Barbecue Luau - Graduation Party for My Son

My Brother Found Some Real Cool Luau Decorations Up in Dayton, Ohio.


Here's a Wide Shot of the Luau Barbecue As Things Are Starting to Crank Up.


I Told My Son He Could Lei Everhyone, Since It Was His Big Day.


The Big Kids Like The Kiddie Pool Too.


My Aunt Decided to Be a Swinger at the Barbecue Luau.

I was up and about around 6:30 a.m. - marinating hamburgers, making dip, and getting things together. We kept the menu simple - burgers, hot dogs, grilled pineapple and then a lot of finger foods, but it still took some juggling to get everything ready by lunch time.

My brother came over and got things decorated. He had all kinds of great blow up toys with tropical themes and garlands plus the poster pictured above. I got some leis from Oriental Trading Company as well as those little umbrella picks to stick in the cheese and rub on glitter tattoos.

The kids had fun playing basketball, splashing in the wader pool, and shooting each other with water guns. They also made bubbles with some big wands from Wal-Mart and with flyswatters. If you dip the old type flyswatters in the bubble stuff, you can make millions of tiny bubbles. Everyone thought that was cool.

Easy Grilled Pineapple - Barbecue Fun

On of our favorites on the grill is pineapple. It's really easy to grill pineapple. And, it can be served as a side or as a dessert.

You can used canned pineapple on the grill, but we especially like fresh pineapple.

If you are thinking about grilling pineapple, check out my Grilled Pineapple recipe at Yes You Can Grill.

Pineapple on the Grill

Most fruits are too fragile for grilling. Pineapple is an exception and quite a treat when hit with a little fire.

For some reason, people seem to be afraid of fresh pineapple. OK. Yes. A pineapple does look like some sort of torture device with those spines. But, they are much sweeter than indicated by the cover.

As you can see in the picture, I found the perfect "opener" for pineapples. I hit them with an electric knife. And, you thought those were just for turkeys. Nope. Work just great on pineapples too. You can always use a knife too. It's not a big deal.

Once you have the pineapple cut in chunks as above, brush melted butter with some sugar on the pineapple. I usually melt the butter and sugar on the stove, but it can go to the side on the grill. Seasoning taste good on the pineapple too. You can with things like cinnamon or even hot spicy seasonings.

If you're a shortcut kind of person (love you guys too), then you can buy canned pineapple. Rings can be grilled just like the fresh slices, and they are really yummy on grilled hamburgers. Actually, it's not cheating. I go with canned rings if I'm doing Hawaiian burgers, so don't feel a bit bad about buying a can and jazzing up my burgers.