Author and backyard gourmet Merle Ellis gives great tips for teaching kids the art of backyard grilling.
- The first step is to maintain constant supervision. Never leave kids alone with a grill. Always have a fire extinguisher handy whenever using an outdoor grill.
- Make hotdog holders from coat hangers or sticks. Kids love roasting hotdogs over the grill. Make the holders as long as possible to keep the kids away from the fire.
- Use cookie cutters to make interesting shapes from slices of bread. Sprinkle the bread with cheese and other toppings and grill.
- Another food children love to eat is pizza, and they'll enjoy putting some pies together for the grill. Start with packaged, ready-to-use pizza crusts. Use small crusts, about six to eight inches across. Top with cheese, pizza sauce and other toppings such as pepperoni and olives. Heat and enjoy.
- S'mores are an outdoor cuisine classic. Top a graham cracker with chocolate and a marshmallow then melt on the grill. Sneak in some nutrition by adding a few raisins or a piece of thinly-sliced apple.
- Hamburgers are a favorite. It's best to handle the meat as little as possible. To do this and entertain the kids, use an ice cream scoop to scoop out balls of ground meat on a sheet of plastic wrap. Place another layer of plastic wrap over the meat and flatten each lump into a patty shape using a large coffee can.
