Everyone who listens to our Saturday morning broadcast knows that we Romeros love to eat and to cook.

In the Romero family, we do almost all our cooking outdoors during the summer. It’s the best way to keep the heat out of the kitchen and keep the house cool. Here are some of my favorite recipes for the Fourth of July. As you’ll notice, butter is a main ingredient in all our recipes, so stock up.

Barbecued sweet corn

Ingredients:
• Six or seven ears of corn with husks still on — at least enough for one ear per person
• Melted butter

Directions:
Peel back the husks from the ears (don’t remove), but do remove the silk. Brush corn kernels with the melted butter. Pull the husks back over the ears of corn. Grill ears over medium heat for 30 minutes or until corn is tender.

Optional: I will lightly dust with cayenne pepper, or Tony Cachere’s creole seasoning, but most of my family and friends skip this step.

Cornish game hens

Ingredients:
• Four Cornish game hens
• One stick (quarter pound) of real butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon of fresh rosemary diced very small with stems removed
• 2 teaspoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice
• Tony Cachere’s Original Creole seasoning to taste
• 4 teaspoons of sesame seeds

Directions:
Rinse and pat dry the hens and remove any giblets from the birds. Cut through the breast bone and lay the hens flat on open side. Melt the butter and mix it with the rosemary, lemon juice and seasoning mix. Place the hens on the grill and cook over medium heat until juices are clear and meat is no longer red (about 35-45 minutes depending on the type of grill). During cooking time baste every 10 minutes with the mixture butter, seasonings and juice. After the last basting, sprinkle hens with one teaspoon of sesame seeds each.

Grilled pineapple

Ingredients:
• One fresh pineapple, trimmed and cut into long strips or rings
• 2 tablespoons melted butter mixed with 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:
Grill on low for 10 minutes until tender. Brush each side with the melted butter-sugar mixture several times while cooking. Kids love this recipe!

Cajun-style barbecued park ribs

Ingredients:
• Rack of pork ribs — either baby back or spare ribs (we figure one large spare rack will feed three to four people)
• Tony Cachere’s Original Creole seasoning to taste
• Garlic salt to taste
• Two to four rich dark beers (Sam Adams works just fine)
• Two to three bottles of barbecue sauce (Don’t scrimp on this! The store brand BBQ sauce will make your ribs sugary and slimy tasting. We prefer Jack Daniel’s or Rufus Teague brands, if you can find it!)

Directions:
Place ribs in cookie sheet large enough to hold the whole rack, rib side up. Cover rib side with a generous layer of Tony’s seasoning and garlic salt.

Flip the ribs and pour the dark, strong beer over the other side of the ribs. (You may use two beers here, but you want the entire cookie sheet filled with beer). Then cover the meaty side of ribs with Tony’s and garlic salt as well, and sprinkle a little more in the beer to get the beer foaming. Cover with foil and place the pan in the fridge to sit at LEAST overnight.

Take the cookie sheet, as is, and bake on 250 degrees for three-and-a-half to four hours depending on size of the ribs and desired tenderness. For our pork spare ribs, we do four hours to get them to fall-off-the-bone tender.

Drain cookie sheet and move ribs to grill. Grill for roughly 20 minutes on low heat, alternating flipping and adding BBQ sauce as you go. You will use from half to a full bottle, depending on the size of the ribs. You MUST continue flipping the ribs, to avoid burning the BBQ sauce. Serve hot with any of the above, plus coleslaw and even sweet potato fries!

For a couple more ideas, visit our recently added blog post that includes Sweet Jennifer’s fun summer recipes including sweet corn and chilled watermelon soup/drink.

For more ideas to improve your outdoor cooking area, see this recent article or visit Arizona’s largest collection of homeowner DIY advice, information and FAQs found at RosieontheHouse.com.

When the project is bigger and not something you want to tackle yourself, visit our list of Arizona’s very best contractors or service providers for your home improvement projects at RosieontheHouse.com, Arizona’s most trusted referral network.

Tune in to KTAR every Saturday morning from 7-11 a.m. for the Rosie on the House broadcast!