WEEKLY MENU 08.07.22
We’re feeling the pinch of late summer during the Weekly Menu 08.07.22~
It’s not actually late summer, of course, but getting our first full week of August in during the Weekly Menu 08.07.22 sure seems like it! It’s all over but the shouting once the school-prep ads get going. My favorite one, ever:
Awesome, amirite? All joking aside, though, summer is definitely on the wane. Erieland slows down post Labor Day, as most place do, regardless of when the Autumnal Equinox actually is. (Thursday, September 22nd, 2022.) Another way to tell that there isn’t much summer left, at least around here, is that it’s full on festival season. This weekend is a family favorite brought to us from Erie’s own little Italy – Saint Paul’s Italian Festival. In addition to ice cold beers, Pepperoni Balls, Meatball/Italian Sausage Sandwiches and Cannoli, there are friends old and new to meet up with. And shopping, dancing, games…
If you aren’t fully in the know about what a Pepperoni Ball is, check out our in-a-pinch recipe for them here. Better yet, get a bag ordered from Stanganelli’s if you can’t get to the festival.
Baby Boy is getting ready to go back to college
And, as always, he’s more ready for it than we are. He goes to Penn State University – Main Campus. I’m embarrassed to admit that we haven’t been to one football game yet during his college career, although that will change this year, dammit. A little thing called Covid has scotched our plans to date, but we’re pretty sure we’re getting inside Beaver Stadium this fall.
We’re going to practice our tailgating this week. We’ve been tailgating of a fashion throughout Covid – we’d back Bert’s vehicle up to our favorite spot on the bay and suck back a couple of cold ones while enjoying the family. This week, we’re going to incorporate a little bit of food into the mix and see how it goes.
Tailgating isn’t for sissies.
We are tailgating neophytes. Back many moons ago, I visited State College with some friends for the weekend. While there, we met up with some related parents that were moonlighting as professional tailgaters. They even had a distinctive flag so we could find them in the sea of cars.
To say their spread was manna from heaven is an understatement. I still wax poetic about the roast beef sandwiches that were perfectly cooked. The sides, the desserts, the cold beer! Everything hit the spot. To top it all off, another friend actually explained football to me. A truly transformational weekend.
We’re going simple this week: we’re taking our cue from our Celebrate Summer Happy Hour Menu and making “Sandwich Bites”. They’re basically sandwiches piled high on Kaiser rolls (or bagels), toothpicked then quartered. Everyone can have a variety. I usually plan on two full sammies per person – it’s amazing how many of those suckers you can down.
Weekly Menu 08.07.22 is full of seasonal menus!
We’re borrowing from the Summer Happy Hour Menu for the tailgate, and we’re having a Bring your Own Lobster/Steak Dinner on Saturday night. A fun, annual picnic that was held at Waldameer Park was cancelled (again – thanks, Covid) for a year or two there, so we decided to do a family version of the upscale picnic instead. We like it better than the original – there’s no lobster races at that one!
Of course, a summer week wouldn’t be complete without a grilling endeavor – we’re (and by that I mean Bert, is) making smoked meatloaf on the Webber Kettle Grill. (Affiliate links precede and follow. See Disclaimer Page for Details.)
WEEKLY MENU 08.07.22
