An Ode to the Ultimate Beach Lunch

Before arepas, before tacos, before the New York Times, our beach crew got through the long summer days with nothing but a couple coolers. We never were the type to order pizza to the beach – all that sand and hot cheese! And the grill parties were reserved for the end-of-summer bash on Labor Day. So a perfectly packed cooler was essential, especially for active kids who spent half the time playing Marco Polo in the ocean and the other half playing baseball in the hot sand.

There are some foods that remind me of being a kid in summer, even if I ate them year-round – cold juice boxes of Sips iced tea, Jax cheez doodles, melted-by-the-sun cheese and mustard sandwiches on Martin’s potato rolls. When we thought we got too old for juice boxes (humans actually never get too old for juice boxes) we moved towards iced tea mixes in a cooler, drinking the sugary-bottom on the walk home.

But the finest of all beach food delicacies is the “beach hot dog”, kept warm in a thermos designated specifically for them. That is not something you want to mix up.

And here’s how you do it:

 Beach Hot Dogs
– 6-12 Hot dogs, depending on the size of your thermos. Despite being a goy I always go for the Kosher ones.
– 1 Package of Saurkraut
– Boiling Water
– Buns/Mustard/Ketchup

1. Fill a thermos with as many hot dogs as you need/can fit.
2. Pour in boiling water and some ‘kraut.
3. Tightly screw top back on thermos.
4. Don’t forget the fork to rescue hot dogs and kraut!
5. Pack up your condiments and buns, and head to beach.

The beach closes everyday at 6 when the lifeguards pack up and kick everybody out of the water. But the real sign of when you need to flee is an empty cooler. Once your hand reaches the bottom of the bag of chips, and there’s nothing but water in your Little Oscar, you need to pack up the chair and shower off at home.