The Second Feast

Hick did indeed grill on Labor Day, cooking the replacement food that I had to buy after the power outage. We didn't have as much as our regular feasts. Not because of losing the food, but because I didn't want to spend time cooking the sides. The Pony was fine with it. We are both cutting back. Hick will eat whatever is available. So it was no hardship to go without potato salad, or deviled eggs, or Stove Top Stuffing, or Sister Schubert's Rolls. We didn't even have dessert. Nobody accidentally lost a pound, I guarantee!

Hick even seemed to cut back slightly, by not having a whole pork steak.

You can see that Hick was poised to dig in (with my little ceramic paring knife!) when The Pony snapped the picture. He has a slice of pepper jack cheese, plus onion and tomato and pickle on his burger. Plus a pile of baked beans, and a haystack of SLAW.

The Pony is not a slaw aficionado.

The Pony didn't cut back on the Hidden Valley Ranch Dip that I made with sour cream and the powder packet. There are the baby carrots. The Pony actually ate the giant carrot as a snack while we were baking the beans. I used three kinds: Homestyle, Maple and Cured Bacon, and a regular can of Showboat Pork & Beans. Then I added yellow mustard, Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce, Kraft Original BBQ Sauce (it was on sale), two diced Vidalia onions, six hot dogs, and half a pound of bacon. Once they were all mixed and in the oven, The Pony assisted with the intermittent stirring. Those beans were delicious!

I didn't treat myself to the slaw this time, because I wanted more meat.

I love pickle and onions on the side. They were Baby Whole Dill Pickles from Save A Lot. They're my favorite whole pickle, with a nice crunch, although I don't consider them to be very "babyish." The Petite Dills I get at 10Box are much smaller than the babies. I use them in tuna salad and potato salad, because they don't leak a lot of juice. Anyhoo... Hick only wanted one slice of tomato, and The Pony doesn't like them. So I got the rest. It was only storebought, but better than no tomato.

You might think the meat looks overdone, but it was not. Both the burgers and pork steaks were delicious. I would be the first to complain if Hick overcooked the meat! The pork steaks had a nice saucy char on the fatty edge, which is how we like them. They were tender. The burgers were just right. Still juicy, but not rare.

The Pony took home a second bag of baby carrots, but plans to make the dip later. Also three hamburgers, and half the baked beans. We are all enjoying leftovers for several days.