Published: September 06, 2009 09:36 pm      

Fire up the grill

GREEN VALLEY — What’s on the Labor Day menu? Burgers or hot dogs? Chicken or steak? And there’s even the more profound question of who’s going to grill it.

These big decisions had to be made Friday as folks anticipating the summer’s closing holiday stocked up for family reunions and outdoor grilling. Shoppers maneuvering their buggies down the aisles of Grants Supermarket in Green Valley had a variety of ways to approach a family barbecue.

Linda Bailey of Northfork had plenty of cheddar cheese in her shopping cart. Her Labor Day menu included all the holiday grilling classics.

“Yes, we’re going to cook out. We’ll have hamburgers, hot dogs and homemade chili — I don’t like the store bought chilis — and brownies and chips,” she said. “And we do chicken strips.”

Bailey said her son and husband usually handle the grill, but she expected to be busy with six grandchildren and six adults coming to eat.

In an age when more people are watching their saturated fat intake and cholesterol, some outdoor chefs put choices like tofu or turkey burger on their menus. That trend didn’t generate a lot of enthusiasm among Labor Day shoppers.

“They’re okay,” Bailey said of healthy choices. “We like the fat anyway. The greasier, the better, anymore. Why not?”

The recession has impacted some Labor Day plans; some families are eating in instead of going out. Mary Cockerham of Glenwood said her family was staying home.

And who’s going to be doing the grilling?

“He does, my husband,” Cockerham said. “I do everything else. I just say, ‘Here you go!’ I do enough.”

One resident of Welch who declined to give her name said she was getting ready for a family reunion that featured everything from breakfast to dinner. Everyone brings a covered dish and there are some healthy choices among them.

Cindy Winebarger of Anawalt planned to take her children to her mother’s home for Labor Day. She planned the old-fashioned menu of hamburgers, hot dogs and cole slaw. The hamburger was going to be “just regular beef,” not ground chicken or turkey, she added.

Tom Grant of Bluefield, who works at Grants, said he grills outside almost every evening, so Labor Day isn’t going to be any different. What’s on the menu often depend on what’s on sale, he said. That could mean steaks, burgers or chicken along with squash, corn or even zucchini.

And for a dessert, try putting a whole peach on the grill, Grant suggested. Just move it around as it gets nice and brown.

“It’s like peach pie,” he said. “It’s a nice dessert, but it’s a little bit messy, so don’t eat it indoors. But when you’re on a picnic, you don’t care.”

Tofu wasn’t on the menu, he said.

“There’s too many other good foods out there,” he explained. “I’ll have to be healthy some other time.”