Cooking Games and Fires

The colder season is the perfect time to fire up the outside fire pit for some fun cooking games. And with the fire pit you can have a bit of fun with your children and even by yourself. Grab some long sticks and a few hot dogs and marshmallows and roast yourself up something nice. The fire pit is a great way to keep warm on a cool night, but you can easily spend some time on the weekend enjoying the fire pit during the day even if the weather isn’t that cold.

Build a fire and let it burn down enough that you have some nice embers. When it’s lunch time or just time for a bit of fun, haul out the hot dogs and sticks and teach your children or just enjoy roasting your own hot dogs. Get creative with the fire and cook other things as well on various sticks. Marshmallows are an easy choice, you can also cook cans of things like chili in the fire or even potatoes if you really want to get serious about open flame cooking. Always practice fire safety, of course, in these sorts of cooking games.

Cooking Games and Ooey Gooey Brownie Sundaes

If there is anything better than ice cream, it’s ice cream over a brownie. Brownie ala mode or really just a brownie sundae is easily one of the most delicious ways to consume countless calories while practically passing out in ecstasy. It’s for this reason that I truly love cooking game – you can make such delicious desserts.

When you make an ooey gooey brownie sundae, you can’t start with just any brownie. You need fresh brownies, preferably thick ones that are heavy. Don’t use the “cake-like brownies” in your recipe – you want the richest ones you can make. Once you have the brownies baking, take them out of the oven just a minute or two before they are well and truly done. You want them to be on the verge of being under baked so that they are extra moist and gooey.

Cut a hefty square of brownie and then dump a large scoop of ice cream on top. Cover with caramel and fudge sauce and top with plenty of whipped cream and cherries. The result is delicious, messy and rich. Yum!

Cooking Games and Dinnertime

Even if you enjoy cooking games, dinner time can be a challenge depending on the time that you normally eat. If, for example, you like to eat dinner early because you have young ones to put to bed, even the best cooking games can’t be done in the fifteen minutes you have to whip something up. You’ll need more time to dice and cut and prepare than you can find on a typical Monday afternoon. The solution to this is to not cook on a Monday night.

Cook on a Sunday instead. Make Sunday your family day to cook and then freeze or put away food items that you can pull out on a moment’s notice to prepare. Grab the casserole dish and reheat it on Monday. Use the crock pot on Tuesday and just dump in the basics before you leave the house. Wednesday is ideal for leftover and Thursday might leave you with the seasoned meat and potato dish you created. It’s hard to make cooking games fit in before dinnertime, but if you’re savvy, you can make it all work beautifully .

Cooking Games and Football

Football season is a great excuse to cook. You can create all sorts of yummy treats during football season that you can’t always get away with during the warmer months. If you like fall cooking games, invite a crowd over for a football game and you’ll be in business. Start with the main dish for the meal – it should be something relatively easy to eat while seated on the couch. Bowls of chili are nice and warm or sandwiches are easy as well. Perhaps create giant sandwiches to cut and share.

Your snacks are the central part of the game, of course. You can start with pretzels and chips, but then expand into things that are more fun for everyone. Pigs in a blanket and different kinds of pastries. Dips are always a huge hit and you can enjoy plenty of cooking games if you start to incorporate all of the fun dessert options as well. Cakes, pies and decorated cookies – there’s something for everyone during football cooking games.

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.