Memorial Day entertaining is becoming more like Thanksgiving each year. A day or two of preparing food for friends and family is almost required. The best thing about Memorial Day entertaining is a lot of the cooking takes place outside and the dining and snacking are outside as well.

My daughter, Ellen, who lives in Florida, is cooking for Memorial Day this year and she’s got it planned so it’s as easy and convenient as can be so she can enjoy her company, the gossip and the Big Race.

We’re a family that likes cabbage rolls, but Ellen thinks boiling cabbage leaves and wrapping them is more trouble than it’s worth. That’s how her inside-out Brussels sprouts came to be the easy way out.

She uses Brussels sprouts as the greenery and wraps them with seasoned hamburger, sauces them and bakes them.

She does everything but the baking a day or two before the holiday and sets the casserole dish in the refrigerator.

On party day she slides the casserole dish into the oven, sets the timer and listens for the bell to ring while comfortably visiting with friends.

Inside-Out Brussels Sprouts

2 pounds ground beef

1-1/2 cups of uncooked instant rice

1 medium onion, chopped

2 eggs, beaten

1-1/2 teaspoons of garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 package of frozen Brussels sprouts

2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce

1 cup water

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Combine the first 6 ingredients, working it by hand like you do when mixing meatloaf.

Wrap this around the Brussels sprouts like you’re making snowballs. Put the meat-wrapped balls into a buttered casserole dish.

Make a tasty sauce by combining the tomato sauce, water and dried thyme. Pour this over the meatballs. Cover the dish and place it into the refrigerator until ready to use the next day – this really helps get all the flavors blended for a great meal.

Bake the covered casserole dish at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour, 15 minutes.

If you’re dining on the patio, serve some potato chips on the side and have a good supply of cold drinks.

Everybody will enjoy this easy party meal.

Readers with questions or comments for Dave Kessler may write to him in care of this publication.