- 76 percentage of women who like to grill
- 150 millions of hot dogs Americans eat over Memorial Day weekend
- 100 calories in a turkey dog
- 148 calories in a regular dog
- 49 percentage of grillers who think it’s acceptable to bring their own sauce to a barbecue
- 121 calories you save by grilling  a chicken breast instead of frying it

Now that you know all about the facts of grilling, here’s a really easy appetizer to grill while you are sipping cocktails on the patio.

Mushroom Bacon Bites

What you need:
- 24 medium fresh mushrooms
- 12 bacon strips, halved
- 1 cup of you favorite barbecue sauce

What to Do
1. Wrap each mushroom with a piece of bacon; secure with a toothpick.
2. Thread onto metal or soaked bamboo skewers; brush with barbecue sauce.
3. Grill, uncovered, over indirect medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until the bacon is crisp and the mushrooms are tender, turning and basting occasionally with remaining barbecue sauce.

This easy appetizer recipe makes 2 dozen. For more wonderful grilled appetizer recipes, visit our Simple Appetizer Recipes page.

And that led me to making all kinds of different chips. The flavors or so good and serving them fresh from baking or frying them is the best! Below are some of my favorite chip recipes… Enjoy making them and eating them up!

Homemade Potato Chips – Are you the creative type? How about making your chips of the mixed variety? Make them not just with Russet potatoes – even though they are available all year. But, try making some of your chips from Finnish yellow or Peruvian purple potatoes.

Italian Bagel Chips – takes plain bagels and making them into something special. Add some wonderful seasoning and what seemed old and boring before has a whole new lift to it. Use these chips with a variety of dips and you’ll please even the pickiest of eaters.

Lemon Thyme Pita Chips – are a wonderful change from the same old chips everyone usually serves. This easy appetizer recipe will be the hit of the party. Your friends and guests will beg you for this chip dip recipe!

Corn Tortilla Chips – Fresh. Crunchy. And the flavor! You can’t eat just one. Plus, you’ll enjoy making these wonderfully flavored tortilla chips yourself.

Parmesan Cheese Crisps – This is one of my favorite easy appetizer recipes because of it’s crispy lightness and they way they melt in your mouth.

Enjoy with some wonderfully creative dips. Perfect  for Memorial Day, Labor Day, or any fun party you are planning.

Memorial Day signifies the beginning of summer. School is almost out, and the weather has turned warm. People take the long weekend to travel, have bbq parties, swim, bike, and spend it with friends and family. But there’s a deeper meaning to Memorial Day that we often times forget. Yes, it is a legal holiday but the original intent was to set aside a day in which we commemorate the members of the United States armed forces who were killed in war.

In this day and age, you would be hard pressed to find someone who hadn’t had a family member killed or at least know someone who did in one of the wars our country has been involved in. Even if you, personally, don’t have a family member who died while protecting our country, there are thousands who have.

To read the rest of this article, simple go here.

Happy Memorial Day and don’t for get to be prepared with great ideas for Memorial Day Appetizers.

Memorial Day

Here’s a little help in that area… I’m listing 5 of my favorite Chicken Wings Recipes for you to try out. Chicken Wings – when done right, are a wonderful simple appetizer that everyone loves. Watch. You’ll see. They will disappear before your eyes!

#1. THE Original Buffalo Chicken Wings – Take a peak at the first recipe that started the popularity of chicken wings. Simple and easy appetizer to make.

#2. Apricot Onion Chicken Wings - I like this one because it blends the sweet with the tart and the combination will make this a real party pleaser.

#3. Coffee Chicken Wings – Ooo la la! This recipe is exotic, but oh-so-delicous!  You’ll love the smokiness the coffee flavor adds to the wings.

#4. Dragon Breath Chicken Wings – These wings you grill and they will spice up any party you might throw. The nice thing about this recipe is that they are as delicious served cold as they are straight from your grill.

#5. Diablo Canyon Chicken Wings – This is a wonderful simple appetizer recipe for the spicy-shy adult and kid. The flavor is a nice mixture of sweet and salty.

Enjoy your holiday and remember to be SAFE!

Here are the top 10 best recipes for Memorial Day and really, any time this summer will work!

#1. Grilled Steak with Herb Butter
A grilled steak is the perfect splurge for a holiday entertaining menu. Even if it’s just you, your spouse, and kids, grill at least one steak this summer to make some great memories. The Herb Butter is filled with pistachios for even more flavor and texture.

#2. Brownie Flag
This gorgeous dessert has the best texture. Combining two small brownie mixes to make a large pan makes the brownies super chewy and moist. And the two different kinds of frosting add wonderful flavor. Let the kids decorate it for the most fun!

#3. Dilled Coleslaw
Coleslaw is a fabulous side salad for everything from grilled steak to burgers to chicken. And you can use the coleslaw leftovers in such fabulous ways! Oh, and don’t worry about the mayonnaise in the salad. Yes, you should keep it cool, but mayo is an acidic food, so it’s less likely to be a problem with food safety than other salad ingredients.

To get the rest of the top 10 great recipes, simple click here.

Have a wonderful, SAFE Memorial Day!

Once you understand some of the basics regarding the composition of this beloved side dish, you’ll be ready to invent your own soon-to-be-famous recipe!

Though there are as many different kinds of potato salad as there are people who make them, most of these spud concoctions fit into one of two categories: creamy, or vinegar-based.

Keep reading for more potato salad tips…

The six of us have been getting together at least once a month for the last 10-12 years. I honestly don’t remember exactly how long it’s been. But within those years and those visits, we have formed a bond that I know will go on even past this life…Their friendships have carried me through tough times and each one of them has given me the gift of trust. A place that I can unburden myself and know that they support me. I sincerely do not know what I would do without them.

We’ve shared tons of laughter, some tears, weathered our children’s growing up days, the antics of our husbands, divorces, rekindled romances with past loves, more laughter, and of course FOOD! Our get-togethers are always about great food. If we don’t go out to some new restaurant, we meet at one of our homes and bring food that always amounts to an unbelievable meal. Cindy is a great cook, but so are Louise, Joan, Janet and Annie.

In this post, I wanted to share with you Cindy’s fabulous Texas Caviar Dip. This easy appetizer recipe is Heaven in a bowl. Since Memorial Day is just around the corner, this could work perfectly for a picnic or party. I added a couple of ingredients. Try it! You’ll like it! And tell the ones you are closest to how much you love them.

What you’ll need:
- 1 can of white corn, rinsed (or if you are really ambitious, cook your own corn and scrape off 16 ounces worth of corn kernals.)
- 1 can of black-eyed peas, rinsed
- green onion, chopped (to taste)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- red onion, minced (to taste)
- 2 ripe avocados (not too ripe!)
- tomatoes, chopped (to taste)
- 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. hot pepper sauce
- black pepper (to taste)
- 1/4 cup roasted pine nuts
- chopped cilantro (to taste)
- fresh lime juice

Mix all the ingredients and refrigerate or serve immediately. Serve with baked tortilla chips or corn tortilla chips. DEEEELish!

Mother’s Day also signifies that warm weather is here or about to be here… so it got me to thinking about what are some great appetizer recipes for warm weather? Parties will be outside for the next few months, what kinds of easy  appetizers work well when the weather turns hot? And with Memorial Day heading our way, I decided it’s time to start making my favorite salsas again.

There are so many different kinds of Salsa and you’ll find a few of those recipes here on this blog. But, this recipe for Fresh Corn Salsa is a wonderful combination of color, sweetness and texture. Everybody seems to love it – I never have any left over! Serve this beautiful Fresh Corn Salsa with some warm homemade tortilla chips and WOW! You’ll have a hit on your hands.

What you’ll need:

• 2 cups diced ripe tomatoes
• 2 cups fresh corn kernels
• 12 oz-can black beans, rinsed well, drained
• 4 green onions, sliced thin
• 1 or 2 green jalapeño, seeded, diced fine
• 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 fresh lime, juiced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

What to do:
Toss all ingredients in a large glass or stainless steel bowl to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Toss well before you serve it.

This easy appetizer recipe can be made up to 8 hours ahead of time.

I got this recipe from About.com and have loved it ever since. You will too.

*photo by Flickr user Luke Wisley