Kids Weigh In: How to Make Summer Cookouts Even Cooler
When it comes to family cookouts, all you need to do is throw a couple of burgers on the grill and the kids will be happy, right?
Wrong.
Tykes today have pretty high standards and some crazy ideas about what constitutes a successful cookout—and what qualifies as an alfresco food fiasco. We asked a baker's dozen of kids from across the country to share their favorite things to grill and gobble up, their most memorable family-grilling disasters, and ways parents can make summer cookouts even cooler. Start saving up mom and dad: Renting carnival rides is involved.
1/13Robert, 12, Ann Arbor, MI
I grill chicken and I also help make this really delicious pork roast—we smoke it for like two hours and it tastes amazing. **
So are you the master of the grill in your home? Generally yes if I feel like it. Sometimes it takes a little wheedling from my parents to get me to do it because I can be pretty lazy or, as I prefer to say, passive. But I enjoy grilling. I take pride in the fact that I’m just 12 years old and cooking for my family. Plus my dad is kind of insane when it comes to flavors.
In what way? Like we’ll be walking down the candy aisle looking for chocolate for s’mores and he’ll see all these other random sweets that he wants to melt and use instead. I think it’s taste-bud degradation from his excessive consumption of kimchi.
2/13Grace, 10, Savannah, GA
We have a grill in our backyard and sometimes we use it for parties. My dad does all the grilling.
Just your dad? Well, mom says she can’t cook, and I take her word for it! My dad makes lots of good stuff like butternut squash, mahi-mahi and other kinds of fish.
Is there anything that would make your cookouts even better? An ice-cream bar would be awesome! And a new rule: no Brussels sprouts. Yuck!
3/13Sylvia, 9, Saint Paul, MN
We’ve done a lot of cookouts this spring because it’s been warm. My parents don’t let me grill because it’s dangerous. But when I’m really hungry I wish I could help so we could get it done faster!
What are your favorite things that they grill? Hot dogs and sausages, and my mom makes delicious lamb burgers. She buys lean ground lamb and mixes in onions and serves them on sesame-seed buns. My mom just handed me a packet of Penzeys Spices lamb seasoning, so I think that means she puts it in the burgers, but I don’t know much more about the process. I just wish she would grill more of them because then we could have second helpings and thirds and fourths! I wish I could eat and eat and eat and never get full.
4/13Nicholas, 10, Saranac Lake, NY
I started helping my family grill this year. I go out and turn it on and sometimes I even put the meat on. I was kind of nervous at first but really there wasn’t much to be scared about.
What kinds of things do you help grill? We have chicken about twice a week. And I like to do steak. I’m working my way up to kebabs.
If you could do something to improve your cookouts, what would be it? I don’t know … maybe add lemon to the chicken?
Now don’t go all crazy on me! [Laughs] OK, how about some pepper, too?
5/13Miles, 11, Lumberton, TX
Sometimes when we have friends over, we make doughnut burgers. Instead of using buns, we toast two Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts and add patties that are already filled with aged cheddar cheese and put bacon on top. We first saw them at the South Texas State Fair and decided to give them a try.
Wow, that’s a meal, dessert, and heart attack all in one! Well we don’t make them that often. ____
Is there anything you can think of that would make your cookouts even more special? I’d like to make the desserts they have at the fair, like fried cheesecake and funnel cake and all that stuff. And if I could bring the rides to my backyard, that would be even better!
6/13Havi, 7, Scottsdale, AZ
We grill salmon with salt and pepper and adobo, and organic corn on the cob—those are my two favorites. We have chicken, too. My dad cooks, he’s always the cook. My mom tries to cook but she doesn’t know how to make cheesy eggs that well.
Is there anything your dad grills that you don’t like? Yeah, steak. It doesn’t really taste that good, so they let me have something different, like salmon. I’m the only kid that I know who eats it!
7/13Madelyn, 9, Hamilton Square, NJ
My dad makes burgers and hot dogs about once a week during the summer. He just sort of announces, “Tonight, we’re grilling!” and starts cooking dinner outside.
Do you ever help? No and I don’t want to learn how to do it, either. It’s easier when other people just do all of the cooking for me.
8/13Lucy, 8, Bethesda, MD
Since mom’s a vegetarian, my dad usually does the grilling. He cooks salmon and cheeseburgers.
What does your mom end up eating? Usually salad. She just eats differently. I’ve tried some of her foods, like mushrooms, which I like, but I still hate broccoli and I always will.
9/13Dorothea, 11, Milwaukee, WI
I like to help when we cook out. I’ll spice the meat or put salt and pepper on the onions and radishes before my dad grills them. I really like when we do pizza. We make the dough, and instead of putting it in the oven we use a pizza stone and put it right on the grill. **
Has your family ever had any grilling disasters? Yes: watermelon. It was really gross and watery. We found the recipe on the Internet somewhere when we were looking up grilling fruit, but it didn’t really work out.
10/13Carmela, 8, Milwaukee, WI
When we make burgers I help by pounding them into patties and seasoning them. I like the way we grill onions and radishes: We add olive oil and salt and pepper and put them in a grill basket. I also like grilled peaches with vanilla ice cream on top. Yum!
What would you do to make your family cookouts even better? Have them on the beach so we could have fun and play!
11/13Lilly, 14, Oxford, MS
Even though my mom is a vegetarian, she rules the grill in our house. She makes grilled squash and asparagus and really good veggie burgers.
So it sounds like there’s no downside to the lack of meat? Well, she did go through this phase when she tried making her own fake meat. It was really disgusting, but she worked on it so hard that we all tried it. But then she saved it and put it in the freezer. It was so nasty we just had to tell her the truth. Her fake bacon was pretty good, but that’s it.
12/13Charlotte, 7, Gainesville, FL
I like when my daddy makes grilled pineapples and hamburgers, but not chicken. He cooks it too much, and it tastes all dry.
What would you do to improve cookouts at your house? Have a water fight. I just got a water-balloon filler and I can fill like six at the same time. I love when people throw water on each other!
13/13Zoe, 11, Gainesville, FL
It’s been a little cold down here lately, but we squeeze in lots of barbecues. Usually my mom will make desserts and sides, but my dad’s the one who grills. He makes this amazing mojo chicken—it’s my favorite thing to eat. He also makes honey-garlic chicken wings, and sometimes he’ll grill pineapple or peaches. I’m allowed to glaze the wings in honey. I love helping out. It makes me feel more a part of the whole experience.
What’s your favorite thing about cookouts? That they bring everyone together. My grandma just moved here, and sometimes my uncles and cousins come down and we all go out in the backyard and grill and catch up. I wish we had more room so I could invite everybody I know. It would be awesome to have the whole town here cooking out.
