July 4th

Heidi, Steve, Nick, Alison, Bailey, Joe, Zoltan, his wife, Freya, and Thor came over.  Because of my injured hand, I had to cut back on my cooking ambitions, but we had bratwurst (parboiled in beer, then pan-fried with onions), veggie Italian sausage, buns, ketchup, mustard, sweet tomato relish, cherry BBQ sauce, onions, cole slaw, potato salad, iced tea, cucumber melon cooler (from Every Day with Rachael Ray), Coke, Diet Coke, Fresca, Natty Boh, watermelon, and ice cream.  Heidi brought lemon ice and lemon macarons; Nick, Alison, and Bailey brought pasta salad and broccoli slaw; Joe brought burgers, veggie burgers, and Apples to Apples; and Zoltan brought brownies.  Needless to say, we had plenty of food.

There was a light drizzle, but the fireworks were not cancelled, and none of the children were scared this year.


Cucumber Melon Cooler (from Every Day with Rachael Ray)

• 1 large honeydew melon, cut into chunks
• 1 large cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks, plus slices for garnish
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Ice

1. Using a blender and working in two batches, puree the melon, cucumber and 2 cups water. Strain through a sieve into a large measuring cup.
2. Whisk in the sugar and lemon juice until the sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until chilled. Serve over ice with a cucumber slice.

I forgot to garnish with the cucumber, but, more importantly, there really is no need for it to be that sweet.  None whatsoever.  Next time, I'll combine the other ingredients, then gradually add in sugar (if necessary).

In other news, the bandage came off today, and I'm working with bandaids now.  I plan to start using knives again for tomorrow's dinner.