The From Scratch Cookout

So I have had to backtrack and bounce around and do a little blogging time travel to bring all my Summer posting to fruition… but I am bound and determined to do it. So, let’s back track a bit… to July, to the hot, sun-shiney months of the glorious days of a Portland summer. Okay, now that we’re in the backyard cookout mood…

Welcome to The 1st Annual From Scratch Cookout

The idea was a true brainchild of my husband: on a gray-ish Fall Saturday, while walking around the Farmer’s Market, he told me that one day he wanted to own someplace that made an entirely “from scratch” hotdog – the hotdog, the bun, the ketchup, mustard, and relish. And this idea grew… from a “one day hotdog” to a “next summer cookout”. And the planning began – with ideas that fell somewhere between the most idealized, hipster BBQ to the most classic, All-American Cookout. The emphasis across all ideas was on everything being “from scratch”.

From Scratch
Fig. making something by starting from the beginning with the basic ingredients [typically: baking ~, making ~, starting ~] I didn’t have a ladder, so I made one from scratch.

And I mean everything. Even the game of corn holes that was brought for driveway entertainment was warmly made by hand to meet the critical cookout criteria:

The From Scratch Cookout Menu & Prep Schedule

• Hot Dogs – prepped a week prior
• Hamburgers – prepped one day prior
• Cheese (and yes, it melted for Cheeseburgers!) – prepped 4 months prior
• Hot Dog & Hamburger Buns – prepped a few days prior
• Potato Salad – prepped two days prior
• Coleslaw – prepped two days prior
• Chips – prepped one day prior
• Relish – prepped one week prior
• Mayonnaise – prepped two days prior
• Ketchup (sooooo many tomatos!!) – prepped a week prior
• Mustard – prepped a week prior
• Toppings (lettuce, tomato, onion) – prepped day-of event
• Fruit (watermelon) – prepped day-of event
• Hard Cider (aka: my private reserve) – prepped 3 months prior
• Red Ale, Wheat Ale & Pale Ale – prepped up to 6 months prior

And so it was: after almost a year of brainstorming, 6 months of prep, and several long weeks with a refrigerator full of all things fermenting, curing, marinating, and pickled, stuffed, or pre-baked, the 1st Annual From Scratch Cookout took shape with the help of several Kitchen Ninja’s by the grill and several out-of-town friends on hand for the inaugural event.

And what would an annual event be without the start of an annual koozie tradition? We’ve got several ideas planned for future token phrases, but we were pretty proud of our first From Scratch favors…

So until next year, it’s been a pleasure handling your weiners!