Memorial Day Cookout!

I took the long weekend to go visit my family down in North Carolina.  It was a great break!  Callie got to spend the weekend with her favorite playmate.  As an added bonus, some family friends were at the house for dinner Sunday night.  

My dad decided we needed cookout food since it was a holiday weekend, even though they weren't over on Memorial Day.  So I took over preparing dinner and drinks.  The usual dishes were there - sour cream potato salad, corn, baked beans, brisket, sweet tea - along with some things I wanted to make - sangria, watermelon lemonade, vinaigrette-based potato salad, and grilled fruit salad.

I'm going to use this post to pass along the recipes for several of those dishes.  I figure I owe you since I've been so flaky posting things lately!

White-Wine Sangria

2 bottles white wine

2 peaches

3 oranges

3 lemons

1 lime

1 mango

3/4 c vodka

1/2 c triple sec

3 c sprite (or prosecco if you want something extra strong)

Juice 2 lemons and 2 oranges.  Chop the rest of the fruit, discarding the pits from the peach and mango.  Combine juice, wine, vodka, triple sec, and chopped fruit.  Muddle lightly and let sit for at least 1 hour.  When ready to serve, add sprite or prosecco.  Serve over ice, with a few chunks of fruit

Watermelon Lemonade

3 c pureed watermelon (strained)

1 c lemon juice

3/4 c simple syrup

3 c water

Combine all ingredients in a pitcher and stir.  If you would like a sparkling version, replace at least half of the water with sparkling water.  If you want a hard watermelon lemonade (I recommend doing this!), add a little vodka when you serve this.

Sour Cream Potato Salad

serves 6

2 lb potatoes

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 eggs

6 strips bacon

1/4 c sour cream

1/4 c mayo

1 T cider vinegar

1 T coarse ground mustard

1 oz potato chips, crushed

Chop and boil potatoes until almost cooked through.  Boil eggs, let cool, and roughly chop.  Cook bacon until crisp, let cool, and chop into 1/4-inch pieces.

Stir together sour cream, mayo, vinegar, and mustard.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add onions, bacon, eggs, and potatoes, and stir well.  When ready to serve, top with crushed potato chips for a little bit of crunch.  If you stir these in, they will just get soggy, so make sure to put them on top!