Cooking for family get together.

Pulled pork or chicken teriyaki skewers are favorites for us.

My family loves having fun with food, there are never any complaints about food that is too good! Just ignore the naysayers and have fun with whatever you enjoy and bring.

Grilled veggie kabobs - they go with anything, and can be threaded on sticks early in the day or the day before. Baste with italian dressing or teriyaki sauce (we make our own), and grill skewers of all the same veggie, as they cook at different rates. We do mushrooms, grape tomatoes, summer squash, peppers, onions and fresh pineapple. Grilled pineapple rocks!

Another "hit" when feeding many people is a Brat Tub! Enough brats to feed an army, and then I parboil them to eliminate some fat. Grill them and then put them in a large aluminum tray with enough beer (or apple juice) to almost cover them. Put in enough onions and peppers (cut in larger pieces so they don't disappear as the whole thing simmers) and simmer the whole thing, covered, on the grill (low setting) for an hour or so. The longer they simmer the better! The Bratwurst is amazingly flavorful. Just serve them on a bun and enjoy!

magnusfide wrote:
Let me guess who made the comments: those who didn't eat that great bunch of shrimp, who went cheap, right? Ignore the comments and take what appeals to you.

I agree. If the shrimp went over well, do it again.

we do a lot of big get togethers.....we do a bunch of different things. I do the steaks mentioned above which is always a hit. We also fill up a roaster with brats or italian sausage, sour kraut, cut up bell peppers/onions, and a jar of salsa. Put that on low and let it cook all morning. Usually is done around noon and then we eat on it the rest of the day. We smoke a ton of stuff but not sure if most people are willing to spend hours running the smokers like we do. We do pork butt, brisket (everyone's favorite), chicken wings, ribs, ham, turkey, bologna ect ect. Basically if it's a meat we smoke it. I even did smoked Spam one time as a test....not as good as you might think. We also make a crock pot full of pre-made meatballs and add either bbq sauce or Mid's spaghetti sauce. Couple of packs of sub buns and some cheese and you're rocking and rolling.

Here's another way to do pulled pork in the crock pot. Only problem with this, unless you have a really large crock pot, is that it may not make enough: Yield: Serves 8

Ingredients:
•1 Boston butt or pork shoulder roast
•1 large onion, quartered and sliced
•salt and pepper to taste
•garlic powder
•1 cup barbecue sauce, your favorite
•1/2 cup vinegar
•a teaspoon or two of liquid smoke, if desired

Preparation:

Place pork roast in the crockpot; add chopped onion, salt and pepper and a generous sprinkling of garlic powder. Cover and cook on low for about 9 to 11 hours, or until very tender and shreddable. Drain all juices off and shred or chop pork; add vinegar and bbq sauce (and liquid smoke, if using). Continue cooking on high for about 1 hour. Serve with buns and tangy coleslaw for topping.
About 8 to 10 generous servings.

Why not try pulled pork? Easiest thing to make and you can do it ALL ahead of time! Just get a pork shoulder (boneless or bone in). place it in an aluminum pan and cover it liberally with a dry rub of almost any kind ( I use a montreal steak seasoning mixed with brown sugar). Cover the shoulder all over and inside any fold that's there. Place this, covered, in a very low oven (no more than 275') and let it go. The longer the better. I usually put it in when going to bed and check on it in the AM. Might have to drain some of the liquid and then return it to the oven until it's literally "pull apart" tender. This takes anywhere from 12 to 16 hours or longer, depending on the size of each shoulder. Take it out of the pan, let it cool a bit, and pull it apart with either your hands or a couple of forks.
After that, you can mix it with whatever barbecue sauce your family likes. I serve mine with cheap burger rolls or even just white bread slices. I always have extra sauce available.
I do two 5 to 7 pound shoulders in a full sized aluminum pan when we have our family reunions. I can usually get them at Costco for less than $1.39/pound. Cheaper than the shrimp!!! LOL. Everyone loves it. I make it up a couple of days before we go and store it in zip loc bags. Just reheat it in an aluminum pan (either in the oven or even on the grill. Just be sure to add some liquid when you do this. (I usually just pour in a can of beer - you could easily use anything else).

Here is something different!




Watermelon Cake

buy a cheap beef roast. Cut it up into 1/2"-3/4" thick steaks about the size of a silver dollar or so. Marinade it overnight in a cup to cup and a half of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of montreal steak seasoning, and a 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Grill hot heat just a minute or two on each side to keep them medium to medium rare. Makes a great tasting steak that takes almost no time to cook since they're small like that. I do these all the time. I normally use venison but have used beef many times when there's a bunch of people. I usually will do 2-3 roasts and it's pretty much all gone by the time I'm done cooking. You'll have people waiting at the grill for the next batch to come off. :D

Depends on where you are... Roast sweet corn, put a stick of butter in a piepan.