 You voted. We tallied. The USA is a beer-drinkin', medium burger-chomping, watermelon-munching kind of country on July 4th, and we're totally cool with that. Grab expert burger and steak grilling tips from our editors and readers and have a delicious Independence Day! (Oh – and we learned we were dopes for not offering brats and brownies as main dish and dessert option. Apologies. What the heck were we thinking? We'll make it up to you by next Memorial Day.) Favorite Picnic Main Dish: Burgers 43% Beer 51% Favorite Hot Picnic Side Dish Corn on the cob 42.3% Favorite Cold Picnic Side Dish Potato salad 38% Favorite Burger Toppings Cheese 15.8% Favorite Level of Burger Doneness Medium 29.5% Favorite Picnic Dessert See all our best grilling advice at Grilling 101 |
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Hamburger, sea salt and pepper, medium grilled on french onion bun, ketchup, huge slice stake tomato, red onion, halapenyo slaw on top. Fresh garlic, lime juice, ranch dressing potato salad, (no mayo). Fresh white corn boiled in one cup vinegar (limit salt). Very cold dark beer. Fresh fruit, cherry pie. a huge watermellon for seed spit contest for the kids. (I have never liked the taste of watermellon, hate it).
Lots of old-fashion games, no phones, no stress, no religion, no politics. Just family fun.
Brat= Bratwurst
This sounds like a BBQ, not a picnic.
Picnic = sandwiches, fruits, snack like foods.
BBQ = Grilled meats.
I guess I'm only a third american then...because I don't drink or eat meat.
BLACK BEAN BURGERSSSSSS are DELISH.
what's a brat?
Burgers and beer. Figures.
I think I'll have a beer
This conversation about no comment is ridiculously funny. "I have a comment...it is no comment"
While a good burger is a treat any time of the year, when it comes to picnic foods nothin' beats fajitas. A good fajita marinated in beer overnight makes it mouthwatering. For me, a good Shiner makes a good marinade. The seasoning also make the dish a winner, bute real plus is the short time they need to be on the grill. Of course I'm talkin' 'bout a real grill, like with charcoal in the pit with a few mesquite chips, not a stove on wheels. Like salsa replaced ketchup as America's favorite condiment, it won't be long before fajitas become a picnic favorite
Happy 4th of july to you Yanks for yesterday. hope you had fun...here in south africa our fave is flame grilled toasted sandwiches with the works, boerewors (sausage resembling intestines), pap (stiff maize porridge you can eat with your hands), fresh salad and cold dry white wine...and an afternoon nap. Cheers!
[belch!]
What happened to potato chips, and chicken wings?
Food food food food food burgers meat hot dogs beer french fries food food food full watch TV play w/ Iphone more food beer SUV pickup truck American flag food food food fireworks eat more drink more watch more tv light more fireworks eat more food gulp.
What happened to potato chips and chicken wings?
Erie PA has one thing that no one else has... Smith's Hot Dogs. And they are the best in the world.
If you ever get to Erie, make sure you try a Smith's skinned hot dog. It's a treat.
That grill in the photo is disgusting. That guy must not have cleaned it in months. Yech, salmonela city.
Have you noticed something suspicious about the watermelons? They have all disappeard. Yep, instead we have these bland tastless "seedless" GMO things shoved at us at every grocery store. Not sure they are really watermelons at all. My kingdom for a real watermelon on July Fourth. I'm so mad I could spit seeds!
I come from a very old school traditional italian family, our cookouts always have sausage, burgers, and some form of fish on the grill.
gotta love those sausage sandwiches, green peppers, onions, and my grandma's home made tomato sauce all on a hoagie bun, good god my stomach is rumbling just thinking about it. and washin all that down with an ice cold beer and watchin my grandfather accidentally get a bottle rocket shot up his shorts, dancin around like a fool tryin to get it out, doesn't get any better than that folks.
Watermelon is a racist fruit!
FROM ALL THE FIGHTS YOU READ ABOUT IN THE PAPERS OR HEAR ABOUT ON THE NEWS DURING ANY FAMILY HOLIDAY A LOT OF PEOPLE MUST EAT CROW AFTER THEY EAT JAIL FOOD.
I will eat anything on the BBQ, its just good eats. Great lists for whats you can serve.
btw, what on earth is all the prissiness about? Y'all is way to high strung. Have a beer and a burger and relax.
I guess deep fat fried twinkies didn't make the cut. Have to admit, it's been a long time between deviled eggs. I miss em'. yum.
The fact that the LARGEST "news" network in the US used the word "Drinkin'" on the front page has caused me to lose all hope in CNN and the school system, "drinkin" is not a word, even if you feel like rednecking it up for the 4th of july, try not to do it on asite people are trying to trust for a news source
Where's the watermelon for desert???!!!
Watermelon won!
I'd try to reason with the meat-eaters on here about simply respecting people's choices, but it's a waste of time. As for me? I grilled up some bean burgers, topped with Swiss cheese, green chile, avocados and a french-dip sauce. Side of grilled onion strings and mushrooms...a nice Sangria and bread pudding for dessert.
Practice what you preachy, Colin.
What? No bacon under the favorite burger topping list?
Hot dogs are nasty.
We are also very much a hot sauce loving nation. The wonderful red concoction of heat and flavor. But it is also has a lot of salt and preservatives. There is a very healthy alternative and one of the original hot sauces. It is a Caribbean Pique (pronounced "PEE-kay"). This sauce goes great on everything from steaks to pizza to beer! It is all natural, no preservatives, no salt and 0 calories! Check it out at http://www.prhotsauce.com.
BP Oil-impregnated seafood!
Veggie Picnic/BBQ = A Sorry Picnic/BBQ. I am an American currently living in the Middle East and we slaughtered a lamb yesterday for the celebration. We ate fresh lamb burgers, ribs, chops with fresh salads and veggies......So awesome!
Ribs, burgers, chicken, shrimp, and mixed veggies, all on the grills. Sides consist of of tater salad, cole slaw, fresh sliced tomatoes, and cucumber salad. I love this time of year for the fresh veggies.
i can not reading and understanding it very well
I feel terribly sorry for those of you so paranoid that you must eat meat cooked until it is well done. Food borne illness concerns...really? I believe we've seen far more e. coli cases with spinach than any meat this decade. Medium rare for me, and for steaks, sometimes its rare. Somehow, I imagine the same people who eat well done hamburgers use a lot of hand sanitizers and talk about germs a lot.
Just remember, if you use mustard and ketchup: the ketchup belongs next to the meat (moistens it) and the mustard belongs away from it (dries it out). In other words mustard on the bun first, then ketchup. I learned that as a teenager working the grill in a fast-food restaurant.
good sausage sizzle on the 4th.
Burgers, hotdogs, and steak are not "picnic" food at all. They're BBQ food, but a picnic is something you pack ahead of time, and eat the food once you get there, with maybe a little assembly. You don't COOK picnic food at a picnic!
We have family reunions at a local park and always grill while we're there. It's still a picnic to me.
Peppy, think about what you said. Burgers dogs and steaks aren't picnic food? By your own definition of a picnic, if I cook a burger, dog, or steak at home, and bring it out, then guess what....IT'S PICNIC FOOD!! Get off your pretentious high horse and let people enjoy themselves. By the way, a picnic is defined as: an excursion or outing in which the participants carry food with them and share a meal in the open air.
It makes NO mention as to where the food is cooked. So F-off.
Hamburgers & Brats with potato salad, chips and watermelon along with beer & lemonade. That's how we roll on the 4th in Wisconsin! Happy 4th ... enjoy the freedom!
True Dat Wisconsin Mike!!!
Lacey, ease up and enjoy the holiday. If you want to pack a basket with wine, cheese and fruit and sit under some tree that's up to you. The rest of us love the smell of meat coming off a grill and nice cold beer. A picnic can be anything you wanit to be so enjoy.
Apple brats, slow smoked @ 225 degrees F. for 2 hours then seared on a hot gril. Use hot dog buns (whole wheat) from Trader Joe's. Don't forget the fresh horseradish. One bite of these and you will feel sorry for vegans.
Apple brats are great, but I prefer brats that have soaked in onion and a good lager. I can't believe brats didn't make the list.
"(Oh – and we learned we were dopes for not offering brats and brownies as main dish and dessert option. Apologies. What the heck were we thinking? We'll make it up to you by Memorial Day.)"
Memorial Day or Labor Day?!? ;)
Memorial. It's gonna take the winter, too!
Okay...almost all of those picnic main dishes are NOT picnic foods. Does the preparer of this stupid article not understand what a picnic is? It has nothing to do with a grill.
Sounds like you go to some gay picnics.
Out west you need heat, peppers, salsa & chips, hot sause....
Once you've had a perfectly grilled medium rare prime marinated hanger steak on a crusty bun, you'll never really crave a burger again. Search the web for the hanger steaks and get prime, and use Cindy Pawklyns's ( Mustards Grill , Yountville, CA) recipe for the marinade from her book. Don't call me a snob until you've tried it. Best beef EVER
SteveR,
"...grilled medium rare..." anything, especially meat, ican be a leading cause of food-borne illness. Anyone who is an experienced griller, knows how to cook a burger so that it is completely cooked, yet juicy.
Do you actually know someone that's gotten sick from a fresh steak that was medium rare, even rare?
Steaks aren't a risk like hamburger meat is because there's no chopping and mixing of various parts/animals. If there is e-coli on a steak, it's most likely on the surface. So, as long as you get a little heat on the outside, you're fine.
Most restaurants aren't comfortable with serving rare burgers because they don't grind the meat in house. The ones that do grind their own will, unless there are local laws against it.
Hangar steak, for one, will toughen as you overcook it. Eat what you're comfortable with, but don't send a piece of lean meat or fish back because you wanted it cooked well done and it's dry.
Arthur,
You've stated a a common misconception. There's no such thing as a safe undercooked hamburger, even if you grind your own. As you said, if there's contamination on a steak from the outside, it can only transfer to the edges during cutting and the heat during cooking will make it safe.
But with ground beef, any surface contamination is spread throughout the product during processing. Since you can't guarantee that the oriiginal meat was free of contamination, you also can't be sure the final ground beef is safe. The USDA wants the center of a hamburger to reach 160 °F (Well done).
Alan, it's not a misconception. If you grind the meat yourself, you know more where the meat comes from. You aren't adding scraps, fat, and various chunks from multiple animals that are more likely to be contaminated than one steak is. The machines used in commercial factories are harder to sanitize than those in restaurant kitchens. Yes, there is a chance, but it is smaller.
After being a chef for the better part of 10 years, I can say that in the fine dining world, very few burgers are ordered Medium well or well. They are medium and below. How many times has any illness been linked to my restaurants? Zero. Let's not even get into the European and Middle Eastern countries that eat hamburger completely raw.
the best picnic food is PIE! Hungry Todd Rungy eats TONS OF IT!
I like mine with lettuce and tomatoes
Heinz 57 and french fried potatoes
Big kosher pickle
and a cold draft beer
good God Almighty which way to I steer
for a Cheeseburger in Paradise. - Jimmy Buffet.
I'll drink to that, and it sure as hell ain't going to iced tea.
I would do it one night for a longtime lookback .
As for presenting numerically-related information. Just look at the percentages, it explains everything.
No wonder why many Americans are overweight, obese, and sick.
I make potato salad once or twice a year, and always on the Fourth. This is a meal like Thanksgiving to my family. We grill out, get stuffed and have a ball.
Tomorrow? Roast chicken and steamed broccolli. LOL
If you can't have a party in your mouth once in awhile, when can you have it? Life is too short to ALWAYS eat cleanly. Thanks.
I totaly agree and from my life and judgement I think you sound like a person with a Happy life best wishes to you.
F off.
Gotta agree... Havent any of you tree huggers got anything better to do than have an occasional party in your mouth and brag about it on CNN's website? Reading through the comments, it is a contest to discover who is the biggest douchebag. Portobello burgers? Grilling Tofu? Reading the contents list on a veggie dog? I'm glad I live in flyover country if thats what the 4th of july is to you nitwits.
Better to live a shorter life and eat and do what you want than to live a little longer and eat nuts and twigs.
Give me a brat w/kraut and Gulden's mustard. Yum!
Forget the kraut, gimme the raw onions on a crunchy roll.
Couldn't the writer of the article have rank-ordered the foods? As presented, the lists can be misleading. For instance, it can appear that hot dogs are the second favorite choice of meats, when in fact it's ribs. Likewise, some of the other lists are misleading, i.e. iced tea is really the second-most favorite drink, after beer.
Didn't the author learn anything about presenting numerically-related information?
mmm.... iced tea. :)...
Douche.
Obsessive compulsive much?
A bug flying in the wind has to think more than you would to sort the information. Close your mouth you ignorant buffoon. You're proving all the Europeans right when they claim Americans are all retarded.
What! No strawberry shortcake? Sigh....
I know, right?! That is a staple in my family for summer holidays.
MmMmMmMm Ribbbwichhhh gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Good Local Organic food grown by farmers with love!!!.
Tofu
you are a complete and utter tool.
Not exactly sure how that makes him a "tool." For what it's worth, I'm quite partial to portabello mushrooms- they go great on the grill! Nothing beats a vegan 4th- all the glut without the guilt:)
only tools say tool, tool.
I LOVE portobello mushroom burgers! The help me ski better - after a portobello mushroom burger, I can ski until 2:00 in the afternoon!
amen. F&*$ tofu. Beer 'n' burgers, b!tch.
No. Calling people "tool" and "bitch" because they like tofu is idiotic. Not acceptable. Are you in third grade?
Or Smart Brand soy dogs- stay on the grill better than tofu :)
No such thing as a Smart Brand soy dog...it a vegetable formed into the shape of a hot dog...oh, and it tastes like hot vegetable.
Oh, yes!!! They are good. :) Vegetarians can enjoy bbqs also!!! yay!
I served up about 200 soy dogs today to some very very satisfied customers. Tasted so much like a traditional hot dog that I nervously had to check the ingredients just to make sure!
Why is it vegetarians have to have their food products look like meat products. I don't eat meat products formed to look like vegetables....
Well... I was going to say veggie burgers. Don't know how grilled tofu would hold up.
Not so well. Maybe if it's well marinated, firm and pressed, but honestly vegetarians are better off going with veggie burgers or some awesome grilled vegetables. Asparagus, red bell peppers, portobello mushrooms, corn on the cob... they aren't missing a thing!
How is he a tool? Not everyone eats meat. You can grill Tofu dumb@$$.
Tofu??? How utterly disgusting. You must be a quiche eater too. How pathetic. Give me burgers and hotdogs on the grill!
That's a pathetic, ignorant response, SteveM. I'm assuming you're a troll, here to just post insults.
Works for me!
No comment!
Why did you write a comment if you have no comment?
I have a comment: it's "no comment"
DRUNK AMERICA