...And a great time was had by all!

The weather in CNY was absolutely beautiful for our Memorial Day picnic yesterday! Not too hot or humid, but warm and sunny; couldn't ask for a better day.

I have to tell everyone about the recipe I found last week on the King Arthur Flour website. I had no clue that you could actually make the New England style buns at home. There were actually two recipes; one for cornbread hot dog buns and one for buttery hot dog buns. Of course, I as soon as I saw the recipes, I just had to order a New England style hot dog bun pan.

The pan arrived at my door on Saturday and on Sunday evening I was putting the dough together using the recipes I found.

Here is a picture of some the ones I made:

Oh my, they were so good! The best part is that I know exactly what they were made of...no preservatives!

The dough recipe was very easy and required very little kneading unlike some breads I have made in the past. Definitely, they would be easy dough recipes for a beginner to handle. You could even use a bread machine if you have one large enough to handle the dough; I think one that makes a 2 pound loaf would work.

We grilled some of them as we were grilling the hot dogs so they would be warm and slightly crispy. Both buns were delicious, but I particularly liked the cornbread buns. In fact, I am going to work some of the leftover cornbread buns into my diet this week.

As a side dish, I made a Mr. Food recipe for Hillbilly Beans. I have made this recipe many times and I thought it would be a good addition to the hot dogs and cheeseburgers. If you love using a slow cooker, you might want to try this recipe; it's so easy to do. After you put everything together, you set the slow cooker for either 4 hours (high) or 6 hours (low).

When I make the beans, I always cook on low for 6 hours. I also add those little cocktail hotdogs during the last hour of cooking even though the recipe doesn't call for adding them.

In addition, I made Hawaiian Macaroni Salad; my youngest son made tomato pie, pizza muffins and carrot cake; and my oldest son brought shrimp.

You can find the recipes for the hot dog buns and Hillbilly beans on my Pinterest board...Recipes that I have to try.

Come to think about it...I guess I should make a new Pinterest board for recipes that I tried and loved. All three (3) of these recipes would definitely be included on that board!