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There are loads of great recipe ideas in this Backyard Luau Menu Plan to help and inspire you when planning an end of summer break get together! Everything from appetizers and drinks, to main dishes, sides and desserts are covered, helping you come up with a delectable Hawaiian-inspired menu without a hassle! With summer still in full swing but with fall right around the corner and school starting back up for many families, August is the perfect time for a backyard get together with friends and family....

This bbq chicken cobb salad is one of my go-to recipes each summer when the days get long and hot, and I find that there are days when I just. cannot. cook. The idea of turning on gas burners on the stovetop when it is 100+degrees outside just starts to bum me out. Plus, we are often trying to beat the heat by spending all afternoon at the splash pad or pool and getting back home starving and impatient for dinner, so I’m also looking for something fast....

My family always goes crazy for any dessert that combines vanilla pastry cream and chocolate. They love Classic Homemade Eclairs, No Bake Chocolate Eclair Cake and of course, an impressive Boston Cream Pie, which is actually a cake despite its name. This is a cookie version of the classic dessert cake, and in this case they do actually look like cute little pies, even though they’re cookies. With homemade vanilla custard filling as well as homemade ganache in a sugar cookie shell, they taste absolutely amazing....

If you love Buddha bowls then you also might enjoy our Vegetarian Swiss Chard and Pinto Bean Burritos or Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells. Lately we have been on a buddha bowl kick at our house. I like to throw in meatless meals occasionally when meal planning because they tend to be more budget friendly and healthy, and it makes a nice change. Buddha bowls are one of our favorite choices because they are so satisfying that you don’t feel like you are missing out on meat at all....

Burnt Almond Fudge Ice Cream isn’t just a modern creation; it actually has roots that go way back. Believe it or not, a version of this treat was served at President Lincoln’s second inaugural ball in 1865! While the original might not have had the chocolate base that we love today, it’s clear that this favorite flavor combination of almonds and cream has been a hit for centuries. You may, like me, be wondering why it’s called “burnt” almond rather than “roasted” almond, and honestly, I have no idea!...

If you love cinnamon desserts, be sure to also check out our Homemade Churros, Copycat Crumbl Cinnamon Swirl Cookies, and Cinnamon Roll Waffles. My friend Meredith brought these Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal bars to a bake sale & car wash fundraiser that our church youth group was holding to raise money for summer camps. They were so delicious with the perfect ratio of gooey, stretchy marshmallow to crunchy cinnamon-sugar squares that I just couldn’t resist them!...

Served over rice, it’s pure comfort food bliss. Trust me, you’ve got to try it to believe how deliciously simple it is! What is Pollo Guisado? Pronounced as “poy-yo gweeSAH-doh”, it translates as chicken stew. It is braised low and slow until the chicken is tender in the most flavorful sauce or stew. It comes in variations, evolving from island to island, with the family recipes passing from generation to generation....

Wanting to learn to make bread but feeling intimidated? Be sure you also check out my Roasted Garlic & Rosemary No Knead Artisan Bread, Soft Garlic Parmesan Homemade Breadsticks, and Sweet Molasses Brown Bread! Rosemary Focaccia Bread The olive oil coating the bottom of the pan gives an amazing, crunchy texture to the crust of this Easy Rosemary Focaccia bread while the butter drizzled over the top creates pockets of yummy, buttery goodness, highlighted with a generous sprinkle of coarse salt....

If you love apple recipes as much as we do, be sure to check out my Apple Pie Macarons, Apple Crisp, Crockpot Apple Butter, Homemade Apple Fritters, and Homemade Caramel Apples! German Apple Cake with Streusel Topping I have been obsessed with Germany for almost as long as I can remember. It’s the language I took in high school and college, it’s the second country I ever visited outside of the United States (the first was Costa Rica for our honeymoon), and I lived in Frankfurt, Germany and interned at a law firm there during the summer between my 1st and 2nd years of law school....

We love having Mexican food for dinner and think it’s best when it’s homemade! Serve these enchiladas up with Horchata, Mexican Rice, and Pico de Gallo for a full-on Mexican feast! These Ground Beef Enchiladas with Red Sauce are seriously the best! These easy beef enchilada recipe is seriously the best. The homemade red enchilada sauce is so much better than anything that comes in a can from a store and it hardly takes any time at all to make on the stovetop....

If you love homemade dressings as much as we do, be sure to try our Olive Garden Salad Dressing, Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing, Creamy Parmesan Peppercorn Dressing and Papaya Seed Dressing. Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing The original caesar salad is a hugely popular item on many restaurant menus, and for good reason! The fresh, crisp romaine lettuce and tangy, savory dressing with plenty of large, chunky croutons are a favorite of many....

Roti is the irresistible flatbread popular in Indian cuisine. It’s a whole grain bread that’s particularly popular in North India and Pakistan. You use roti to scoop up bites of food instead of using utensils. Roti is the most general term for this type of flatbread, and there is a lot more flexibility in the results of your flatbread when you call it roti. Like, chapati for example is made very similarly to roti but the whole bread must puff up, which requires a specific cooking technique that takes years to perfect....

I could eat pasta salad every day during the summer. While technically a side dish, it makes the perfect light lunch when the weather is hot and it’s so easy to throw together. This Italian pasta salad is one of our favorites and a great choice for picnics and summer parties when you need to bring something to share. It goes great with sandwiches, burgers, grilled chicken, ribs, and pretty much anything else you can think of....

It’s basically the same as your average cabbage slaw, but with a healthy addition of kimchi! Which is, as you may know, Korean fermented cabbage. All you need for kimchi slaw is: your favorite kimchi, cabbage (red or green), vegan mayonnaise (cause hey, I’m vegan), and rice wine vinegar. And making the slaw is as easy as mixing it all together in a bowl! So there you have it! Your very own kimchi slaw, which is certainly one of the most tasty slaws out there!...

Homemade Cupcake Recipe For years my Best Ever Moist Chocolate Cupcakes have been one of the most popular recipes on this site. They have dozens of rave reviews and I often get requests for a vanilla cupcake recipe that can match it in terms of making easy, moist cupcakes that have amazing vanilla flavor all their own. But it takes me a while to work through cake and cupcake recipes because I only want to share tried-and-true ones that I really consider the best of the best, like my Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting or my Best Red Velvet Cake....

I don’t know a soul who can resist pulling off a chunk of gooey, sweet monkey bread. It’s one of the best breakfast treats ever! Monkey bread is the perfect dessert and breakfast treat rolled into one. The rich dough, coated in cinnamon sugar and drenched in a buttery brown sugar mixture, bakes into bite-sized pieces that are fun to pull apart. This recipe’s delightful, caramelized crust and soft interior make it a favorite for both kids and adults!...

If you love macarons, be sure to try my Pistachio Macarons, Chocolate Macarons, and Lemon Macarons as well! I have a serious obsession with raspberry macarons. So much so that I have another similar but different-enough recipe for Jolly Holiday Raspberry Rose Macarons that are a copycat version of the ones at Disneyland. They are shaped like giant Mickey heads with fresh raspberries and a creamy raspberry-rose filling in the middle!...

This is the BEST Recipe for Chocolate Cream Pie If you grew up with chocolate pudding pie made from a box of chocolate pudding mix, you probably don’t know what you have really been missing out on all these years. Our homemade chocolate cream pie recipe is made entirely from scratch with real chocolate for the ultimate in chocolatey bliss. This is a signature recipe that you will be asked to make for every holiday, party, or potluck forever after if you make it because people love it that much....

The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is a sweet shop that started in Durango, Colorado but has spread throughout a bunch of other states in the Rocky Mountain region. I just cannot resist those huge windows filled with rows of gourmet caramel apples, homemade fudge, and chocolate covered pretzels. And the smell of the freshly made caramel and melted chocolate that wafts out is a siren call to my soul. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory used to be one of our go-to date night stops when Paul and I were in law school....

Cheesy, easy scalloped potatoes are possibly my favorite part about Easter dinner. Or okay, maybe the Lion House dinner rolls with raspberry freezer jam. Or the brown sugar glazed ham. I’m usually a pretty decisive person but Easter dinner tests my ability to make a solid judgement because the food is always just so good! I don’t know if comfort food gets any more classic than when talking about warm, cheesy carbs....