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As far back as I can remember, on summer holidays my mother would organize these“get togethers,” barbecues, and holiday picnics at our home in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. We had plenty of good U. S. and African food. Our family provided the chicken, hamburgers, and hot dogs to cook on the monstrous brick grill my dad made in the yard. The picnics often included as many as thirty or more people who came and went from noon until flyer fly dark set in. Good food, music, and people kept people coming back to these 1970s gatherings. My mother loved to cook and she loved to listen to the music of Maria Makeba and Hugh Masekela among others. She also loved being around her family and people from the “mother land,” as she would say. Mom belonged to an organization called Friends of Africa (FOA) that exposed me at an early age to the Anti-apartheid movement. As a result of holiday picnics included family and extended family; many of them Africans who came to attend U. S. colleges and universities. On 55 Batten Road, in Croton, African and African Americans mixed and mingled over barbecued chicken, macaroni salad (recipe below), corn bread, rice pudding, peach cobbler and pecan pie (recipe below). The conversations ranged from food and cooking explanations and comparisons, to U. S. and African politics. These multiethnic barbecues, the music, and conversations with people from Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, and Sierra Leon are among my most cherished food memories of my youth. Please share your family barbecue memories with me on the comment section below and check out the recipes and related links.
My Barbecue Stories with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=barbecue
Fred’s Macaroni Salad Recipe:
2 cans tuna fish
1 box elbow macaroni
½ to 1 cup each of diced celery, green and red peppers, carrots, and onions.
½ to 1 cup sweet pickle relish.
1 cup mayonnaise (I use soy or canola based mayonnaise)
2 diced hard boiled eggs are optional
Add salt, pepper, fresh parsley, and other favorite seasonings.
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