Weekend Cook and Tell: Labor Day Barbecue
Welcome to the Weekend Cook and Tell. Every Wednesday we browse through the food sections of various national newspapers to come up with an article or recipe to inspire a weekend cooking project. We want all of you to cook along with us and share your experiences, recipes, and photos.
All of the food sections in Wednesday's papers were filled with ideas and recipes for Labor Day barbecues and cook outs. The first week in September is bittersweet, the weather still screams summer but fall's obligations are creeping up on us. The Labor Day barbecue is an American institution, the one last hurrah before the end of the summer.
For this week's challenge we want to hear all about what you are going to be cooking up over Labor Day Weekend. What's going to be going on your grill? What sides and salads are you planning on serving? What types of summery desserts are you going to be baking? Are you going away for the weekend or grilling in your back yard?
We want to hear all about what's going to be on your Labor Day menus. Show us your photos on Photograzing (make sure to include "Cook and Tell" in your submission title) and tell us about your recipes in Talk with comments on this thread! If you'd like to blog along, leave a link to your Cook and Tell blog post in the comments. We'll post a round-up of your photos and recipes next Wednesday.
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25 Comments:
I wish someone would answer this as I'm feeling totally uninspired. Sister coming for the weekend with hubby and two kids, plus three of us. Need to move beyond steak and corn.
memt77 at 2:19PM on 09/03/09
i'm visiting the parents and they said i can plan the menu so i'll be grilling for them...its a weird combination but its stuff i've been craving recently
- crispy skin salmon fillet (mark bittman recipe)
- burgers (my parents buy pre-made patties...bleh. i'll be making them myself)
- corn/bacon/tomato salad (from the minimalist a few weeks back, i made this twice already, so good!)
- nectarine galette (recent smittenkitchen recipe) - agua de jamaica to drink
korovka at 4:49PM on 09/03/09
I love this weekend! bittersweet my rear end!! I can't stand the super hot part of summer, and can't wait for the kids to get back to school. Fall is the greatest time of year. It begins with this wonderful weekend, and ends during the "holiday season". Not only that, but we get football!!!!!!!!!!
This weekend is a celebration of new beginnings. Even more so this time, because we are going to a wedding. The really great thing about this wedding, is that the reception is going to be done cook out style. The grills and pits will be fired up. Pork will be smoked and burgers will be cooked over the flames for the young ones. I can't really give an item menu for this, because so many people are bringing different things to contribute.
Sunday I'll be hickory smoking(true BBQing) some chicken, corn on the cob, diced taters, and veggies, which will be served with a side salad and my home made Italian dressing. We'll probably have some left over side dishes from the wedding as well, so it'll be a nice sized spread. We'll serve all that up, and watch some NASCAR racing Sunday evening.
@ memt77
Ever made Beer Can Chicken before? Your family would love it, and you don't have to use beer, you can use soda as well.
Raiders757 at 7:54PM on 09/03/09
Not much cooking is going to happen this weekend. We have a friend visiting so we're going to be out and about A LOT. We may cook one meal in the 5 days she is here...and it'll be gumbo that we'll be shopping for ingredients while we are in Amish country.
We've had our BBQ for the weekend at Famous Dave's.
Cassaendra at 8:01AM on 09/04/09
Lamb shish kebab with grilled vegetables. On the side, carmelized onion and wild mushroom rice pilaf. There will probably be deviled eggs to start and a berry pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
And I'm with Raiders - I love Labor Day weekend, because it means Fall is starting, and Fall is my favorite season!
Junie at 8:44AM on 09/04/09
Marinated (like whoa) skirt steak, celery and gorgonzola salad, bbq roasted corn. Currently searching for the perfect cream cheese pie crust recipe AND a pie plate in this foreign land called New Jersey...if successful? Peach and blueberry.
Buckley at 2:11PM on 09/04/09
ideas: gazpacho, zuchinni fritters, pork and pineapple kabobs, baby back ribs, baked beans, roasted shrimp and orzo salad, steak salad with roasted peppers and blue cheese dressing, grilled fish with grilled lemons to sprinkle, I just can not decide.
DELICIOUS at 2:38PM on 09/04/09
Our usual brat fry with grilled corn on the cob (I usually oven roast corn, but as long as the grill is already going...)
And then Grilled Pineapple with Molasses-Lime Butter served over vanilla bean speckled ice cream, per the directions here:
http://amyswhatscookingoodlookin.com/?p=1212
Gator Pam at 3:48PM on 09/04/09
Just finished cleaning up after our neighborhood block party. I'm one of the co-hosts. Usually we go for an early August date, but it ended up being Labor Day weekend this year.
We kept it quite simple and just requested that everyone bring a dish to pass and we provided the paper products and lemonade. In the past we have grilled hot dogs, burgers and chicken and asked for a donation. But with it being so close to the school year and with NY State fair going on (we're in a Syracuse 'burb), we figured let's play it fast and loose and see who shows up with what.
We had around 85 people, up from last year, but down by 70 from the year before that. Among the dishes there were a couple of mixed green salads, chili, meatballs, baked ziti, lasagna, tortilla soup, caprese salad, salt potatoes, cold cuts, rolls, cheesy potato bake, brownies, home made doughnut holes, apple pie and apples.
It was a fun time with people from aged of 6 months to 83 years. I was a bit off kilter because my husband is out of town in Vietnam. My 11 year old son "manned up" and helped out with the set up of table and chairs, entertained the young ones and also helped to clean up. Great weather and a good time.
dhorst at 10:35PM on 09/04/09
This labor day weekend, I might still be recovering from last weekend's massive grilling fiesta - or attempting to repeat it! For a great last-weekend-of-summer Mexican-style grilled corn-on-the-cob recipe, check out this post on my blog: http://www.kimberlybelle.com/2009/08/crush-a-belle-yellow-corn-con-white-wine.html and Eat It Up!
Cheers,
Kimberly Belle
http://www.kimberlybelle.com
http://www.dinnerbellenyc.com
KimberlyBelle at 1:20AM on 09/05/09
Was going to throw BBQ but it is raning the whole weekend, so I will make a belated BBq next week when the sun comes back out.
pjracz10 at 4:54PM on 09/05/09
It's going to be raining off and on all weekend also so we got BBQed pork steaks and baked beans from the delli along with two kinds of potato salad and a pack of smoked brats.
tusti at 7:25PM on 09/05/09
I'll be making a Flint-style coney sauce but doing it the right way. Instead of using ground chuck and ground hot dogs in the sauce, it'll be beef kidneys, beef heart and ground suet.
LunaPierCook at 9:27AM on 09/06/09
I'm doing nearly everything in the oven -- brisket, baked beans and corn. Plus a salad with romaine, apples, cheddar cheese, almonds, dried cranberries, and honey balsamic vinaigrette.
IndyGal at 5:17PM on 09/06/09
Today I made the BBQ sauce for the ribs that I am going to make tommorrow. Along with that I am going to have fresh corn and green beans and a green salad (romaine) with roasted pecans, cranberries, grannysmith apples and a mayo/maple dressing. What's your dressing @IndyGal? Think I'll make some brownies, too.
janaatwg at 5:52PM on 09/06/09
We're in the process of unpacking after a big move, and we came across some gorgeous whole sardines at Whole Foods that we're going to grill up with some orzo pasta salad (I think)...I will definitely post our results!
ElizabethS at 9:33PM on 09/06/09
@janaatwg -- My dressing is 3 parts olive oil, 2 parts balsamic, 1 part honey and 1/3 part each dijon mustard and soy sauce. My "part" is usually 1-2 tablespoons.
IndyGal at 7:32AM on 09/07/09
I'll be making bbq chicken, brats, hamburger mixed with chorizo sausage, grilled corn and salad....for dessert a skillet pineapple upside down cake ..
@IndyGal & Janaatwg--I think you both inspired me to make a combo of your salads...
Enjoy your Labor day everyone!
Italiancupcake at 8:44AM on 09/07/09
We made that Mexican Roadside Chicken from this site. We had peaches from a local market, so made peach salsa instead of tomatillo salsa. The chicken turned out really good!!! almost finished a 4-lb bird with a friend (= 3 hungry adults).
hmw0029 at 8:59AM on 09/07/09
Still some good grilling days left in the season, the only problem is the hornets and wasps- UGH.
The day before I had made a huge vat of red peppers and sliced sweet onions, sauteed until caramelized. So, just warmed that in a crockpot while we grilled good Italian sausage. We also served the requisite burgers and smoked sausage as well. Like any gathering, the impact is in the sides that are served.
For a non putzy appie- we sliced fresh mozzarella, topped with a schmear of fresh pesto, topped with a fresh tomato slice, drizzled with olive oil and cracked black peper and garnished with basil leaf. Very pretty.
MNLisaB at 1:40PM on 09/07/09
Just killed some wasps for my BBQ @MNLisaB.
Thanks @IndyGal.
I just added gazpacho to my menu when I looked at my tomatoes on the counter. They've seen better days and gazphaco is so easy to make.
janaatwg at 2:03PM on 09/07/09
I made deviled potatoes for Labor Day bbq using red and blue potatoes: http://www.kirbiecravings.com/2009/09/deviled-potatoes.html
kirbie at 12:18PM on 09/08/09
Polish sausage with cheddar slices and crackers for appetizer, along with cheese stuffed bacon wrapped jalapenos; chicken legs, hot dogs, potato salad, Pioneer Woman's Best Baked Beans Ever (and they were pretty good!) topped with applewood smoked bacon and ice cream sandwiches. A great afternoon by the pool and grill.
lambowner at 12:34PM on 09/08/09
We grilled chicken legs with bbq sauce, nitrate free organic hot dogs and bell peppers stuffed with rice, goat cheese, thyme and sauteed red onion and tomato.
And a homemade potato salad for the side.
yayfood at 1:48PM on 09/08/09
Didn't do anything too impressive, just fired up the smoker and smoked the following:
2 whole briskets
1 whole pork loin
~10lbs of chicken breast
2 racks of spareribs
~5lb of sausage
Sadly, the other 2 racks of ribs and ~10lbs of chicken thighs didn't make it into the smoker, next weekend.
Alan
aholsber at 3:08PM on 09/08/09