Where in the heck did this summer go? It feels like just yesterday that my neighbors were setting off fireworks and the plants were beginning to blossom. Alas, time marches on and all summers must come to an end. But there's always that last blast of summer before the kids go back to school and fall kicks in to high gear known as Labor Day.
Whether you're in your own back yard or at your lakeside camp, there's one central pillar to enjoying this weekend off. The food. Labor Day cuisine usually revolves around the grill and salads as well as some surprises.
What do you do with all those cucumbers?
Produce season is still in full swing in Upstate New York, and by this point there are too many cucumbers. A great way to put them to good use is by doing the most New York thing possible, and that means making pickles. This can be done in 24 hours in your refrigerator. Taste of Home has a well reviewed recipe that can be found here.
Funny name, amazing results
In the Southern Tier and Central New York, we love our spiedies. Brought to New York by immigrants from Italy, the dish is derived from spiedinis, which are grilled meats on skewers, and very close to what we know and love today. Spiedies are marinated for a few days and can be made from chicken, pork, lamb, veal, venison or beef, though pork and chicken are most common. They are then served as a sandwich or on a salad. There's no shame in buying pre-packaged spiedies, you'll get a consistent marinade every time. If you'd like to try your hand at making them from scratch, this Allrecipies.com recipe is solid.
How many ways can you salad a potato?
There's more variations of potato salad than Taylor Swift has costume changes. There's with egg, without egg, Amish style that adds yellow mustard, vinegar, and sugar and has nothing to do with Amish cuisine, and German style that my mother in law makes and is strictly for those that like to bathe in vinegar. Foodie Crush claims this is just the BEST recipe for the classic salad.