This July 4th holiday weekend is perhaps the biggest grilling weekend of the year. Are you pulling out your charcoal and your tongs? Are you headed to the park with a picnic blanket and some potato salad? Or are you staying indoors where it's cool? Tell us what you're cooking — we're looking for some fresh weekend inspiration!
Here's a look back at a few of our most popular posts from the past week, too.
• Need 4th of July picnic recipes? How about grilled pizza, icy-cold drinks, and 15 fresh picnic salads? Plus wines for 4th of July.
• Whoops — turns out that unicorn meat cannot infringe on Pork Board trademarks, even if it is a fantasy.
• Sources for inexpensive barware, and the best cheap liquor, too!
• Six all-natural breath fresheners, for post-picnic and burgers with onions.
• Two interesting finds at last weekend's Fancy Food show.
• A review of scrubbing gloves for your produce.
• Is this the prettiest lunchbox you've ever seen?
• A good resource for buying beer online.
• Cooking outdoors with your Dutch oven.
Happy holiday weekend!
(Image: Flickr member xurde licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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Comments (27)
Current plan is to make sour cream and strawberry ice cream with a brown sugar swirl if I can figure out how. I may also be making sticky rolls.
lots of fresh veggie sammiches!
Maple baked beans, cornbread, blackberry pie and lemonade!
Ribs, corn on the cob, watermelon!
Potatoes grilled in parchment with chanterelles and smoked paprika.
Also grilling quail, and making a huge salad with whatever is fresh in the garden.
Big bowl of steamed chard and potatoes topped with olive oil inspired by my grandmother, dungeness crab fresh off the boat and tons of rasberries in the garden. May have to make my first jam of the season!
We are absolutely using the grill this weekend! I made a fire-roasted salsa verde yesterday, and today we're grilling lime and chile-marinated shrimp, bell peppers, corn, and green onions. Not sure what we'll make tomorrow or on the holiday, but it will likely involve the Weber!
http://operagirlcooks.com
finishing up my grilled corn salad with green beans and tomatoes and cooking up some grilled chili-garlic swordfish and bok choy. then it's junk food on sunday for our anniversary dinner part 1
definitely going to be making these feta packets on the grill this weekend, adapted from the review of the recipe i read on the kitchn last year. excited to try them on the the grill instead of turning my oven on inside.
http://theweekendgourmande.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/summer-appetizer-feta-packets/
Homemade bbq chicken, lots of fruit and veggie things!
http://www.twohealthyplates.com
I'll be baking a tres leches cake for my husband's Puerto Rican family and decorating it with raspberries and blueberries for the Fourth of July!
Going to two parties and bringing Asian coleslaw with peanut-butter based dressing and Death By Chocolate (brownies layered with chocolate pudding, Cool Whip, and toffee chips)! Might also do some salted oatmeal cookies. Mmm!
Fried chicken, potato salad and watermelon. Maybe brownies? That's what my family always had on 4th July when I was a kid.
I might make potato salad to take to my fiancee's brother's house for the fourth.
I didn't cook last night. Tonight it's crispy yogurt chicken, BLT salad and ... maybe corn on the cob?
Beer baked beans!
http://thesweetest3.com/?p=2613
Best black bean burgers from Veganamicon. A blue velvet cake with white & red frosting. I am cheating on the sweet potato fries--they're frozen. Ditto the lemonade. I just got back from the beach and don't much feel like cooking at all! But to me, 4th of July food is supposed to be easy, fun, picnic food. Except for that cake, which is a special request, that's what I'm doing. Someone mentioned brownies: that was our family 4th dessert, too, probably because they're easy to pack up and take to the fireworks.
Grilling some steak and some chicken drumsticks. Also, making margaritas and serving wine. So excited about hosting my first small rooftop BBQ!
We're going to do pulled pork (will be a first for me!) with slaw and potato salad-- I'm really in love with the recipe we tried this year, it combines everything I want in a potato salad and gave me an excuse to try making horseradish fresh (although you don't have to):
http://theweekendgourmande.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/kitchen-firsts-homemade-horseradish-potato-salad/
Fried chicken, baked beans, cornbread, potato salad and blueberry squares!!
Beet salad with goat cheese and tomatoes... and icepops!
"Healthy" chocolate chip cookies- it's true!
http://thesweetest3.com/?p=2641
Not very unique but always delicious - our traditional 4th of July menu - hot dogs, hamburgers, steak, potato salad, watermelon and fresh peach cobbler!
Cookout with the neighbors, who are bringing green salad and ice cream, we're contributing korean-style ribs, focaccia, chipotle corn salad and grilled pineapple.
Can't wait!
My husband is grilling halibut as I write....and I'm supposed to be helping. Happy 4th to everyone!!!
We made slow-barbecued ribs and brisket, succotash, bean and cheese burritos, guac, frijolemole, salsa, and bite-sized brownies for 30 - our personal best so far :) There is only a sliver of brisket left so it must have gone okay!
Lovely friends brought: a gravity-defying 10" six-tier chocolate sponge cake (!!!), snickerdoodles, red-white-and-blue iced animal cookies, chocolate chip cookies.
I made some chicken mango slaw (courtesy of David Lebovitz) one day and then brats another day. We made breakfast tacos and a batch of salsa for snacking around on during the day. My one dessert for the weekend was my first key lime pie!
grilled chicken, corn, watermelon and strawberry shortcake