Memorial Day Menu and Recipes

By Richard Dupont

This Memorial Day cook up some lip smacking delicacies for your friends and family. Show off your culinary calibers and soak in all the praises showered on you. Its summer!!! And Memorial Day is the right occasion to treat your taste buds to some sizzling barbecue, steaks, grilled potatoes, pies, desserts, salads and much more. Barbeque undoubtedly tops the list. If you’re planning a Memorial Day cookout or a special Memorial Day barbecue party this year here’s a list of items to include in your menu.

• A succulent barbecue

• Steaks

• Bacons
• Delicious Chicken preparations (anything will be gorged on)

• Grilled Asparagus

• Corn on the Cob

• Roasted potato salads or shrimp salads

• Grilled Zucchini

• Cream and cheese sandwiches

• Baked beans

• Strawberry Melon Wedges

• Pork Ribs

• Hotdogs

• Burgers (lamb, chicken…anything!)

• Strawberry Cream Pie

• Lemonade (a real refreshing idea)

• Sundaes

• Special Memorial Day Cake (top it with blue syrups, white cream and red cherries to give that patriotic flavor in it)

• Memorial Day pies (don’t forget the blueberry and raspberry toppings)

• Tomato Tarts

If the kitchen is your lab and you love to experiment around with some cool recipes this summer, here are a few you might just try out. What’s better than to start off with a yummy salad recipe –

Spinach & Strawberry Salad

Ingredients:

• One 9 ounce package of baby spinach leaves

• 1 1/2 cups of sliced strawberries

• 1/3 cup toasted almonds

• 3-4 sliced green onions

• Olive oil

• White Balsamic vinegar

• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper ( to taste)

Instructions:

• Toast the almonds on a pan in the oven at 300 degrees F for a few minutes (they brown quickly) or place the almonds in a small skillet over medium heat until toasted (shake the skillet a few times while over the heat to toast evenly)

• Make sure to remove any stems from the spinach and place the leaves in a salad bowl with the green onions

• Drizzle with a little olive oil (just enough to lightly coat the spinach)

• Place the bowl in the refrigerator until serving time
To serve:

• Rinse the strawberries just before tossing the salad, dry them and slice them

• Add the toasted almonds and sliced strawberries to the salad bowl and sprinkle with white balsamic vinaigrette to taste

• Add a little salt and fresh ground pepper and toss the salad and then plate

And who can ignore a BBQ recipe on Memorial Day. Here’s one to check out –

BBQ Steaks

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon onion powder

salt ( to taste )

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring

1 pinch cayenne pepper

2 (1/2 pound) beef rib eye steaks

In a medium bowl, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, olive oil, ground black pepper, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, salt, liquid smoke and cayenne pepper.
Place steaks in a shallow, nonporous dish, and pour marinade over steaks. For optimum flavor, rub the liquid into the meat. Cover, and let marinate in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours.
Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high to high heat. Grill steaks for 7 to 8 minutes per side on a lightly oiled grate.

And here’s one for the burger lovers –

Wasabi Salmon Burgers

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

• 1 1/2 teaspoons wasabi powder

• 1 pound salmon fillet

• 2 each scallions

• 1 each egg

• 2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger

• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Cooking Instructions

Whisk soy sauce, wasabi powder and honey in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.
With a large chef's knife, chop salmon using quick, even, straight-up-and-down motions (do not rock the knife through the fish or it will turn mushy). Continue chopping, rotating the knife, until you have a mass of roughly 1/4-inch pieces. Transfer to a large bowl. Add scallions, egg, ginger and oil; stir to combine. Form the mixture into 4 patties. The mixture will be moist and loose, but holds together nicely once the first side is cooked.
Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the patties and cook for 4 minutes. Turn and continue to cook until firm and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Spoon the reserved wasabi glaze evenly over the burgers and cook for 15 seconds more. Serve immediately.

Richard Dupont writes on holidays and global events like Memorial Day, Father's Day, Mother's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, valentine's Day etc. He also writes on family, relationships, religion, love and friendship.

He is a writer with special interest in ecard industry and writes for 123greetings.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Dupont
http://EzineArticles.com/?Memorial-Day-Menu-and-Recipes&id=575888

Some Irish Recipes to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day

By Niall Cinneide

St. Patrick’s Day is March 17th, and it is a “day for wearing green” and other Irish traditions. Even though the patron saint St. Patrick was not born in Ireland, everything that is Green (which symbolizes spring and the prospering of the crops), fun and Irish can be worn or used to celebrate this holiday. And it is a holiday for all ages. Here are some entertaining ideas to use on St. Patrick’s Day.

A few drops of green food coloring goes into anything you might want green, even a mug of draft beer. Anything made with Irish cream or Irish whiskey has the Irish spirit, too.

Authentic Corned beef and cabbage

Corned beef brisket, about 4 lbs.

1 juice orange
18-20 whole cloves
1 tsp. whole yellow mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. caraway seeds
1/2 tsp. whole black peppercorns
1/2 tsp. whole coriander

Put corned beef brisket into large pot for cooking. Take cloves and insert them, then sprinkle remaining spices on. Cover brisket with water, bring to boil, then simmer for 3 hours or until tender.

3 lbs. small potatoes, peeled
2 1/2 lbs. carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
1 medium head cabbage

About 40 minutes before beef is finished, boil a large pot of water and cook potatoes and carrots. Add cabbage about 10 minutes before you're ready to serve as it doesn't need to cook long. Drain vegetables.

Arrange meat and vegetables on a platter and serve with your favorite mustards.

St. Patrick Day Cookie Pops (for the kids to make)

Box of Vanilla Wafers

Box of Popsicle sticks

Vanilla or chocolate frosting; or Peanut butter

Various decorations – chocolate chips, icing packs, assorted green candies, green sugar sprinkles, ju ju bees, sprinkles, etc.

Spread out ½ of the vanilla wafers, with the flat sides up on the plate. Take the vanilla, chocolate icing, or peanut butter and spread across flat surface. Next, take a Popsicle stick and lay it down with the end in the middle of the cookie. Top with another vanilla wafer to make a sandwich.

Now the kids can get creative! Turn the cookie pop into a green shamrock; apply vanilla icing and draw with green icing pack; make a pot of gold with candies; anything you want! They make a great treat for the kids to take to school!

Easy Hot Whiskey Punch (for the adults) Serves 1

1 measure of whiskey
2 teaspoons white sugar
4-6 cloves
2 slices fresh lemon
7 oz. boiling water

Put whiskey, sugar cloves and lemon slices into a strong glass. 2. Pour on the boiling water until the sugar has dissolved. 3. Sip contentedly by a blazing fire.

Irish Scones

1/2 cup butter
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk

Note: You can add raisins, dates or other dried fruits, if desired.

Makes about 18 scones.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

In a large bowl, combine butter and flour until crumbly. Add baking powder, salt and sugar. In a separate bowl, beat egg and milk. Mix into dry ingredients to make a dough. Turn onto floured surface and roll to one-inch thickness. With a cookie cutter or the bottom of a drinking glass, cut dough into 2-inch rounds. Place on greased cookie sheet, about one inch apart and bake for 15 minutes.

When serving your Irish creations don’t forget an Irish toast to bless the meal!

Niall Cinneide loves entertainig and celebrating St Patrick's Day. He publishes views, information and news about St Patricks Day at St Patricks Information.

This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact. All rights reserved. Copyright http://www.Your-Holiday.info

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Niall_Cinneide
http://EzineArticles.com/?Some-Irish-Recipes-to-Celebrate-St.-Patricks-Day&id=149493

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Check out my other blogs listed below
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Finding ways to network with others!

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Watch movie trailers for up coming movies!

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Sugar Cookies

By Lonnie Niver


Guess what I found? My favorite sugar cookie recipe my mom use to make. When I was a kid I couldn't wait till Christmas or Valentine's Day because I knew my mom was going to bake my favorite cookie for the holidays. Mom would let my brother, sister and I help roll the dough and using those fancy cookie cutters to cut out our favorite shapes. Every now and then we would sneak a pinch of the dough just for a taste.

Now that I am all grown up I still have those cravings during the holidays for my moms sugar cookie recipe. so, I would like to share it with you.

Ingredients

2 cups Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 Egg
2 tbsp Milk
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Mix together then chill. Roll out dough 1/8in. thick - cook
on 375° for 10-12 min. on an un-greased sheet. Next, let the cookies
cool and then serve.

Serves 3 to 5 dozen depending on how thick you roll out the dough.

ENJOY! If your looking for more easy recipes don't hesitate to surf our blog.

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Anti-aging Fruit!

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Christmas Pumpkin Pie Dessert Recipe

Pumpkin Pie is one of my favorite Christmas desert so, here is a recipe from holidaykitchen.com. Enjoy!

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Anti-aging Fruit!

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