Monday's Question Of The Day - June 5, 2017

[MoochNNoodles]

I'm feeling productive today so I'm about to go destroy my kitchen. Once I get the dishwasher running anyway. My DD just informed me we are running out of cups. We ran to the grocery store for a few things and I turned it into an almost complete grocery shopping trip. So we went into the Dunkin Donuts nearby and I got them each a donut and they washed them down with my last 2 clean cups of milk. (I got an iced coffee and muffin. )

What are your "Must Have" side dishes for barbecues or picnics?


For me; it's pasta salad all day. It's always been one of my favorites; but it's one thing my son will eat without complaining. I make my own dressing and load it up with veggies. I also add mini pepperoni and cheese crumbles (which I now realize I forgot at the store ).

Other favs; home made potato salad and baked beans. Grilled veggies and mushrooms are also a favorite.


Now I'm off to clean the kitchen so I can mess it up again making pasta salad and a potato salad to be our side dishes for the next few days.

 

[Kieka]

My Mom makes this antipasta salad with deli meats, cheese, olives, marinaded red peppers, artichoke hearts and an Italian like dressing. That is a must have any time our family gets together. We don't picnic much but potato salad would be the one I always look for at picnics outside of family. Ironically the dish I always bring is a bean and corn dish with vinegar dressing (Mexican or Texas ceviche I think).

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

If the main dish is pork, I like coleslaw and baked beans. If it is chicken then I like potato salad made with Yukon Gold potatoes and green lima beans

 

[denice]

Baked beans and potato salad. If it is some kind of true barbecue then coleslaw as well.

 

[betsygee]

I have a new go-to cold salad that can really go with anything. I've made it several times now and it gets rave reviews. Tortellini Salad with Zucchini and Peas

 

[Winchester]

betsygee , that zucchini salad looks wonderful! Yum!

I dearly love good potato salad, with a mayo-and mustard-based dressing and hard-boiled eggs (preferably red potatoes or Yukon golds). Rick prefers macaroni/medium shell salad, so that's what I make most often, but I still use mayo and mustard; I also add a good handful or so of frozen peas.....must throw in some vegetables here and there. Crock pot beans. And my seven-layer salad. Stuffed mushrooms.

Sides for a large family picnic: potato salad, macaroni salad, crock pot beans, seven-layer salad. Those are the sides I'm usually asked to bring. My sister makes a great mac and cheese, so when she makes that, I don't do the macaroni salad, but I'll still do potato salad. I have the exact same recipe for mac and cheese that she does, but hers is so much better than mine. My sister and I will share a whole pan of stuffed mushrooms amongst the two of us. My brother and sister usually spend dinnertime arguing over who gets the last of the seven-layer salad. (We are quite comical to watch sometimes.)

I really like a creamy coleslaw and will pile the coleslaw on top of my pulled pork in a sandwich. I also like a vinegar-based coleslaw at times, too. And four-bean salad, can't forget the four-bean salad. And I also like broccoli salad with bacon and hard-boiled eggs. I have my MIL's recipe for broccoli salad and it's a winner. We all enjoy it.

Funny, but we don't do congealed salads much at all anymore.

As you can see, there's not much in the way of picnic food that I don't like.

 

[muffy]

Vegetarian baked beans and potato salad.

 

[Mother Dragon]

Beans, either charra, pinto, barbecue, or borracho, but no baked ones. Potato salad with mustard and mayonnaise, lots of onion and pickle (relish). Sometimes a sweet, creamy slaw but not a vinegary one. Sliced onion. Slice fresh ripe tomatoes, preferably home-grown. Corn on the cob with lots of real butter, salt, and pepper. Bread to sop up extra sauce. Sweet tea. Cobbler with vanilla ice cream. A good, long nap.

 

[Draco]

Tomato Salad with onions!

and potato chips

 

[Kat0121]

My Grandma's potato salad. Potatoes, mayo (Hellmann's), finely diced celery & onion, oil, vinegar, salt & pepper. So simple yet so perfect. I've brought it to countless potlucks. Everyone loves it. My dad would eat no other and my DH loved it too. it was one of the very first things I learned how to cook when I was about 10. I still remember the first time I made it all by myself. Dad tried it and thought Mom had made it. I was beside myself.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

potato salad, and a good homemade coleslaw.

now you've got me thinking about pasta salad!!! it's been years, probably over a decade since i've had pasta salad -- not including basic macaroni salad.

 

[AbbysMom]

I love pasta and potato salad, but rarely have them. I usually make a big green salad and roast up some marinated vegetables.

 

[jcat]

German potato salad, coleslaw, pasta salad, and some tossed salads for a large crowd; two of the above for a small one.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Gosh, it's been so long since I've barbecued or had a picnic that I hardly remember! For a barbecue, though, you can't go wrong with baked beans from scratch and potato salad. For picnics, I like light, cool foods, and one thing I MUST have is a small cooler with some grapes on ice.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

and one thing I MUST have is a small cooler with some grapes on ice.

When I was a kid one of my favorite summer treats was frozen grapes! My Grandpa would rinse a few handfulls and sprinkle them with sugar and stick it in the freezer. It was SO good!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

~drools lightly on keyboard~