Summer Family Fun! with 3 BBQ Side Dish Recipes

The Doan family loves getting together and throwing a party! Especially in the summertime, we gather at one of our houses to be together outside and eat good food. 

Summer Fun! The kids race around playing soccer.

Sometimes we swim, sometimes we camp, sometimes we bring out the dirt bikes and ride around playing dirt bike soccer, but no matter what we do, we always have good food and good company! 

The Doan boys gearing up for a round of dirt bike soccer!

Accompanying our hamburgers and hotdogs and varieties of chips, here are a few of our favorite family barbeque side dishes!

Potato Salad 

A family barbeque classic — we love our potato salad! 

  • 6  medium potatoes (2 pounds)
  • 1 Tablespoon minced dried onion
  • 13 cup dill pickle relish
  • 2 Tablespoons dill pickle juice
  • 14 cups mayonnaise 
  • 2  Tablespoons mustard 
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt (to taste)
  • 4 hardboiled eggs – cooked, peeled and grated. 
  1. Cook potatoes in boiling, salted water until tender.
  2. Drain well, and let cool. 
  3. Peel potatoes. 
  4. Cube potatoes into a large bowl. 
  5. Add onion, relish and grated eggs to bowl.
  6. Combine mayo, mustard, garlic salt, and pickle juice. 
  7. Add mayo mixture to bowl.
  8. Mix well to coat potatoes and combine all ingredients. 
  9. Cover and chill thoroughly. Enjoy! 

Cowboy Beans

The perfect barbeque side to compliment your spread!

  • 1 lb hamburger
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 5-6 cans of beans, drained (red, black, and pinto) mix em’ up!
  • 1 green pepper, chopped
  • 1 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 2 cans chopped tomatoes, drained
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

Brown the hamburger and cook the onions, then mix it all together in a crock-pot and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours!

Strawberry Pie

Jenny’s favorite is the strawberry pie. We never have a summer party without it! 

  • 1 9″ frozen pie crust, baked
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups of water
  • 1/4 cup of cornstarch
  • 1 lb of sliced strawberries
  • 1 (3oz) package of strawberry jello
  1. Bake pie crust according to package directions, remove and then let cool.
  2. While the crust is in the oven, add sugar and water to a large saucepan over medium heat, whisk the cornstarch in slowly and make sure there are no leftover lumps. Stir continuously for about 4-5 minutes until the mixture is thickened and turns a little clear.
  3. Remove from heat and whisk in the strawberry jello mix until completely dissolved. Let this mixture cool to room temperature.
  4. Once cooled, toss in the strawberries and make sure they are evenly distributed. Pour into pie crust.
  5. Place in the refrigerator to set for about 2-3 hours and then serve! (Add whipped cream if desired!)
The Doan Family gather together outside. Picture by Hannah Earnheart.

Do you have some fun family and friend traditions? What are some of your favorite barbeque side dishes?

Star Sashed Nine-Patch Quilt

Star Sashed Nine-Patch by the Missouri Star Quilt Company.
Star Sashed Nine-Patch Quilt by the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

The 4th of July is getting close. Let’s celebrate with stars!

The original American flag had just 13 stars—one for each state, and we’ve added a star with every new state. 

Imagine those poor flag makers. Just as they mastered one design, they’d get the news: “Hold up, everyone! Kentucky is now a state! Start unpicking, and rearrange your stars!” 

(Sometimes the layout was changed every single year. That’s a lot of star shuffling!)

Star Sashed Nine-Patch by the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

This week we’re stitching up a Star Sashed Nine-Patch in patriotic shades of red, white, and blue. It’s a quick and easy jelly roll pattern made with 9-patches, 4-patches, and snowballed sashing. Put ‘em all together, and a sea of dazzling stars appears like magic. No fuss, no muss!  
Click HERE to watch the tutorial!

Watch the Latest Tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Co!

Goose Tracks Quilt

Goose Tracks Quilt by Missouri Star Quilt Company.

There’s a beautiful, old Goose Tracks quilt at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. 

It was made 150 years ago by Mrs. Ellen Parsons of Shelbyville, Tennessee. A hand-written note explains: “Mrs. Parsons planted and grew the cotton in her garden. She picked the cotton and spun it into thread. She wove the threads into cloth to make the lining for the quilt. She pieced and quilted it by hand.” Phew! That’s a lot of work!

Goose Tracks Quilt by the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

This week, Jenny is whipping up a quick and easy version of the Goose Tracks pattern using precut charm packs. 

Goose Tracks Quilt by the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

She didn’t spin her own home-grown cotton, but she DID add a darling scalloped border. (Don’t you worry! Jenny will walk you through every step of that fancy bias binding!)

Click HERE to watch the tutorial! 

Watch the Latest Tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Co!

Welcome Back to Hamilton!

Hamilton is back in business!

Hamilton reopening Ribbon Cutting ceremony.
Chuck the Duck, Jenny, and the Missouri Star Team officially reopen the town!

After 411 long days of the shops being closed, on May 3rd we welcomed you back to Quilt Town, USA! We couldn’t be happier, we’ve missed seeing all of your bright faces in person. 

It’s been so fun to see the town bustling again!

Since the shops have been closed, we have been busy beautifying the town and making things fresh and exciting for our reopening!

Penney's Quilt Shop receives a fresh, new look!
Penney’s Quilt Shop receiving a fresh, new look!

We’ve added a few new stores in town, such as Nancy’s Notions and One Big Happy Yarn Co., to add even more fun and variety to your shopping experience! In Nancy’s, you can find apparel fabric, notions and patterns, and more. And One Big Happy is your one stop shop for all your knitting and crochet needs. So many ways to add color to your life!

A beautiful May day in Hamilton, Missouri.

Have you visited us in Hamilton? Do you have any plans for a trip to Quilt Town USA?

Missouri Star Quilt Company Main Shop.

If you aren’t yet able to make a trip to Missouri to see us, you can still take home a piece of Quilt Town, USA Missouri Star with MSQC branded memorabilia HERE!

Playground Quilt

Playground Quilt by the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

When Jenny Doan was a child, she lived in an idyllic little town called Spreckels, California. 

In the center of town stood a park circled by a wide sidewalk, the perfect canvas for chalk artists to create all sorts of interesting scenes: Fields of poppies, snow-capped mountains, coral reefs filled with rainbow-hued fish.

How she wished to hop right in – Mary Poppins style – to explore those magical worlds!

Playground Quilt by the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

This week, Jenny is working on a Playground quilt that is as charming as that small-town park. It’s a beautiful jelly roll + layer cake pattern made with easy flying geese, square in a square, and blocks with snowballed corners.

Playground Quilt by Jenny Doan of the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

You may know this old-fashioned favorite as Swing in the Center. We’re using cute 30s prints to give it a vintage look. Follow Jenny’s tips for keeping your points razor-sharp—you’ll never lose another point! 

Click HERE to watch the tutorial! 

Watch the Latest Tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Co!