Summer Time Barbecue Fun

One of my favorite things about summer time is grilling out. There is just something about the taste of food fresh from the grill. Whether we are grilling burgers, dogs, chicken, fish, vegetables or fruit , they just taste better coming off the grill. You can even be creative and make dessert on the grill too - have you tried s'mores on the grill - yumm!

Of course, grilling out is even more fun when we have friends and family over to join us for dinner. Everyone brings a dish to share and you can experience so many different types of dishes. Some of my favorite recipes have been first experienced at a cook out.

We are fortunate that our deck is on the east side of our house, so if we plan a late afternoon barbecue we can sit on our deck in the shade of the house - which makes it more comfortable to sit outside when we grill out.

When it's hot out, we like to set up the Slip'n Slide or the sprinkler for the kids. They have a blast playing in the water.

After a cook out, we often find ourselves lingering and visiting into the night. At our last cookout, we broke out the Scrabble board and played on the deck (better than cards or games with money that can be messed up by the wind!). It was so nice to spend the day hanging out with friends and relaxing.

As a Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger, they have shared some recipes with me that you just might want to try at your next cook out. Why not start your meal with an Applewood Bacon Spinach Salad. Spinach is one of those foods I avoided as a kid but it is my favorite salad base now. Then, serve BBQ Blue Sandwiches with a side of Grilled Fruits. I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of Blue Cheese, but I tried it in a recipe one time where it melted and it really gave a nice flavor to the recipe and didn't have that strong, pungent flavor that I associate with Blue Cheese. Of course, you can always set it on the side and allow guests to use it as they please.

No compensation was received for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are mine or that of my family. I am currently a member of the Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger Program. Each post written for this role, serves as an entry into a grand prize giveaway. Hormel provides materials and resources to assist me with my posts. For June, I received a welcome package to allow me and my family to experience many of the Hormel Foods products.
The welcome package: