Monday, May 25th, 2009 is Memorial Day! In a salute to the troops and in honor of our country's struggle to get back on our feet financially, let's all fly the flag and throw a classic backyard Memorial Day party this year! I love going old school-- and although I love keeping up with the trends, I am really old school at heart. This backyard BBQ is a blast from the past. From the music, to the decorations, to the backyard games and the dogs and burgers on the grill, this one goes back to Memorial days past but with a few new traditions that you'll love!
The Party Vibe
Go old-school with lots of USA flags, buntings and streamers. You can find all kinds of flags at Oriental Trading Company. Add different lengths of ribbon to flutter in the breeze. Tie them in trees or to the top of a pop-up tent like we did. This is a fun decorating idea for any party theme. Mix and match your red, white and blue--- don't worry about perfection!
I love this adorable standing Uncle Sam flag holder ($29.95 Oriental Trading Company) to greet guests as they arrive--- especially helpful if most of your guests will be coming to your home for the first time. Let him be an annual guest at your Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day parties.
12-feet of flags $3.29 Oriental Trading CompanyMake pennants from a cheap white clothesline (under $5 at Wal-Mart or hardware stores) and red, white and blue bandanas. You can re-use both at another time. If you are not feeling it, just order these metallic 12-foot pennants; perfect for decorating a deck or a fence. You can use them year after year.
Make life easy by ordering a patriotic party pack of hats, balloons and old-fashioned noise-makers (don't get this if you have kids, they will get on your very last nerve until you hide or break them--oooopps!) 
The Party Menu
This one is easy. hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans and your favorite slaw. There are so many great recipes on myrecipes.com; check it out for some new twists on your family's favorites. Here are the recipes I plan to make:
Spicy Cheddar Stuffed Burgers; the chipotle pepper puree adds some extra zip. If you don't want to make the puree, sub chipotle pepper instead but go easy- a little goes a long way.
Grilled Blue Cheese Burgers can be made ahead and grilled at the last minute. A great twist on the cheeseburger and a new classic!
Need burgers or steaks for your next backyard bash? Omaha Steaks is great one-stop online shopping and they've always got a deal!
Grilled Red Onions- perfect to add to a burger, snaz up a hot dog, or serve as a side to potato salad or baked potato. Yum.
And what about the hot dogs? Throw on a bunch of your favorite slaw to add a little garden to your dog and you'll give this old-school classic a healthy twist.
And what is an old-fashioned backyard cookout without potato salad? Every family has their favorite recipe but if you need some help, here's a classic potato salad recipe that is very similar to my favorite.
Check out the red, white and blue rims for this raspberry lemonade! Add some fun straws or stir sticks and you'll be able to use your beverages not only as a drink and as fantastic party decorations! Cut the stars out of pineapple with a cookie cutter. Add some citrus vodka or raspberry vodka to give this recipe a little kick!
No party is a party until the music starts. You can create and post your own playlist on iTunes or just download your favorite summer tunes to your MP3 or iPod and the music can play all summer long!
Some tunes on my ALL SUMMER LONG playlist include:
All Summer Long-Kid Rock
Summertime-DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
Summertime- Kenny Chesney
California Girls- The Beach Boys
California- 2Pac
Hot Fun in the Summertime- Sly and the Family Stone
Beautiful Day-U2
Summertime Blues-Alan Jackson
Three Little Birds- Bob Marley
Summer Nights- from the Grease Soundtrack featuring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
Smooth- Santana and Rob Thomas
It Must be Summer- Fountains of Wayne
The Party Fun
The wheelbarrow race, three-legged race, hula hoop contest, bobbing for apples, sack race and the egg and spoon race are all back to the classics favorites that require little or no equipment! 
Here's to a great summer season of entertaining with friends--- simple, cheap and fun. Grab a wheelbarrow and fill it with ice and drinks and you're ready to roll!