Memorial Day Barbeque recipes

I didn't think the recipes should be included in the Memorial Day post. It would make my thoughts far too trivial. Instead, I am posting Memorial Day barbeque recipes here:

Satay
We used chicken, although I'm told this can be used with other meats too. It makes quite a bit of sauce, probably enough for 2 pounds of meat.

bamboo skewers
boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs
1 medium sized onion
3 cloves garlic or 1 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tb. olive oil
2 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. chile powder
1 tsp. cumin powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup fresh lemon juice
½ cup brown sugar

Cut up your chicken into strips being about 1" wide.

Now you can either skewer the strips first then marinate, or you can marinate them now and skewer them later. If you choose to marinate first, you will need some gloves because the turmeric will turn your hands yellow and they will stay that way for several days! If you skewer them first, you need to make sure you don't marinate for longer than 2 hours because your skewers will dry out.

Put your skewers into water to soak at least 10 minutes before you skewer the chicken.

Peal onion and cut it into chunks, then put it in a food processor. Peel garlic and smash it with the blade of your knife and add it to the food processor. Add spices and olive oil and blend until a paste consistency is reached, adding more olive oil if needed. Transfer paste to a skillet or sauce pan. Add another tablespoon of oil (peanut, cooking, or olive oil) and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to bubble (about 3 minutes), then add the lemon juice and brown sugar. Cook for another 2 minutes. Cool. OPTION 1: Pour sauce over your chicken and stir so all pieces are covered, then let marinate in fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight, then put chicken on skewer. Place on foiled baking sheet. OPTION 2 (my preferred choice): Skewer chicken. Place on foiled pan, with sticks hanging over the side, and pour marinade over the chicken, turning skewers to make sure all chicken is covered. Cover sticks with wet paper towel. Let marinate in fridge for 2 hours.

Grill along side your burgers & hot dogs. Will take 2-3 minutes to cook.

Satay, in Asian countries where it originated, is served with a peanut sauce. I don't have a recipe for it, so you'll have to find that on your own. But I didn't think this Satay needed the sauce. It was scrumptious just the way it was!


Italian Pasta Salad
I meant to make this salad, but ran out of time. It is really good, so I hope you try it.

Salad:
8 oz. tortellini (I like the spinach tortellini, but you choose what you like)
3 oz. other pasta (bows, fettucini, whatever you have on hand)
2 cups broccoli, washed and cut into bite-size pieces
2 cups snow peas
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup green onions, chopped (I use the entire onion - bulb and green end)
1 can olives, drained

Dressing:
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil (can use salad oil)
1 Tb. dried basil
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 Tb. dried parsley flakes
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. prepared mustard (dijon, if you have it, but regular mustard is fine too)
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper

Bring 2 quarts water to boil. Cook broccoli & snow peas for one minute. Remove them with a slotted spoon & rinse under cold water. Drain and place in bowl. Add pasta to the boiling water and cook according to directions on the package; rinse under cold water until cool. Add to the vegies. Add the rest of the salad ingredients and toss. Chill for several hours. Whisk together the Dressing ingredients until mixture is well blended. Pour over the salad, add freshly grated parmesan cheese (as much or as little as you like) and serve.


No barbeque is complete without homemade ice cream. My ice cream maker had trouble (the teeth on one of the gears are badly worn - I see a new machine in my future), so the ice cream didn't turn out as well as it could have. But, here are the recipes for some of the best homemade ice cream you will ever eat!

Aunt Veleen's Tutti Fruity Ice Cream

1 lg. package orange Jello
1 can crushed pineapple
2 Tb. lemon juice
4 ripe bananas, mashed
3 cups sugar
1 qt. whipping cream OR 2 cans evaporated milk
milk to the fill line

Place ingredients in the ice cream freezer can and stir well. Freeze as directed, then ripen, serve, and enjoy!*

You can make any variety of fruit ice cream with this recipe by changing out the flavor of Jello and the type of fruit used. For example, this recipe makes killer strawberry or strawberry/banana ice cream by substituting the orange Jello with strawberry Jello and using crushed strawberries or mixture of berries and bananas instead of pineapplie/bananas. Or do black cherry Jello with pitted cherries, or peach Jello with mashed peaches. Oooohhhh.... blueberry or jumbleberry or raspberry or apricot or..... I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Rocky Road Ice Cream
Fabulous recipe, and you can alter this one, too! Leave out the add-ins for plain chocolate, or add Reeses pieces, or crushed Oreo cookies, or... This makes 6 quarts of ice cream.

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp. salt
3 cups sugar
3 cups whole milk
1 Tb. vanilla extract
6 cups whipping cream
Commercially prepared chocolate milk to the fill line
1 large (12 or 16 oz.) Hershey bar, grated (or a package of mini chocolate chips)
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1½ cups chopped almonds

In a large saucepan, mix cocoa powder, salt, sugar, and milk. Stir over low heat until sugar and cocoa dissolve. Cool to room temperature. Stir in vanilla, salt, and whipping cream. Pour into ice cream maker and add chocolate milk to the fill line. Freeze as directed.* When freezer stops, stir in chcolate pieces, marshmallows and almonds, then ripen or serve soft.

*NEVER USE THE DIRECTIONS ON THE SALT BOX (I learned the hard way). ALWAYS FOLLOW THE FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS THAT CAME WITH YOUR ICE CREAM MAKER. The directions on my ice cream freezer say to sprinkle 1/4 cup of rock salt over every 2 inch layer of CRUSHED ice (crush ice with a hammer if you can't buy it already crushed). Fill using layer of ice, then salt, then ice, then salt, etc. until you are to the top of the freezer, adding more ice as water escapes through the drain hole. Directors for YOUR ice cream maker may be different. Freezing should take AT LEAST 20 minutes and NO MORE THAN 40 minutes to get a smooth creamy texture. If the motor stops prematurely, check to make sure no ice or salt is caught. If no ice or salt is present, then you've added too much salt and your texture will not be a good quality. The freezing process should only take about 3 cups of rock salt. TO HARDEN (RIPEN) THE ICE CREAM: Remove can from the freezer, being careful not to get salt water in with the ice cream. Remove the dasher, scrape the ice cream off and pack the ice cream firmly into the can. Put the lid back on and a cork in the hole. Remove ice from the ice cream freezer; save ice but drain off water. Place can in the freezer and repack with the saved ice, using 1/3 cup rock salt to each 2-inch layer of ice. Cover lid with ice & salt, then place a heavy towel over the top. Let sit for 30 minutes before serving.

Remembering those who serve our country

I was thinking about Memorial Day and what it means, and wondering just how many of my friends/relatives have served our country and how many of them lost their lives or were wounded. I could not think of anyone on my mother's side of the family who served in the military, other than my uncle who came home with a dishonorable discharge (Vietnam era). There are numerous people who have served on my father's side of the family, including my dad. He served in Korea as the clerk of a POW prisoner exchange camp. He traveled to Korea by ship, and it was while he was one the boat that the treaty was signed. As he put it in a letter to home: "They heard I was coming, so they hurried and signed before I got there." I don't know his exact duties, because he died in a car accident long before I was old enough to ask him about it.

There are many others on my dad's side--cousins, uncles, great uncles--as well as friends and children and spouses of friends who have served. I appreciate all of your service, especially those who were sent to the heart of battle and put at risk to life and limb to preserve freedom throughout the world, and not just "American" freedoms. As far as casualties, there are only two that I know of: The first was a great uncle who died at a very young age (18, I think) on a battle field in World War I. The other is my cousin's son-in-law Travis, who was wounded in Afghanistan and, after many, many surgeries (numbering close to 100), lost a leg. Of course, while not a casualty, one family member is a chaplain and has the difficult duty of reporting deaths of his soldiers to their families. That would be a difficult task!

I admire the courage it takes to go to war. I respect those who choose to serve. I pray for those who are currently off in far lands serving. I honor the families that let their loved ones (spouse, child, parent, or friend) leave, knowing the risks involved. You have my undying gratitude.

On Memorial Day, I did not honor those who served in a manner they deserved. I did not visit any grave sites, nor did I participate in any program, nor did I watch a show on TV giving appreciation to those who serve. I did not even display a flag (except the small flag pin I wore). Instead, I (like the majority of Americans) gathered with my family for a day of pleasure. In our case, it was movie and barbeque. I enjoy being with my family, and we had a great day, but I feel somewhat ashamed of myself. The best I did was think about servicemen that I knew and make a small contribution to the local VA hospital.

In the community where I was raised there was an annual Memorial Day parade. I went every year until they quit doing the parade. Unfortunately, I don't think many cities or towns do parades any more. We have turned Memorial Day (and many other of our "holidays") into a day/weekend of playtime without any thought for those who've made the ultimate sacrifice. But what do we expect in this age of "Me First" where people don't even respect themselves, let alone what others do for them. What is America coming to?

God help us.