The cooler is still upside down on the back step this morning, draining onto the grass, and there are three hamburger patties and half a pan of beans in our fridge. That's what's left of yesterday's Fourth of July cookout for twelve people. We spent $85 on it, and the receipts are lined up on the kitchen table.
We'd never hosted the Fourth before. Our side of the duplex has a small backyard with a chain-link fence, Tyler's charcoal grill and just enough room for two folding tables if nobody minds bumping elbows. I set the budget at $85 because that's what was left in our fun money for July after our camping weekend at Long Branch.
Who came
Twelve people, counting us: my mom and dad, Tyler's mom Debbie, who drove down from Kirksville, my friend Kayla from Columbia, our neighbor Gloria from the other side of the duplex, Tyler's buddy from the plant with his wife and their two boys, and my cousin.
I told everyone they didn't need to bring anything. Half of them brought something anyway, which is how it works around here.
What we bought
Almost all of it came from the Walmart in town on July 3. The paper goods came from Dollar General because they were cheaper there.
- Ground beef, 3 pounds, for twelve quarter-pound burgers: $15.97
- Brats, two packs of five: $8.94
- Hamburger and brat buns, four packs: $5.92
- Baked beans, three 28-ounce cans: $5.94
- Bacon for the beans, 12 ounces: $4.47
- Sliced cheese, 24 slices: $3.47
- Lettuce, tomatoes and onions: $5.18
- Pickles: $2.27
- Ketchup and mustard: $2.83
- Chips, two family-size bags: $5.96
- Ice, four 10-pound bags: $9.92
- Soda, one 12-pack: $5.98
- Tea bags and sugar for two gallons of sweet tea: $2.40
- Paper plates, cups and napkins: $5.75
That's $85.00 on the nose, or about $7.08 a person. We already had the charcoal, most of a bag left from Memorial Day, and the brown sugar for the beans came out of the cupboard.
The beans were the best value on the table. Three big cans of baked beans, half the bacon, an onion and a scoop of brown sugar, baked low for two hours in our biggest pan. For under $10, they fed twelve people with plenty left over. The rest of the bacon is breakfast this weekend.
What people brought
Debbie brought her potato salad, the one with mustard and chopped pickles that everybody in Tyler's family asks for, and she made enough for twenty. My mom brought a watermelon and a pan of brownies. My dad brought a second bag of charcoal "just in case" and his own cooler of drinks. Kayla brought popsicles and another bag of chips, Gloria made deviled eggs, and Tyler's buddy's wife brought a dozen ears of sweet corn from her dad's patch, which went right on the grill.
If I'd bought all of that myself, it would have been at least another $40, so I'm not going to pretend $85 fed twelve people on its own. It fed twelve people with help, which is the only way a cookout has ever worked.
What was left
Three burgers, two brats, about half the beans, a third of the potato salad, a few ears of corn and one bag of chips. I'd buy one less pack of buns next time. There are nine of them in our freezer now.
The leftovers are this week's meals. The burgers and potato salad are Tyler's lunches through Monday. The brats are getting sliced into fried potatoes tonight, and the beans will go with whatever we grill next. That's about three meals I won't be buying, which I'm counting as a small win for the grocery budget.
Moose got exactly one burger, and only because it slid off a paper plate and he was faster than Tyler.
We finished the night at the end of our street, sitting on the tailgate of Tyler's truck to watch the town fireworks over the trees. That part was free.
