What food to pack for drive-in fireworks show?

[LucyStoner]

So we are taking our crew of 12 (four adults, 8 teens/tweens) to see a drive in fireworks display.  While there will be food trucks, I don’t really want to shell out quite as much as it will likely be to feed everyone dinner (food trucks seem to run $10-15/person).  We are meeting up with 2 other families.  
 

We will arrive in the evening while it’s still light out.  
 

Trying to decide if I treat it like a tailgate and take our little propane grill or if I pack a cold dinner. 
 

I keep thinking of different salads I want to make but I’m kind of at a loss for kid pleasing entrees unless I drag the grill out there.  Maybe I’ll just take bread and cold cuts for the kids to devour since most of them will pick at the salads.  Or I could make wraps.  
Another thought is I grab fried chicken from the grocery deli and pair that with the salads.
 

[fraidycat]

I'm all about easy, so I'd choose cold cuts or deli fried chicken, personally. 😁

[PeterPan]

17 minutes ago, LucyStoner said:

I grab fried chicken from the grocery deli and pair that with the salads.

That seems like a good plan! Mac and cheese could be made ahead and is good at any stage of warm/cool. 

https://www.food.com/recipe/cauliflower-broccoli-salad-210504  I'm making this. It has enough ham and bacon that I'm not sure how it can go wrong.

[katilac]

10 minutes ago, fraidycat said:

I'm all about easy, so I'd choose cold cuts or deli fried chicken, personally. 😁

Cold dinner for sure. Cooking for a dozen people on a little propane grill in a crowd sounds like a nightmare. And, even if you 100% know they are usually allowed, I'd double and triple check that they are allowed for this event. 

Because it's mostly kids, I wouldn't bother with salads and/or much variety. Sandwich fixings, including crackers as well as bread, heavy on the meat and cheese bc they'll grab some extra, and then lots of snacks. They'll be slap-happy. 

[Catwoman]

If you want to keep it simple and not messy, bring some pre-made sandwiches, chips, and soda. If you want something sweet, bring some cookies. 

I wouldn’t even bother with the salads or any hot foods. 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by Catwoman

[Frances]

Nm

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by Frances

[KungFuPanda]

I used to take hot dogs to the pool. If you wrap them in foil and put them in a cooler with something hot, they’ll stay hot. I packed gravel in foil and heated it in the oven, but bricks might be better. 
 

To clarify, I put a cooked hot dog in a bun and wrapped that in foil. It makes them easy to pass out and eat. You can do it with brats too. 

Edited July 3, 2021 by KungFuPanda

[TechWife]

 Can you order a party sub tray from a local grocery store? They typically have a list of sandwiches they put on them, but I have substituted sandwiches and they were fine. When I did it the suns were about 4” - cutting 1 12” sub into three. Fillings were normal sub filling. Ours let us customize meats, toppings and dressings as long as we did it as a set - the four roast beef sandwiches with cheddar could be switched out for turkey with Munster, but not 2 turkey, 1 ham and one corned beef. It had to be straightforward. Ask for condiment packets so everyone can do their own thing.’while you’re picking up the subs, greaves a couple large favorite chips varieties and canned drinks. Make sure you bring enough water for everyone while they’re waiting. 

[HomeAgain]

6 hours ago, fraidycat said:

I'm all about easy, so I'd choose cold cuts or deli fried chicken, personally. 😁

This is what we used to do when I was a kid.  We'd pack Tupperware containers in a cooler: one for meats, one for cheeses, one for veggies.  They'd get laid out in the back of the van so that everyone could create their own sandwich on sub rolls and then finish it off with olive oil and vinegar.  Sides were fruit, homemade cookies or brownies, taco-seasoned popcorn, veggies & dip.

We do similar now, except ds eats all the fixings separate (he doesn't like bread). Oh, and I make a divine loaded potato salad.  Pre-Covid used to be an all day event downtown and everyone picnics.  I think the only food options were ice cream and a hockey puck burger, so a cooler of fixings it is. 🙂

[Ottakee]

If you want super simple, go to Walmart and buy some of their foot long subs and cut them 6 pieces and let everyone grab a few different ones.  Add chips and a salad for those that want that.  Maybe baby carrots. And a plate of cookies or pan of brownies.

This is how I did a meal for 12 on very last minute notice.

[catz]

If you wanted something healthy to throw in for kids if your sales might not be, I’d maybe clean berries or slice up watermelon to throw in a cooler.  
 

One fond memory I have of fireworks as a child is some mom we went with popped a ton of pop corn and put it in individual lunch bags to munch on while the fireworks were going.  

Keeping it simple sounds great!  Sounds fun!

 

[Annie G]

Cold fruit is so yummy when it’s hot outside. Watermelon was always our favorite. 

[Tap]

I would do sandwiches and easy to eat fruit like baggies of grapes. (grapes on a plate are a hassle but in a bag they are easy). I would do mini bags of chips or divide a big bag into baggies. 

Pack several snacks for the night. Seeing everyone else eat from the food carts and smelling that food cook, will make everyone extra hungry. I would get something different than you usually get to make it seem a bit special. Chips, candy, cookies, flavored popcorn etc.  I would get non-caffeinated drinks in bottles with screw lids so they can open and close when they are set down (Gatorade/propel/Body Armor/fizzy waters etc). 

We always tried to make the snacks at the fireworks something unique. If you can afford it, I would plan on $4-5 per person for a treat or drink from a truck. Maybe an ice cream or other snack. I wouldn't say anything to them about it, just in case the lines are too long or the prices are too high. It can make it fun for kids to get what they see everyone else having. 

Not food related: Fireworks shows often sell the little glow-in-the-dark bracelets. I always bought some dollar store one and took them with us to keep the cost down but helped the kids feel like they weren't missing out. 

Edited July 3, 2021 by Tap

[LucyStoner]

32 minutes ago, Tap said:

Seeing everyone else eat from the food carts and smelling that food cook, will make everyone extra hungry. I would get something different than you usually get to make it seem a bit special.

All great ideas in your post.  Fortunately, the food trucks are a little bit of a hike from where we will be and people seem to pack a lot of their own food.  We’d totally buy them ice creams but I’m figuring Grandpa will take care of that pretty quickly—- he loves buying the kids little treats.  
 

I’m filling one cooler with drinks and one cooler with dinner/snacks.  

[LucyStoner]

So we landed on:

1 cooler with seltzer, sodas, lemonade and iced coffee.  Big thermos water dispenser filled with water and ice.  

1 cooler with cold cuts, cheese, “salads”, fruit and cut up carrots, celery and peppers.  We are taking bread and condiments for sandwiches.  

I made macaroni salad, my MILs recipe for potato salad, a spinach salad and a curried chicken salad.  I’m not a fan of lunch meat myself and I can eat the chicken salad instead of having cold cuts.  Decided to not worry about having anything hot but I am totally using that hot dog tip sometime.  I thought about Mac and Cheese but my husband was really wanting potato and macaroni salads and I decided that that was enough pasta/potatoes.  If it were just me and my husband I’d do fried chicken from the deli but most of the kids are the sort who don’t like meat on the bone.  

I put the teens to work making brownies. My older son and niece like to bake together so might as well capitalize on that. 
 

The fruit got put in individual sized containers, enough for everyone who will eat fruit to grab a container and use it as their bowl.  I threw a can of whip cream in there so people can put that on their berries if they want.  

My brother grabbed chips and various snack foods.  

No one will go hungry.  

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by LucyStoner

[Kassia]

Sounds perfect!  Nice job!

 

[Tap]

Sounds like an amazing picnic and will keep the hungry-crankies away! 

 

If you have any wet wipes around they are great for dirty hands at events like this.  Otherwise wet several hand cloths or paper towels and put them in zippers bags. 

Bring extra (washable) blankets or sleeping bags to sit on the ground and/or cover up with. I don't know where you live, but it usually gets pretty chilly here by the time fireworks are over. If you don't need them all, you can layer them on the ground.  Regular length socks are great if you are sitting in chairs because ankles often get cold when sitting for so long if you are wearing no-show length. 

Take mosquito repellent or spray your clothes before you go. And sunscreen if you are going before the sun goes down.

If you have any kids who are sound sensitive, take ear plugs or even better, take the over the ear, ear-muffs used for shooting. 

 

I hope you all have a  great time!!! I miss the days when we went to the community fireworks and picnic. I am not usually one for crowds, but this was one event I really liked each year! 

Edited July 3, 2021 by Tap

[Bambam]

I stop by the deli and get a variety of meat and cheeses. Grab some sub sandwich bread (if you have a Jimmy Johns, they sell their day old loaves cheaply first in thing in the morning, they sell their fresh loaves for more, but still reasonable - somehow that makes our sandwiches special.  Wash some lettuce, slice some tomatoes, add a couple of bags of chips. You are done!

[Mrskitty76]

Brownies are good!

[DawnM]

We have rented a boat for the lake tomorrow, so I am following.   I think I will be picking up sub sandwiches/chips/cookie/drinks and just be done with it though.

DH also suggested going out for late lunch (boat at 3) and just bringing snacks and chips, so we may do that.