Large Crowd Summer Menu Cookout


Happy belated 4th of July!

Sometimes it’s hard to put together a menu suitable for a large crowd. You’ll have your gluten free guest, your guest sensitive to spices, another guest who cannot tolerate garlic, and your no onions please guest. Oh and your no beef guest.

So whenever my sister and I put together our menu for the next family function, we have to take all these request into consideration. And, we love it. It gives us an opportunity to get a gathering together fast and be creative.

Remember, more isn’t always necessary because people tend to have a few cocktails beforehand and also nosh on the chips and whatever else precedes the main course.

Here is our typical summer bbq menu:

We usually start with a platter of olives and pickles, chips, celery and ranch dressing. On occasion there will be buffalo chicken wing dip, cheese and crackers, etc.,

Next, here comes the burgers, hot dogs, sausage patties, sausage and peppers, and bbq chicken. Then we have the pasta salad, corn on the cob, and deviled eggs! Yum. I’m getting hungry just writing about it.

Lol well anyway this is just a gist of some menu items you can put together pretty quick for a large crowd.

Here are some pics of our family. I hope you all had a safe and happy 4th.

It was a great 4th of July. We even camped out back in the Yert. The boys slept in their hammocks. I’ll have to try that one night. They said it was wicked comfortable.

Oh geez I almost forgot the most important part of the menu lol, the adult beverage we fell in love with. Saranac’s Moscow Mule ginger beer. If you can get your hands on one, try it. They are so good ice cold. It’s really a great summer drink.

Fresh roasted green beans and Vidalia onions


Seriously this is such a simple recipe. There is no excuse not to eat healthy. I think you just have to be creative and put your noggin into it.

All I used was about a pound of fresh green beans and one whole Vidalia onion. Wash the beans first and snap the ends off. Then boil for approximately 10 minutes and drain. Cut the Vidalia onion up into medium slices and put in a baking dish with the green beans. I then drizzled olive oil on top (about 2 to 3 tbsp) and sprinkled some onion powder and pepper on top. Just move the beans and onion around so that they all get moist from the olive oil. That was it!! You can add salt and any extra spices that you wish.

Bake in the oven on the top rack at about 375 – 400 depending on your oven for about 20 minutes. I like mine with a little crisp at the edges.