Memorial Day BBQ
It’s officially Summer! I wanted to start this season off with a Memorial Day BBQ because the weather has been perfect! Not to mention the city also seems like it’s slowly opening up, so there’s a lot to celebrate! But most importantly on Memorial Day, thank you to all the service men and women who keep us safe!
I worked on a very straight forward, easy menu! We had hotdogs and burgers, watermelon salad, homemade sweet potato fries and cake! The cake was the most time consuming so I started baking that ahead of time 💕
I’ve been very into semi homemade baking over quarantine so I used a Whole Foods vanilla cake mix. I made it taste a little more homemade by adding lemon zest and lemon juice.
Don’t worry the buttercream frosting is 100% homemade :)! I’ve been using this recipe for ages and it is always a crowd pleaser.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 Cups of powdered sugar
1 stick of room temperature unsalted butter (half cup)
3 Tbls of Heavy cream
1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt to taste
Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer until it is smooth and free of lumps. I often make this without an electric mixer - it’s definitely an arm work out!
Wait until your cake is cool to frost! Otherwise the frosting will become runny!
Lastly I decorated the cake with cherries. It’s easy and fast plus make the cake very festive.
Next up I made sweet potato oven fries. These are much healthier then takeout fries.
Ingredients
3 small sweet potatoes (I prefer smaller potatoes because they are much easier to cut)!
3 Tbsp of Coconut oil
Salt and paper to taste
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 Teaspoon of smoked paprika
Preheat the over to 400. Wash and peel the skin from your sweet potatoes. It’s okay if you don’t get it all off!
Next slice them into vertical thin strips like the photo below.
Put them into a large bowl and mix in the coconut oil. Use your hands for this step so you can make sure all the fries are coated. Next add in the seasoning.
Spread the fries on a pan with parchment paper. Make sure the fries are spread out and not on top of each other.
Put in the oven for 20 min and then take them out and flip them. After they are tossed put them back in for another 20 min. Keep an eye on them while cooking. Keep them in the oven longer/shorter depending on how crispy you want them.
Once they are cooked, serve warm! They are best right out of the oven.
As the fries cook, I set up the table on the rooftop.
I have used these gingham plates and tablecloth countless times but I especially love how they look for this Memorial Day lunch. Next, I tied the fork and knife together with a piece of scrap fabric. It makes for a cute detail.
Fresh flowers are always a must for me. Luckily even during quarantine there are a lot of affordable places to get flowers here including the farmers market, your neighborhood bodega, and the grocery store.
I combined blue hydrangeas and peonies in a vase. I put the extra peonies in mini vases. Different size vases add dimension to the table scape.
After everything is set up and cooked It’s time to prep your hotdog and burger bar.
When one of my best friends and I were in middle school we would love eating Chile cheese dogs by the pool! So this hot dog bar screams summer to me!
I added all the toppings in little cups and jars so guest can make their own. I found these little mason jar shot glasses that work perfectly as condiment holders!
It’s time to eat and enjoy the view and warm weather!
Happy Memorial Day! 💕
