A Laid-Back Cowboy Dinner at Home

This is a little-known fact, but my sisters and I are cowboys. Yep. Well, we are cowboys at heart.

We don’t really look much like cowboys, but the fact is we were raised by a cowboy dad and we all kind of dig that vibe. Once in a while, that is.

And when my sisters visited we all pitched in and prepared a laid-back cowboy dinner at home.

I’m sharing the menu and recipes, but if you’ve been here a while, you most likely have seen the recipes. Because they are well-loved favorites.

I didn’t take enough photos, but it came together cute and tasty and very man-friendly. Which is good because we had a few men here who were delighted with the themed dinner.

Menu

• Deviled Eggs
• Slow Cooker Brisket
• Homemade Coleslaw with Buttermilk Dressing
• Foxed Up Baked Beans
• Buttermilk Biscuits
• Smores
• Iced Tea and Vodka Lemonade

Tablescape

Nobody in our family fusses much over a lovely table with perfect linens and centerpieces. What’s cool about cowboy is that the food is sort of the star of the show and linens are just bandanas. Oh, yeah and some paper towels for mopping up barbeque sauce!

The easiest way to serve this casual food is buffet style. Setting everything out on the kitchen counter works great.

Appetizer

Monique whipped up deviled eggs and I think Ryan snagged a few before they made it to the table. We munched on those while everything was coming out of the kitchen into the dining room.

Main Dish

We decided on slow cooker brisket because we did a lot of running around the day of our party. Getting the roast into the slow cooker first thing in the morning and forgetting about worked great.

There are so many good and simple ways to make brisket in the crockpot, but my go-to recipe is from Pioneer Woman. A bottle of Ray’s BBQ sauce and a splash of Frank’s Hot Sauce is what we offered to top it. Each person can get as spicy, or not, as they like.

I’ve shared it here before.

Sides

Shredded cabbage and carrots make for a simple but delicious slaw base. Sometimes I will grate a little cucumber too. Since some like onions and some do not, I chopped green onions for the top of individual servings.

A side of homemade buttermilk dressing in a mason jar was just enough vinegar and creamy goodness. Everyone dressed their own slaw according to their taste.

From Love and Lemons, I used their Ranch Dressing recipe and modified to add no mayo.

The best and easiest baked beans are just canned (I used Bush’s) adding just a few foxy ingredients.

Monique baked buttermilk biscuits using a recipe from Serious Eats.

She shared she has a new favorite trick to use self-rising flour and put a little extra baking powder in it.

Dessert

We had all the necessary ingredients for cooking smores outside on the grill.

Smores lend themselves so well to a cowboy dinner and look so cute.

If you have room in your belly after all the yummy food, that is!

Cocktails

Susie found a cocktail she really wanted to try from Carrabba’s – Sparkling Tuscan Lemonade.

She and Mike brought all the ingredients and it was such a hit, John and Mike had to go to the store and buy more lemonade for another batch!

The recipe she followed:

• 1 can frozen lemonade (thawed)
• 1 1/2 oz Absolut Citron Vodka per serving
• 1/2 oz Limoncello per serving
• 2 oz club soda per serving
• Lemon slices for garnish

Susie made this up in a big pitcher so if you want to make the cocktail, adjust the amounts for the number of servings.

Wrap Up

I have wanted to share this cowboy themed dinner for quite a while, but just never got to it. I hope this will give you inspiration if and when you are ready to start entertaining in the new year.

Thank you for joining me this weekend. I hope you are healthy, but I know some crud seems to be going around.

Denisse shared a recipe for flu bomb she said works wonders. She suggests making a batch and freezing in ice cubes. If you feel something coming on, she says you can take a couple out and add to a little water.

Here is the recipe, but let me say in no uncertain terms – I am not a healthcare professional and am not offering medical advice.

God bless.