Cooking Games and the Grill

In some areas, you can use your grill all year long. But in other areas, the grill is really only useful in the warmer months of the year. It’s unlikely that the grill will be pulled out in the middle of a snowstorm, so you’ll need to prepare your grill for the long winter.

As the weather cools down, cook one last delicious meal on your grill and then start taking steps to clean and protect the grill over the month. Turn the grill on as high as it will go and let it heat up fully to burn off all of the old food. Let it cool completely before using a scraping brush to remove any of the remaining items. Empty all of the ashes and food from the bottom of the grill if possible.

Before pulling on the cover, screw the top of the gas canister completely closed and store the canister in an area where there won’t be a risk of frost or freezing – the garage or basement, for example. Completely cover the grill and move it into storage if you’re able before settling into the winter.

Cooking Games and Fall Foods

While there is certainly not a rule about the best foods for fall, it’s commonly accepted that the fall cooking games are ones that provide hot, hearty foods for the colder days. As the days cool off, the meals heat up in a big way. Some of the best cooking games for fall include:

Chili – Hearty, meat-filled and nutritious, chili is a great staple in the fall. It is a meal in itself, but can be used as a supplement to other meals as well. Top a baked potato with a ladleful of chili. Take your chili and crumble some cornbread on top. Add some beans and cheese to give you extra flavor.

Soups – Hot soups are a hearty meal option in the fall that will help you warm up from the inside out. The soups are filling, but they aren’t as heavy as some other options in the fall.

Pie – Hot pie is good all year long, but some of the richer pies are best in the fall. Pumpkin pie, pecan pie and various meat and berry pies are delicious in the fall. The warm pies topped with cream are easily the favorite fall cooking games.

Cooking Games and the Family Barbecue

A family barbecue is a fun way to relax with your family while playing cooking games. You can have a family barbecue with just the people closest to you or by inviting some friends over to enjoy the meal with you. The more people that come over, the more festive your family barbecue will become. In the cooking games, you’ll always want to make sure that there is enough food for everyone and that you have something to use as you prepare the food.

For example, don’t fire up the grill before you check to be sure that the steaks aren’t frozen at that the hot dogs have buns to serve them with. Your grill should be clean and ready for preparing food, while the kitchen is an easy place to get the side dishes ready. You can even cook sides like corn or beans over the grill as well to cut down on the mess inside. Pull the meal together, and then enjoy the company as everyone sits around a picnic table to enjoy it together.

Cooking Games and Progressive Dinners

One easy way to have fun with friends, especially a large group of friends, is to arrange a progressive dinner. In the progressive dinner, you’ll take your friends from one house to the other to offer them different course. These cooking games let many different people be involved in the production of the food and it gives all of your guests different scenery and surroundings as they move around the neighborhood.

If you have enough people that can drive, you can spread out across town, but even a group of walkers can have fun if you keep things centralized in a single location – like a neighborhood where a few of you live. As you serve up the food and fun with these cooking games, introduce some fun games as well to keep everyone interested. Try to make sure everyone is in the same room while you play to be sure everyone is included in the fun.

Cooking Games – The Perfect Fireside Snack

Now that the summer is wrapping up, it’s time to start thinking of autumn nights and perhaps the first true cold front of the season. As the weather cools down, the kitchen can start to heat up – make yourself a delicious fireside snack to enjoy on your first cold night this autumn.

A hot drink – The perfect snack has to start with a hot drink. Whether you like hot chocolate, hot cider, tea or coffee, plan to brew up something how and steamy. Top it with a cinnamon stick or some marshmallows, use a big over-sized mug and then plan the rest of the snack.

Savory foods – The fire means it’s time to savor your foods. To do this, you’ll need something hot. Nachos are a great savory item that is easy to pull together. Chips, beans, cheese and tomatoes are all cooked together to be a hot, yummy snack. Warm bread, hot sandwiches and small quiches are also easy things to pull together or heat up to snack on.

Something sweet – Finally, you’ll need something sweet to snack on. A warm piece of pie is delicious by the fireside or opt for some cake to settle the sweet tooth. Hot brownies are delicious as well – get creative and enjoy the delicious nature of food on a cold night.

Cooking Games – Tips for a Perfect School Lunch

These days I’m relegated to making school lunches instead of playing real cooking games. Of course, school lunches need love, too, and I’ve come up with a few plans of attack on how to pull together a nice lunch in a pretty speedy way.

To make a school lunch, I always start with a frozen juice packet. The frozen juice acts like ice to keep the rest of the lunch cool, but it also melt over the course of the morning so that you have nice, cold juice to drink at lunch time. This works with a small water bottle as well.

I then include something easy to eat with your fingers. I’ve discovered that packing something that resembles a real meal often means I forget to include silverware, so I’m stuck. Better to throw in some cheese and crackers or a sandwich than risk having pasta without a means to eat it.

Finally, I always include a sweet snack. Even if it’s just a single cookie or a small candy bar, it’s important to have a little treat throughout the day. It’s just as important, of course, to find a treat that is small – you don’t want to ruin your supper, after all.

Cooking Games in 10 Minutes or Less

I need to start some new cooking games in my household. By the time I get two boys home from gymnastics, I’ll be looking for something to fix very quickly before it’s time for some homework and bed. Our days fly by during the school year, but I don’t want to always eat out for simplicity’s sake. I want to be able to feed my children something that is at least mostly nutritious at home, although I’m sure I’ll forsake cooking games at least once in favor of take out.

But I can at least try to make some 10 minute meals for the kids. The best bet are things that are simple foods. Pasta is a simple food and goes over well in my household, especially since the boys don’t like sauce. Basic meat dishes are easy, too, since they don’t need to roast. A baked chicken breast feeds us easily and a steak can actually be pretty quick, too. The trick will be to do the prep beforehand as much as possible so that I can just throw everything together as I walk in the door. Tricky, but it can be done.