Expand Your Culinary Repertoire by Cooking Over Fire Pits

Did you know you can turn your backyard's fire pit into a grill? All you need is an inexpensive grill grate to place over the top of the pit and you'll be ready to grill in style. With their large size, fire pits make great grills. Whether you're grilling up kabobs, hot dogs or steaks, cooking over a fire pit is a great way to enjoy your backyard.

Choose the Right Wood for Fire Pits

Standard grills utilize charcoal for cooking, but when it comes to fire pits, using wood is a very popular method for grilling. This will give your cookout some old-fashioned character, not to mention add delicious flavor to the food.

Experiment with different types of wood, as each will give a different flavor to your food. Whether you choose hickory, maple, oak or another type of wood, you can be certain that any food cooked on a fire pit will be delicious and juicy.

Get Grilling With Your Fire Pit

You can use your fire pit just like you would use any other grill. If you want to start simple, stick with grilling hotdogs. Grill the hotdogs over the fire pit the exact same way you would over a traditional grill. Be sure to rotate the hotdogs with tongs as they grill. If you used wood in your fire pit, you'll be pleased with the unique flavor the wood gives hot dogs. You'll never go back to a traditional grill again!

Once you're comfortable grilling over your fire pit, give yourself a cooking challenge. One of the best aspects of grilling over a fire pit is using wood, which gives the food a distinct, smoky flavor. Think of all the restaurants you've been to that grill their meats over apple wood or some other type of wood. This trend is all the rage right now in the grilling industry, and you can achieve the very same taste with the meats you grill over your fire pit.

Impress Your Friends with Fire Pits

Before you know it, your friends will think of you as a culinary genius after they've sampled the foods cooked on your fire pit. Remember to keep your fire pit clean. Just like with a traditional grill, you need to scrub down your grill grate and clean the ashes out of your fire pit after each use. But the extra work is worth it once you see how great it is to have a fire pit in your backyard.

Not only does a fire pit add a warm quality to your backyard, but it also can make your backyard feel like an outdoor oasis. Add some nice patio furniture and hanging baskets of flowers and you'll be ready to wine and dine your family and friends. Just don't be surprised when they want to come back for dinner every night.

Post by guest blogger Stephanie Kalina-Metzger, a writer who enjoys blogging about fire pits.

2 Great Cold Picnic Food Recipes

Picnics are a great way to enjoy two of life's greatest pleasures, the great outdoors and food. Who doesn't like a good picnic, well minus the mosquitoes biting and those annoying flies trying to get into your picnic basket, a picnic is a great way for people to gather.

At any picnic the food is the star of the show, without a doubt. It doesn't matter how well you put together your picnic, how nice the day is, or none of that. If the food isn't up to par, there are going to be a lot of unhappy campers at your picnic(even if they don't tell you). The most commonly used food at a picnic are straight off the grill, like hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken and list goes on. Few people however, consider how cold foods can be a big star at a picnic a bigger star than there hot food counterparts. All of you have to do is know the right recipes. So here they are.

Sandwich Slaw/Serves 4

Ingredients

* 2 cups green cabbage, shredded
* 2 tablespoons, onions, minced
* 2 tablespoons, cider vinegar
* 2 tablespoons, mayonnaise
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 2 teaspoons, granulated sugar
* 1 teaspoon, black pepper
* salt, to taste

How To Put It Together

1.

Mix the ingredients and refrigerate for a hour.
2. Place a generous amount on each sandwich.
3. Or you can serve it along side the bread.

Grilled Caribbean Shrimp Wrap with Lime Sour Cream and Red Cabbage/Serves 1

Ingredients

* 6 21 to 25 shrimp, medium
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 tablespoon garlic, finely minced
* 1 teaspoon minced thyme
* 1 teaspoon scotch bonnet pepper, minced
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 cup sour cream
* 1 tablespoon lime juice
* 1 14inch tortilla shell
* 1/2 cup red cabbage, finely shredded
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
* 1 romaine lettuce leaf
* 1 sliced tomato

How To Put It Together

1.

Marinate the shrimp with garlic, olive oil, thyme, scotch bonnet peppers, and salt for 1 hour.
2. Grill the shrimp until just done.
3. Slice the shrimp into strips.
4. Beat the lime juice into sour cream.
5. Spread the tortilla with the sour cream.
6. Toss the cabbage in the oil and vinegar.
7. Add the shrimp, cabbage, lettuce, and tomato to the tortilla and roll tightly, securing with skewers.
8. Trim the ends and cut the roll at an angle one third of the length then cut straight at the next third.