Barbecues and Cook Outs - Memory Lane Friday

Memory Lane Friday is a weekly blog hop where you can write about your memories and link up.  This week's suggested theme is 'Cookouts and Barbecues', but you can write about any memory and still join in.

By unspoken East Coaster agreement, the southern part of Virginia is considered to be part of The South.  And here in The South, we think of barbecues differently than other folks.  My West Coast friends often say they are going to barbecue over the weekend, but what they really mean (Southern translation here) is they are going to grill or cook out.  They might invite over a couple of friends and throw burgers on the grill.  But a barbecue in my stomping ground - now that's a big deal.

Where I live, a barbecue is actually the act of roasting a pig, while all your friends and family come in droves with side dishes.  The pig will roast all day slowly over open flames, juices dribbling out and spewing across the fire.  Corn will boil in large silver pots over boilers, and tables will be laden with potato salads, deviled eggs, homemade jars of pickles, brownies and coconut cream pies.  When the pig is done the meat is pulled and placed on platters, to be piled on hamburger buns with barbecue sauce.  You've got your smoky style barbecue sauce or your more tart North Carolina barbecue sauce, which has extra vinegar.  I'm a smoky style barbecue sauce person myself, although I'm happy to eat either one. 

At a barbecue, there may be music going on before, during, and/or after the meal.  Little kids dance barefoot in the grass under starry skies, and oftentimes a lightening bug catching competition will take place.  It's a fun time, but a big production that may happen just once over the course of the summer.  Actually, we haven't been to a real 'barbecue' for the past couple of years.

What's a barbecue like where you live?

Want to join in on Memory Lane Friday?  It's easy!  Just add your website below, and please take the time to visit other participants' blogs and leave them a comment.


Next week is an extra special Memory Lane Friday.  We will be blogging about the best thrift store/auction/coupon deal find ever!  It can be something small you found that you love, or something bigger.  The link up will run all week long, and I will be giving away a set of vintage 1950s peanut butter dishes to one lucky person that enters!  You can read all about this fun event here: