Top 10 Summer Foods

There are certain foods that I associate with summer, and some of them are not that readily available in Spain. So in honor of summer eating, here are my top ten favorite things to eat during summer.

1. Fresh raspberries. I love raspberries more than any other berry. When I CAN find them in Spain they are usually pretty pricey. I love being able to pick them and eat them. When we were in Germany recently I picked a couple of wild ones but they were sour and sort of buggy.

2. Broccoli/cauliflower/bacon/mayo salad. I know there must be an official name for this salad that everyone brings to potlucks and picnics, but I don’t know what it’s called.

3. Corn on the cob. I.love.this. It’s my all-time favorite thing to eat at the Minnesota state fair. They cook it on a rotisserie grill thingy and then dip the whole ear in a vat of melted butter. It’s also good if you cook it in the microwave still in the husk.

4. KFC coleslaw. I have never found a coleslaw I like as much.

5. Pink lemonade, you know, the kind that is frozen in a can.

6. Lucy’s potato salad. The perfect potato salad.

7. Anything on the grill, but the bacon-wrapped filet mignons I used to buy at Sam’s club are my favorite.

8. Deviled eggs. With dry mustard, not yellow.

9. Bread and butter pickles, preferably made by my sister-in-law.

10. Ice cream. Always wonderful; best in summer.

Since food is a serious thing, I’ll start with a disclaimer: let’s assume, shall we, that I already get to include certain foods as a foundation while at the same time not “eating into” my list of top 10 summer foods—pun intended. This foundation would include:

-Hot Tamales (thanks Megan!)
-Powdered donuts
-Bacon strips
-Bacon bits
-Beef wrapped in bacon
-Toast
-Bacon and Tomato on toast
-Cap’n Crunch
-Cap’n Crunch with bacon bits

Now that I’ve gotten the foundational health foods out of the way, here are my top 10 summer foods, in no particular order:

1. Sweet corn on the cob
2. Lemonade
3. Watermelon
4. Popsicles
5. Chicken chutney salad (yes, I do have some class)
6. Sangria
7. Roasted marshmallows
8. Dill pickles

The last two require some explanation:
9. Raspberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream: when I was a kid, we picked wild raspberries and brought them to my aunt. She’d make cobbler with them. It was delicious.

10. Fresh fish, caught from the lake, batter-fried by my brother Todd. He’s quite the fish fryer. Writing this makes me miss him just now.

Yes, summer food does have its attachments. Some of these foods we can’t really get in Spain, so when we have the chance to partake, it is truly a treat.

Happy eating, everyone! We'd love to hear what your top ten are.