'merica

After Sunday night's pre-independence prep, we sat down to enjoy a movie... a very, very bad movie.  I won't give away the name because that would give you a biased judgment and it wouldn't be fair.  But let's just say that all alien invasion movies are not created equal.  Remember Independence Day?  That movie was awesome!  Well, at least this new outer space flick brought back fond memories of an appropriately patriotic movie.

The actual 4th of July kicked off with a late and lazy breakfast celebrating the American Southwest; not actually, but we did make cheddar eggs with peppers, tomatoes, onion and parsley and that's kinda southwesty.  Oh and we had sourdough toast which is all about Frisco!  I'm still trying to forget the turkey bacon.  Like alien movies, not all bacon is created equal, but we'll let it slide for heart-healthy reasons.

firework hair thanks to VintageIce!

With full bellies, we threw on our most patriotic ensembles and headed off to find a slice of good old-fashioned small town Americana, the kind John Mellencamp would sing about.  Along our drive we saw the strikingly beautiful mountains of Connecticut, waterfalls, covered bridges, before happening upon a cute little main street with a beautiful old library have a book sale!  You know I can't pass up a good friends of the library book sale and thank heavens I didn't because I found for Carolyn a well-loved copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, fourth edition!  I can't believe I didn't catch a picture if this but maybe it's just as well since I suppose it would have been more appropriate for Bastille Day.  Either way, after that, we found the ultimate slice of American pie - the Litchfield Pet Parade!  Cats, dogs, bunnies, fish and hamsters in patriotic clothes?  I'll salute to that!

Next, brown cows and rootbeer floats!  How cute is this roadside stop?  Though I kind of wish I had seen this trailer for A Connecticut Hot Dog Tour before heading up there.  Guess I'll have to plan another trip!

Back to the lake house for our festive supper - sizzlin steak, sweet corn on the cob, sour cherry & feta green salad, and patriotic potato salad!

patriotic potato salad 

there are no real strict measurements or directions to this recipe since a good potato salad is to taste

ingredients

about 12 small to medium potatoes - Appalachian red & blue, Yukon gold or any gold or white fleshed potato you care for

freshly chopped parsley

1 sweet white onion (Spanish, Vidalia, or Bermuda are good) chopped

3 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1 1/2 c mayo

1/4 c mustard (I like a grainy beer-flavored one like Spicy Brown Ale Mustard or an ale dijon)

freshly ground salt and pepper

directions

1. Place the potatoes in a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil.  Let boil until fork tender.  When ready, remove potatoes from the water and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking. 

2. While the potatoes are cooking, whisk together mayo, s&p, parsley and mustard in a large bowl.  Stir in onions and eggs.  

3. When potatoes are cooled, cut into bite-sized pieces and add to the dressing mix.  Stir well making sure to coat each potato with the dressing and taste it to make sure it's delicious.  Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight or for at least a few hours so all the flavors have time to meld together.  Let sit for about 30minutes to take the chill off before serving.

Speaking of potatoes, especially red and blue ones, check out this interesting article about potato varieties that Carolyn found in an old National Geographic at the dentist's office.

With the leftover sour cherries, I invented a new drink and, even though it was a little more British than American, it was delicious.  

sour cherry lime gin fizz

ingredients

1 c pitted sour cherries

1tsp confectioners sugar

1/2 lime

fresh mint leaves

gin

seltzer

directions

1. Mash the cherries, mint and sugar together until they are pulpy.  Add 2 shots of gin and let soak over night.

2. Combine cherry & gin mix with fresh squeezed lime juice, seltzer, and a couple extra shots of gin in a large pitcher with ice.  Stir well.  Serve on ice with a lime garnish.

After supper and cocktails, it was time for fireworks!

(don't tell my dad about this... he says fireworks are dangerous!)

i had to run away quickly so as not to catch on fire!

And there you have it!  Happy Birthday America (and my cousin, Kelly because today is her actual birthday!)  Oh, and many congrats to Joey Chestnut and Sonya Thomas on your big wins down at Coney Island's Nathan's yesterday.  Me and the US of A salute you!