanksgiving party is also likely to increase your party costs. Depending on the size of your party, you may need to purchase more than one turkey and additional side dishes. If would be planning a Thanksgiving party on a budget, it may be wise of you to forgo the Thanksgiving dinner. As long as your guests know that you will not be serving dinner at your party, everything should be all good.

Speaking of your party guests, the fact that they might assume that you are serving dinner can be a disadvantage to not serving dinner at your Thanksgiving party. As previously mentioned, it is advised that you inform your guests, either personally or on their invitations, that you will only be serving snacks. This may make it so your guest may be able to make other dinner arrangements, either before they leave for your party or after they return home from it. It may also be a good idea not to schedule your Thanksgiving party at a popular lunch or dinner time. This may make it easier on your guest, especially those who expect to eat at a certain time.

Although it may seem like there are a number of disadvantages to paring a Thanksgiving dinner with your Thanksgiving party, there are also a number of advantages to doing so. As previously mentioned, one of those advantages if your guests. Most guests would prefer if they were served dinner at a party; it allows them to eliminate cooking themselves; however, most would likely understand if you decide not to cook a large Thanksgiving dinner.

Despite the fact that Thanksgiving dinners can be time consuming and costly, as mentioned above, there are a number of different steps that you can take to not only save time, but also save money. In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, you will find a number of Thanksgiving food sales and discounts. If you shop where the sales are, you should be able to prepare a relatively affordable Thanksgiving dinner. Also, if you will be cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for a large number of individuals, you may want to ask your other party guests for assistance. In most cases, you will find that your close friends and family members would be more than willing to prepare a small side dish.

It is also important to note what Thanksgiving dinners are all about. While parties accomplish the same thing; there is just something about a Thanksgiving dinner that brings family, friends, and even neighbors together. By incorporating a Thanksgiving dinner into your Thanksgiving party, you could easily show your guests the love, thanks, and appreciation that you feel for them.

When it comes to including a Thanksgiving dinner with your Thanksgiving party, you will need to make your own decision. While you will want to make your own decision, it may be a good idea to keep the above mentioned advantages and disadvantages in mind.

PPPPP

Word Count 657