September 5, 2026

WEEKLY MENU 09.06.26

Easy Labor Day recipes and simple weeknight meals for the Weekly Menu 09.06.26!

The Weekly Menu 09.06.26 keeps things simple with easy Labor Day recipes that work just as well for a backyard gathering as they do for a quick family dinner after the long weekend. Labor Day is the perfect excuse to slow down, enjoy good food, and soak up those last golden days of summer. With fuss-free meals on the table, you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time celebrating the season.

Labor Day is, sadly, the last of the Red, White, and Blue Holidays of summer. While it’s not the actual end of summer – that doesn’t happen until the autumnal equinox on September 22nd this year – it is the unofficial end. Kids are heading to school if they haven’t started, and one last grilling party is almost mandatory.

Labor Day in the United States of America is a public holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. It honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the development, growth, endurance, strength, security, prosperity, productivity, laws, sustainability, persistence, structure, and well-being of the country. It is the Monday of the long weekend known as Labor Day Weekend. Labor Day is recognized as a federal holiday.
Wikipedia

Labor Day Telethon

Growing up, the big draw of the Labor Day Weekend was the Labor Day Telethon. It was always a treat to see the parade of famous people that showed up to help Jerry Lewis make an absolute boatload of money to help the Muscular Dystrophy Association. My favorite part was watching Jerry get more and more disheveled as the 21-1/2 hour marathon continued. That fun was followed closely by awe. Watching all the bigwigs of corporate America trying to out-give each other was impressive.

Although the telethon imploded in a big way, almost 2 BILLION DOLLARS was raised during its run between 1966 and 2010. The telethon underwent drastic changes at that point, and Jerry Lewis was ousted – even after receiving a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Poor guy.

Weekly Menu 09.06.26

I love long summer weekends. The laid-back vibe continues through Monday and the actual holiday. I love having the “picnic” on Sunday. That leaves Monday to relax, recoup, and reconnect. The Boysies are pouring beers at the German Festival on Saturday this year, so they’ll be ready for a big dinner on Sunday.

We have multiple menus rolling about for Labor Day:

Labor Day Picnic

End of Summer Labor Day Picnic

And, of course, we have the 2026 edition:

What’s for eats on the actual holiday?

On Monday, Labor Day proper, we’re going with griddled sausage patty sandwiches and leftovers. We have (as usual) way too much planned for eats on Sunday, so we’ll have plenty of side dishes to pull out of the fridge last minute.

It’s finally tomato season, and I am including them wherever possible. My all-time favorite way to cook them? Broiling.

HOW DO YOU MAKE BROILED TOMATOES?

It’s pretty simple and mind-bogglingly good. Thick-slice a ripe tomato. Put it on a sprayed baking sheet. (Affiliate links follow – see disclaimer page for details.) Sprinkle with kosher salt and regular all-purpose flour. Top with a thin slice of butter (there is probably a tablespoon of butter on this whole tomato) and chopped bacon. (BACON!) And BROIL.

Raw Tomatoes from Weekly Menu 09.13.20 — **Broiled Tomatoes!**

Tomatoes sprinkled with flour — **Broiled Tomatoes!**

These are so good that I habitually wipe up the salty leftovers with the empty corn cob and suck them dry. Don’t judge. Just try them yourself!

Want another in-season only favorite? How about Tomato Salad? That sounds good for lunch this week!

Ours might be the only family that doesn’t like mayo-based potato salad. I include it from time to time because I love it, but I can only eat so much of it on my own. (Well, I can eat a metric tonne of it, but I shouldn’t.) This week, we’re having a super easy crockpot Cheesy Potato instead. I don’t see how that could possibly be bad.