The Perfect Memorial Day Weekend Menu
Look, I’m not here to tell you what to do, but it’s the first proper weekend of summer & my friends, this season is a marathon, not a sprint. So ease into it! Swim a little, read a little, farmer’s market a little, nap a little. Everything in moderation. You’ve got allllll the time in the world to suck the marrow out of this summer!
With that in mind, take it easy with your Memorial Day Weekend menu. Summer project cooking can be seductive (says the girl who cannot resist a strawberry jam canning sesh), but you don’t really want to spend all weekend in the kitchen when your summer is just getting started. Embrace the make-ahead, the store-bought-is-fine & okay, maybe one teeny-tiny little project but just because your kids will love helping with it. (I know mine did.) Behold, the perfect Memorial Day Weekend Menu:
Sip // Heather’s Southsides, which are basically minty, slightly-fizzy gin lemonades. They are beyond refreshing & very simple to mix up when guests arrive if Past You squeezed the lemon juice in advance. I like them served on the rocks in these verrrry on-theme Half Past Seven Stars & Stripes Rocks Glasses.
Set out a little dual-sided dish of salty snacks like the Italians would. (I’m v. partial to this Juliska dish, filled with Cacio e Pepe Taralli, Snacker Crackers, or Virginia Diner Peanuts.)
Serve // BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches a la Lidey Heuck, which can be made (hallelujah) in advance & then simply reheated on the stovetop while you’re sipping Southsides with your pals.
I served the entire menu Heuck recommends, including the potato chips (Cape Cod 4 life), icy-cold pickle spears, & Homemade Coleslaw using gorgeous cabbage I bought at the farmer’s market, with the recipe ever so slightly altered by subbing greek yogurt because I loathe mayonnaise.
To note, I’m not linking these recipes, which are all in Heuck’s wonderful cookbook, Cooking In Real Life. It’s a must-have for your cookbook collection!
Something Sweet // Ina Garten’s Flag Cake, because it’s fun & festive & my children were SO excited to decorate it with me. Ina’s original recipe makes a cake that could feed an army (24 servings!), so I halved the recipe & baked it in a smaller 9” x 12” baking dish with no discernible diminution in deliciousness.
I frosted the whole cake in advance & then let my kids go to town with the fresh berries & piping bag. Is it perfect? No, but sometimes Fun Mom has to hide her inner control freak for the greater good. It was worth it.