Memorial Day Cookout 2024

Memorial Day weekend is the official start of the grilling season. Grilling is one of the many ways family and friends come together. When going to so many get-togethers that involve bringing food it may be hard to find a recipe that is not boring or commonly used.

Patriotic Recipes

Here are some recipes to help you add red, white, and blue to your table:

Perfect M&M Cookies

Servings: 24

Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 or 1-1/2 cups red, white, and blue M&M’s

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with a silpat liner or parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add egg and vanilla, mixing to combine. Add flour, pudding mix, baking soda, and salt, stirring to combine. Add chips and M&M’s, stirring to combine.
3. With a medium cookie scoop, place dough balls 1 inch apart from each other. Bake for 10-12 minutes until cooked through. Let cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Enjoy!   

Patriotic Pasta Salad 

Servings: 12

INGREDIENTS

• 16 ounces of Cavatappi pasta 
• 16 ounces Mozzarella Pearls cut in half
• 3 cups Cherry Tomatoes cut in half
• Half a red onion diced 
• 1/2 cup Fresh Basil thinly sliced

Dressing 

• 1 and ½ packages of Italian dressing mix 
• 3 TB of olive oil 
• 2 TB cold water 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook the pasta based on the pasta instructions to al dente.  
2. While the pasta is cooking, mix together the dressing. Then set aside.  
3. Drain the pasta.  Rinse with water. Set aside to cool.
4. While the pasta is cooling, in a large bowl combine the tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, half of the fresh basil, onions, and dressing.  Stir until tomatoes, onions, and cheese are well coated. Let sit for 20 minutes.
5. Add the cooled pasta. Stir until well combined.
6. Top with the remaining fresh basil.

How to spruce up your cookout:

What’s a cookout without a little patriotic music? Here is a playlist of some patriotic songs:

Decorations 

In need of color for your cookout? Add some decor that does not cost a lot of money or take a lot of skill to make. 

Buy some red and white carnations. Put them in a clear vase. Then tie a blue bow around the vase.  You can make more than one. 

Games:

What is a cookout without games to play? Here are some simple games to play when you are tired of sitting.

• Bottle ring toss 
• Corn Hole
• Bean Bag toss
• Croquet