Gilled Hamburgers and Hot Dogs for My Kid Home from College

First visit Home from College - Happy to See the Fat Cat



Hand Patted Burgers in Marinade - Waiting for an Afternoon Cook Out



Hamburgers and Hot Dogs on the Charcoal Weber Grill


GREAT TO SEE MY KID AGAIN AFTER ALMOST TWO MONTHS!

My son is now at UNC Chapel Hill, and this weekend was the first time he's been home since he left for college. The first thing I noticed, of course, was that he had lost weight. He's a good size, but this did give me an excuse (like I need one?) to cook up a storm this weekend.

When he first got in, I fried up some pork chops and hash browns and made a big skillet of corn bread. He really loves homemade cornbread, and it's hard to find good cornbread other than made at home.

For breakfast, it was biscuits and gravy with Frank Corriher sausage. That's the best sausage I've ever had besides what my Poppaw made at home.

I told my kid to tell his buddies to plan on a cook out for lunch. When you send a kid off to college, you kind of lose a whole lot of kids at once - the ones who hung out at your house. So, it was good to see the guys again - all of them.

I had most of the stuff I needed but did run up to the IGA and got some extra ice and some buns. Pineapples were on sale, and my son loves those, so I got a fresh pineapple. I often grill the pineapple, but I decided to save that for dinner to go with crab cakes and corn on the cob. I also got some Pepsi with lemon. That wasn't on purpose. They don't label the bottles very well. That wasn't so great, but oh well. I guess Pepsi likes to try some new stuff from time to time.

The guys all hung out and shot pool and played basketball.

Then we had my hand patted hamburgers (much better than pre-patted) and hot dogs as well as some chips and peanut butter fudge.

Whew! I'm about stuffed, and I'm sure the boys are too. It was a beautiful day for grilling and extra nice with both my boys at home.

Back to School Cook Out

Back to School Barbecue Blow Out at the Pool (if you want to call it a pool - teehee)

Summers always go by so fast. The kids are always bummed that break is over but also excited about getting back to school and seeing old friends again.

When the boys were really little, I got a wild hair one day and thought I'd host a back to school cook out. This was the weekend before classes started back.

I told the boys to invite the other kids around the neighborhood to come over, and I ran to the store and picked up hot dogs, chips and drinks. Since this was an impromptu event, I figured I'd better keep it simple. That actually worked out better, since it was kind of a drop in thing all afternoon and evening. Some of the grown ups even joined in - parents checking up on kids and folks out walking around.

It doesn't take a lot for kids to have a grand time. We do have a basketball goal, so that's always fun for them. Some years I pick up water guns, a blow up pool, and one year I got a horseshoe set. The kids keep themselves entertained while I grill.

I've continued to keep it simple. The kids really don't care about having a fancy meal. They just like to run around and play before they have to hit the books. They do, of course, get hungry and hot dogs go a long way. I've found that it works out best to get canned sodas and put those on ice. I use paper products and plastic silverware. It's also a good idea to have trash bags handy. The kids really are good about helping clean up if you ask.

My oldest goes to college next week. The younger one only has three more years in high school. I guess we'll be hosting back to college parties - or not. We'll see. I hope they always enjoy hanging out here and grubbing on a few grilled hot dogs.