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Hush puppies aren't a side. They are the appetizer! I prefer cole slaw when I have pork bbq. Since I am in the eastern half of NC, we don't sauce it with anything red. Would like to try it that way, but creamy chopped is what is served in my neck of the woods. If I do a mixed plate with fried chicken, potato salad is my choice. I usually don't eat bbq in the fall and winter when I eat black eyed peas mostly. And it is hard to find self-rising anything outside of the South. When I married my husband, we lived in Phoenix and there were no decent grits to be had there, let alone anything that would rise on its own. My in-laws do wonderful things with their hush puppies, cole slaw and bbq.

I miss hush puppies, but I tend to think of them as a seafood side...growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, where your seafood choices were Red Lobster or Long John Silver's probably contributed to that.

I also think every barbecue should have at least one nice salad with it, just for balance. Fresh tomato, fresh mozzarella, some olives and balsamic vinegar. A really good caesar with crunchy croutons and thick, spicy dressing.

A good friend used to have barbecues all the time, and had one of those expensive grills with a burner on the side. He'd cook mac n' cheese with bits of grilled kielbasa sliced into it. It would simmer for hours, with him adding various cheeses and pots of cream to it all the time. At the end, you could slice it. But it was delicious.

I cannot claim any true Southern US credentials...I lived in DC for about 5 years. But if you put a pulled pork sandwich in front of me, I will be asking for slaw. Lots of slaw. Armies of slaw. I love mopping up the spilled bits--the juice and the sauce and the meat--with a big helping of slaw.

Also, no Hoppin' John?