4 Backyard Recipes for July
What is July without a backyard barbeque? If you are looking for ideas on what kinds of dishes to serve your friends and family, we have you covered.
White Wine Sparkler
You'll need: 2 cups watermelon cubes, 1 cup fresh blueberries, 1 bottle chilled dry white wine (750 ml), 1 liter chilled lemon-lime soda.
Place the watermelon stars and blueberries in the bottom of a 1-gallon pitcher.
Pour in the white wine and soda, and gently mix to combine.
Serve with a few fruit pieces in each cup.
Dad's Best Ribs
Grab your favorite dry rub and distribute 1/4 cup on both sides of each rack, rubbing it into meaty parts only—avoid getting any on bone ends because they'll burn during cooking (you can also just buy ribs already prepared).
Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight if time permits; otherwise proceed directly to step 3 below once you've rubbed in all your spices!
Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil onto each side of two sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil large enough to wrap around each rack without overlapping too much at the top & bottom edges - this helps ensure even heating during the cooking process without burning
Preheat grill to 300f degrees. It's important to try to maintain this temperature through the cooking process so your ribs don't cook too fast. A temperature of 145f degrees means they are done!
Baste the cooked ribs with a marmalade sauce. Make sure to coat it well. We love using pineapple or orange marmalade.
Cover grill and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Grilled Watermelon Feta Skewers
This is one of our favorites. So easy and so delicious!
You'll need:
4 cups cubed watermelon (from about 1 medium watermelon)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 cups arugula; washed and dried
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves; plus more for garnish if desired
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Set your grill to high heat. Thread a piece of watermelon, a piece of feta, and the second piece of watermelon onto a 6-inch skewer. Repeat with the remaining pieces of watermelon and feta. On
Once the grill is hot, brush the skewers on all sides with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Grill until lightly charred on all sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove from the grill and cool slightly.
To serve, mound 1 cup arugula onto each plate, and top with 5 skewers per plate. Drizzle each salad with 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with chopped basil. Serve immediately.
Ice Cream Sandwich
We saved the best for last. This is a huge hit year after year with kids and adults alike!
You'll need:
Ice Cream Sandwiches (Klondike Ice Cream Sandwiches)
Sprinkles - In our case, we used red, white and blue candy sprinkles. We also used some star shaped sprinkles too! You can use whatever you want here. Get creative!
Unwrap each ice cream sandwich one at a time. You will need to use two hands for this step because it can get messy!
Place the festive sprinkles into a small bowl and mix them around until they are even throughout the bowl of color you choose (in our case, red, white and blue). Make sure not to add too much of your chosen color because then it may look too overwhelming on your ice cream sandwich later on! We found that 1/8th teaspoon was enough for all four sides of each ice cream sandwich but feel free to add more if desired! If using star-shaped or other fun-shaped sprinkles like ours above in these directions just put them right next to each other without mixing them up with other colors first-this makes things easier later when serving guests.
Now that you've got your menu all set, it's time to get out there and start cooking and enjoying your time with friends and family! We hope you enjoy every bite and every moment.
The Leaf, located in downtown Wooster, offers a vast menu that will make breakfast through dinner a delightful experience! Open Tuesday through Sunday, our team culinary team creates delicious dishes for you. Bring a friend or dine solo for a relaxing meal away from home.
Follow us on Facebook or Instagram for the latest specials and new menu items. Reservations can be made at OpenTable or by calling 330-804-0126. Interested in holding your next event at The Leaf? We are happy to accommodate larger parties or planned gatherings.