Fire Up the Grill Backyard BBQ

The Day Before

• Make Cilantro Dressing for Potato-Vegetable Salad with Cilantro Dressing; store covered in refrigerator.

• Prepare Corn and Walnut Dip; store covered in refrigerator.

 
The Morning Before

• Clean the berries for Berry Shortcake Stars; refrigerate. Make shortcakes; cool completely and store covered at room temperature. Prepare the pudding; cover and refrigerate.

• Cut ribs into serving pieces.

• Prepare the potato salad using the dressing prepared the day before; refrigerate covered.

• Prepare the lemonade; refrigerate.

• Prepare salad greens for Quick Caesar Salad if not purchasing already torn; cover and refrigerate.

 
About 3 Hours Before Meal

• Cook marinade for Jamaican Jerk Chicken; marinate chicken for up to 3 hours in refrigerator.

 
Up to 2 Hours Before Meal

• Prepare Sweet-Savory Sauce for the ribs.

 
1 to 1 1/2 Hours Before Serving

• If using a charcoal grill, heat grill.

 
About 45 Minutes Before Meal

• Prepare Back Ribs with Sweet-Savory Sauce.

• Prepare and serve Peach Margaritas.

• Prepare and grill the garlic only for the Grilled Garlic with French Bread.

 
About 20 Minutes Before Meal

• Grill chicken.

 
Just Before Meal

• Grill the bread.

• Toss salad.

 
About 20 Minutes Before Serving Dessert

• If desired, reheat shortcakes tighlyt wrapped in alumninum foil in 350° oven for about 10 minutes. Fill and top shotcakes.

Fired-Up Foods

• Jazz up beverages, both lemonade and margaritas, with frosted-rim glasses. Before filling the glasses, thoroughly chill them in the refrigerator. Rub the rims with the cut side of a lime or lemon, then dip the rims into a shallow dish of granulated or colored sugar.

• Add a smoky flavor and aroma to the ribs or chicken with grilling wood chips (available where grill accessories are sold). Soak a handful or less of chips in water for about 15 minutes. Add to the grill a few minutes before putting on the meat. The chips will give off smoke as they burn, infusing the ribs or chicken with a smoky flavor and aroma.

Father's Day
For a special Father's Day gift, purchase a grilling apron (in Dad's favorite color!), and have all the kids trace their hands on it with fabric paints. Write the child's name and age next to or inside each handprint. Every year when Dad takes out the apron, he can see how much the kids have grown by comparing the size of their hands to the handprints!
 
Fourth of July
For table decorations and party favors, create rockets from paper towel tubes. Make points for the rockets with construction paper, and staple them to one end of the tubes. You can fill the tubes with wrapped candy. Then glue construction or wrapping paper over the ends to seal. Glue colorful paper shreds (available where gift wrap is sold) on the paper-covered ends to look like flames.