I realize those not in the US are back to the grind today, but those of us here are enjoying the traditional kick off to summer. A long weekend where we watch cars go 200+ mph and turn left a lot… drink too much beer… and it is against the law to cook indoors.
So far we’ve had a couple of campfires with the required fire cooked hot dogs and brats, Steaks on the grill, grilled chili lime corn, cheese burgers and of course s’mores. And even though it isn’t great yet the watermelon is also required.
Not sure what we will do tonight (other than it will be grilled). So what do you make/do for the Memorial day weekend?
I was going to have a cookout yesterday, because I have beer in the kegs, and I need them to be empty soon. But I ended up pushing that off until next week. Then I was going to have burgers and chicken at someone else’s house, but for some insane reason we ended up going to Karaoke instead.
Today, I think I’m going to some a BBQ at a friends - they were talking about ribs. Not sure what else - I’ll call to officially RSVP after I shower, and see if they want me to bring anything.
Made mac salad, potato salad and deviled eggs yesterday, so today we just have to grill the brats and dogs. Hit the local German market for the real deal Friday, so we also have sauerkraut to go with the brats. Not too hot and a ball game this evening. Not a bad way to kick off Summer.
I screwed up, but I didn’t really plan much so it’s not too big a deal. I saw a new brand of brats, which I assumed was from different butcher shop they were now carrying. But when I got home I realized they were actually some pre-cooked Hillshire Farm pseudo-brats.
So I switched over to grilling some Italian sausages I had in the freezer.
It’s just my husband and I and our daughter, chilling at home during the last few days before our house goes on the market and we close on the new place.
He did a pork roast; I turned it into pork tacos with corn tortillas, green sauce, sour cream, and lots of fresh cilantro. I made scratch hummus. I made chop salad with tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers, for mixing and matching as we please. That’s been it . . . though I have this daffy bowl of Granny Smith apples I bought to have the real estate listing photos taken, and they need to turn into an apple crisp *sometime *. . .
Saturday we had hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken and ribs. Potato and pasta salads. Dirt with worms and hobo beans. Off to one side we had a small grill with a make your own kebab set up: marinated chicken, beef and pork in separate ziplock bags, veggies chopped large in bowls and wooden skewers in a baking dish with water.
The make-you-own area was very, very popular with the guys. They all stood around the grill making very manly noises while they made kebabs for themselves and their wives. It was adorable.
Oh crap!!! I just realized I haven’t had any potato salad this weekend! That may be a punishable offense for Memorial Day. As soon as I get done with the traditional activity of mowing the back yard I’ll have to run out and get some. Not as good as home made, but I don’t want to upset the balance of the universe.
I made some slow-cooker tri-tip pot roast (a couple pounds of trimmed tri-tip, plus potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, tomato sauce, and beef broth) - my grilling options are limited as my only grill has “George Foreman” stamped on it (I can’t really cook outdoors as I live in a townhouse with a wooden balcony), although I did grill up a burger (and baked up some corn - yes, baked, as I’m right in the middle of California drought country) on Sunday.
I made gado-gado for our weekly Game of Thones group-watch last night, but not many people could make it. So tonight we had the leftovers wrapped up in rice paper, a la summer rolls, with roast pork belly, and the leftover peanut sauce for dipping. Pretty amazing result!
We had off but no one in my family was doing anything. We just made some hamburgers and hot dogs.
I caramelized an onion and some mushrooms in a frying pan (the secret is lots of butter and lots of patience), then used the Foreman Grill to make some good burgers and topped them with Vermont sharp white cheddar and the caramelized onion and mushroom.
We also cooked some beef hotdogs with diced onion and fried sliced pickles.
It rained here all weekend and I don’t care enough about grilling to stand in the rain doing it. But I did wrap some chicken leg quarters in bacon and cook them in the oven. My wife made a side of portobello mushrooms, asparagus and onion.
Had friends over Saturday, so Friday night I put a pork shoulder in the smoker and put together some vinegar sauce (so it could mix together overnight, which seems to help the flavor). Saturday I took it out, and put it in a cooler bag for a few hours until the friends showed up and helped me pull it apart. Also, julienned 6 potatoes for french fries, and double-fried them, and my friend brought over a bunch of lettuce, radishes and greens from his garden for a large salad.
Everyone ate too much (it was one of my best pork shoulders), and we sat around enjoying each others company until late Saturday night. Sunday was a day of rest (too much traffic in the DC area to venture out), and Monday was yardwork and clean up.
I was in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area visiting my son, DIL and new grandson. We had planned to grill out, but it’s been a non-stop downpour for days so we ended up eating pizza and watching the NBA and NHL on tv.
