NOT counting Thanksgiving and Christmas!
It’s Spring/Summer/Fall and you’ve got an extra day off. 4th of July, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Arbor Day, Philo T. Farnsworth’s birthday, (Elvis’s birthday for our fellows in Oz), what have you. What’s your default meal/grill protein/nosh of choice? Hot dogs? Hamburgers? Ribs? Chicken? Wombat?
Around Casa Silenus it’s ribs. Got a rack going right now, and the wife has prepped cole slaw, tater salad, beans and such.
How about you?
I don’t think we really have a default; it’s usually a combo of whatever strikes our fancy in the market, what we have around the house, and how labor-intensive we feel like being with the food prep. And who else might be around/whether there is some gathering planned.
Today it’s grilled ribeye, probably very simply prepared (grilled and with a blob of butter and some truffle salt at the end). Sides: sautéed garlic mushrooms, grilled red peppers, baked potatoes. Red wine. I bought some lemonade, which had been intended for after we worked up a sweat in the garden, but overexerted myself doing other household chores, and now more bending over to weed the garden seems ill-advised, so maybe we will skip the lemonade. Hopefully the rain holds off long enough to grill the steak.
Today i made split pea soup and toast. We don’t really do anything to celebrate most of the summer holidays.
We haven’t got a default meal either. Every menu is the subject of a strenuous argument.
The Ukulele Lady has been drifting into the dim realm of the Obsessively Healthy over the past several years and no longer eats white rice, white pasta, or potatoes, and barely any red meat. I refuse to eat brown rice or whole wheat pasta because none of my Asian- and Italian-American friends think they’re fit for anything but barnyard fodder.
For the past year or two I’ve been preparing two dinners every evening (we dine together) and I stay away from anything too complex for my own. Tonight we shared a meal for the first time in a while…Ma Po Tofu over udon noodles, and haricots verts roasted in a little sesame oil and soy sauce. I cant believe she suggested ground pork and white pasta.
Labor Day usually involves getting as many members of the animal kingdom as possible over hot coals. Add some Skynyrd, corn pudding, tater salad and slightly more beer than is strictly required as we call it a party.
Nothing special. Something big that I can portion into lunches like I usually do on most Sundays.
Grilled something or other. Yesterday I grilled enough stuff for three days worth of dinners.
Actually, I burnt a lot of it, but there was enough left for two days worth.
If it’s “pool weather” (warm enough for outdoor swimming), pork steaks and brats on the grill (corn on the cob, too), garden salad with fresh vine ripe tomatoes and green onions, cole slaw (both kinds), baked beans, and potato salad. More vine ripe tomatoes sliced up, on the side.
Dessert might be anything from watermelon and cantaloupe, homemade ice cream, strawberry shortcake, cobblers, etc.
If it’s cooler out, anything goes for the grill, but you’ll find at least one pack of brats on there. Side dishes: will have at least one spud-based dish, a bean-based dish, some kind of salad (my sister makes a great Caesar’s), and baked confections for dessert.
And no matter what, someone will always bring a spiral-cut ham.
We fried catfish at my son-of-a-wrek house. Always good for hot weather holidays.
All the normal sides and banana pudding.
If I want to go all out, grilled steak; baked potato with butter, sour cream, and chives; corn on the cob with lots of butter, salt, and pepper. Served with a green salad.
Otherwise, beef or lamb patties, bratwurst, polish sausage, or maybe just all-beef hot dogs. Cole slaw, baked pork and beans in molasses, potato chips. All served with iced tea and/or lemonade with a dash of lime.
whis I was at your house …… all we get is hamburgers and hot dogs cause every thing else is a waste of money or makes you fat :rolleyes:
Yesterday I grilled hamburgers, brats, corn, and peaches. My gf made a taco salad, guacamole, and baked beans. We had 8 of her relatives over, everyone ate until they were uncomfortable, yet we still have leftovers for the week.
In Castille it’s anything-roasted, or roasted-anything. If it was able to move by itself, it ran less than you did and it’s a holiday, you roast it. When I worked in Valladolid I had coworkers who were “vegetarian except for big holidays”; the rest of the Castillians nodded, those of us from other Spanish regions thought a bit before nodding, the foreigners needed it explained. If you try to eat a Castillian veggies-only holiday meal you’re on bread and drinks, as even the salad will have meat.
A lot of Spain celebrates Resurrection Sunday with lamb. Roast lamb, grilled lamb, barbecued lamb, lamb with Mexican sauce, lamb paella, lamb on the rack - whatever, but lamb. There’s also going to be other stuff (probably a lot of it least the host be called skimpy) but if there isn’t lamb it’s not Easter Sunday. The Lamb has risen, long live (or rather not) the butchered lamb!
For many small holidays and family celebrations, roast chicken and (specially in Madrid) fried chicken are the to-go meals; the advantage of fried chicken is, precisely, that it works better if you’re on the go, such as for a picnic. It’s been years and I’m still explaining to other Spaniards what is racist about sarcastically saying that you’re going to invite a black guy over for fried chicken*; people here understand sarcasm as being impolite, but not fried chicken as having racist connotations.
Braaied sausage (usually bangers and boerewors), lamb chops, maybe some ostrich or venison sosaties , maybe some soy+honey-glazed pork loin, maybe some snoek basted with apricot butter.
Sides would be salads, garlic baguette, extra-garlicky Hasselback potatoes. Maybe roast a garlic head as well.
Although, of course, our Christmas and Summer coincide.
It’s a cookout, isn’t it?
Beginning before I was born (1961) through the '90s, we celebrated the 3 summer holidays at the family cabin. While everyone else around the lake was eating the all-American grilled hot dogs and hamburgers my Italian family was eating spaghetti, meatballs, salad, crusty bread and loads of desserts. After my grandma and dad died, that all went along the wayside. We don’t have that cabin anymore. My mom bought a cabin a year or two after my dad died. We still gather there (minus my dad’s brother and family - the reason we don’t have the original cabin anymore :mad:) but we now usually have burgers and hot dogs, watermelon, chips, salads, etc. It’s just a lot easier to prepare. But I do miss those days.
You DID NOT! :mad: