Sunday: A Costco Restock, Savory S’mores & a Three-Course Bonfire Dinner
Got up this morning and made a fresh batch of bacon. The kids finished the last of the Apple Cider Cinnamon Focaccia experiment from Friday, plus some bagels, and then my two youngest girls and I headed to Costco.
And we did some damage.
I hadn’t personally done a Costco trip in about three weeks. Between our Greensboro trip to Replacements, then St. Louis last week, Chris had handled the last Costco run.
So today was a restock-the-house Costco trip.
This Week’s Protein Lineup
I bought our standards: ground beef and chicken breasts.
But I also bought ground turkey, which I don’t always see at Costco.
I have an idea.
I want to experiment with some kind of savory Thanksgiving turkey meatball appetizer. Something you could put out before Thanksgiving dinner that feels festive and different.
Chris’s response was basically:
Who wants to eat ground turkey?
Me, apparently.
We’ll see who’s right.
You know I love messing around in the kitchen, so that’s going onto this week’s experiment list.
I also grabbed one of Costco’s fully cooked turkey breasts. I bought one last fall and really liked it.
To me, it’s similar in concept to the Costco Carver ham. It’s fully cooked, so you’re really just reheating it.
I think it’s a fantastic option if you feel strongly that Thanksgiving needs turkey but don’t necessarily want to commit to cooking an entire bird.
Maybe you’re also serving ham or another meat. Maybe you have a smaller gathering. Maybe you just don’t want to deal with a whole turkey.
This gives you turkey without the whole production.
I’m going to film it again this year, which means we’ll also eat it for dinner sometime this week. And the leftovers make really good turkey sandwiches.
Basically, I left Costco with plenty of ideas for the week.
Also three ski helmets.
As one does.
I’ve been watching for them to come back in stock, and they finally did. We need them for the kids this winter, so three of those went into the cart too.
Coming in Hot From Costco
If you’ve ever taken kids to Costco and then driven home with a car full of groceries, you know exactly what happens next.
Everyone is suddenly starving.
I needed food immediately, so I put some crispy chicken into the air fryer and made wraps for some of the kids.
Then Chris came inside from doing yard work, and I made us Cava-ish bowls.
I started with arugula and loaded them up with vegetables, red onion and olives. Then I added warmed chicken and made one of my quick hummus dressings.
For this version, I used:
- One small individual Costco hummus cup
- Lemon juice
- Honey
- A little olive oil
- Garlic powder
- Oregano
Just whisk it together until it’s creamy and pourable.
You can’t really see all the vegetables underneath everything in the picture, but they’re there.
This was an excellent lunch.
Bonfire Prep…Interrupted by Plumbing
After lunch, I started prepping for our family bonfire tonight.
I cut steak into small pieces for steak bites.
Then I prepped vegetables for fried rice.
And when I say I prepped vegetables for fried rice, I mean I looked around my kitchen and used what I had.
Red onion.
Carrots.
Leftover green beans from dinner at my parents’ house.
Chop everything small.
Done.
You do not need to go buy a special bag of vegetables because you’ve decided to make fried rice.
Then I started my savory s’mores experiment.
I sliced cheddar and Babybel cheeses and actually put the pieces into the freezer because I wanted them really cold before we held them over the fire.
I also cut thick slices from one of the big pepperoni logs we buy.
Everything was going according to plan.
And then we had a plumbing problem.
Four trips to Lowe’s later, we got it fixed enough that nothing is currently leaking.
A plumber will be called.
Some days are like that.
Which made sitting outside together tonight feel especially nice.
Bonfire Dinner, Course One: Savory S’mores
Tonight’s dinner was basically three courses cooked outside.
We started at the Solo Stove.
First experiment: savory s’mores.
We toasted the very cold cheese and the thick pepperoni slices over the fire and ate them with crackers.
The pepperoni was especially good because the fire crisped the outside.
The kids loved it.
Chris loved it.
Definitely a fun one.
We also roasted hot dogs over the fire, because if you’re already sitting around a bonfire, you might as well.
That was course one.
Course Two: Blackstone Fried Rice & Steak Bites
Next I fired up the Blackstone.
For fried rice, I don’t have a sacred list of vegetables. Tonight’s combination was red onion, carrots and those leftover green beans.
I got the griddle hot, added avocado oil and put down all the vegetables.
Then I seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic powder, ginger, soy sauce, liquid aminos and sesame oil.
Once the vegetables were cooked, I added cold cooked rice and essentially seasoned everything again.
Then I pushed the fried rice over to one side of my four-burner Blackstone and turned that section down low to keep it warm.
I also threw some of last night’s leftover potatoes onto the griddle.
Because they were there.
Why not?
Then I cranked up the rest of the Blackstone for the steak bites.
My Blackstone Steak Bite Method
For the steak, I want that griddle really hot.
I add a little avocado oil and then spread the steak pieces into a single thin layer.
The goal is to give as many pieces as possible direct contact with that screaming-hot griddle.
Then—and this is the hard part—
Don’t touch them.
I season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and leave them alone long enough to develop a really good sear.
Once I have that crust, then I start tossing them around.
I’m still working on my timing here.
I prefer my steak around medium, and I have a tendency to overshoot it with little steak bites because everything happens so quickly on the Blackstone.
I’ll get there eventually.
But they were still delicious.
My Favorite Plates for Eating Outside
Because we’d already eaten hot dogs and savory s’mores, nobody needed a giant helping of steak and fried rice.
So I pulled out these tiny Nordic Ware sheet pans I bought at Costco years ago.
They’re eighth-sheet pans—smaller than a quarter sheet—and I love them for the kids.
Especially when we’re outside, that little rim around the edge is fantastic.
Food isn’t sliding off somebody’s plate and onto the ground.
Everybody grabbed a little tray, loaded it with steak bites and fried rice and ate outside.
Then came the most important course.
Course Three: Obviously, S’mores
We brought out the graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows and went back to the fire.
But I also wanted to play around with some different combinations.
I dipped an apple slice in cinnamon and added a toasted marshmallow.
Divine.
That combination deserves to happen again.
And because I can’t have the regular graham cracker and chocolate situation, I made myself an Ingredient Household After Dark: Bonfire Edition.
A salted rice cake.
Peanut butter.
Chocolate chips.
And a freshly toasted marshmallow straight from the fire.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Gluten-free and dairy-free does not mean I’m sitting next to a bonfire watching everybody else eat s’mores.
Absolutely not.
So after a Costco haul, four trips to Lowe’s, a plumbing problem, fried rice, steak bites, hot dogs, savory s’mores and actual s’mores…
we ended the day sitting around the fire together.
A very good Sunday.
And if you’ve made it this far in the Kitchen Log…here’s a few things that make cooking/eating outside way more fun.
- I always set up a large folding table to act as a staging area…it holds my food, trays, silverware, etc.
- ALWAYS have a trash bag, baby wipes, and paper towels. The baby wipes are great for sticky hands and to wipe off any messes
- I only bring out food for each course once we’re ready. I did the appetizers first, then cleared that tray…then brought out the tray with all my dinner ingredients, then cleared that tray….and then brought out the dessert stuff. It’s easier to do one course at a time, and we’re not rushing to get through everything…it extends the fun!