We had hot dogs and hamburgers, pasta salad, pickles and baked beans, with homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert (I chose the butterscotch topping, but others had either sprinkles, chocolate sauce and/or strawberries), with my in-laws in SE Vermont. It was raining pretty heavily through most of the day, so we moved the cars out of the open-air carport and cooked and ate there. We toasted the USA’s 238th birthday before we dug in.
Well, it has been a good summer for cherries, and I made a deep-dish cherry pie that did not come out as soup! Latticework crust helped, I think.
I grilled a tri tip on Friday evening, seasoned with a dash of salt, fresh ground pepper, dried minced garlic, and a no-salt herb/vegetable mix that came in a little grinder (which I bought Friday morning at my annual July 4 outlet mall trip). I also grilled corn on the cob, and opened a can of baked beans.
Tonight, some of the leftover tri tip will be repurposed as steak burritos. Tri tip roast is my favorite thing to grill, but it’s just the two of us now so I have to be creative with the leftovers.
Last night I made mushroom pizza: sauce, mozzarella, and lots of mushrooms. It was OK, but I thought it was a bit bland. (I like pepperoni and anchovies, usually.) The SO thought it was good, especially when she added some more garlic powder and some grated parmesan to it. I think it would have been better if I had used Quattro Formaggio instead of just mozz.
Tonight I think I’ll slice up a polska kielbasa and cook it with sauerkraut.
Did do the kielbasa and kraut. I read the nutritional information while the sausage was browning. The whole jar of sauerkraut was only 90 Calories. The sausage was 170 Calories per serve, for seven servings. So divided into four, it was only 320 Calories per serving. Didn’t feel at all guilty at finishing off the zabaglione. 
We hosted a Low Country Boil for a large group of family and friends, here’s a picture of the groaning table. It was quite a feast, and a great party.
We ended up postponing the ostrich, due to limited time and even more limited stomach-space. We ate a lot. Everything ranged from “good” to “very good”! (We’re planning on left-overs and ostrich tonight.)
The blackened alligator fillets turned out great. Gator has a consistency very similar to chicken, but with a very subtle fishy flavor. Not nearly as fishy as I had expected, but definitely distinct.
The kangaroo dishes were bacon-wrapped kangaroo loin and crock-pot kangaroo curry. I thought the curry was just “ok”, but the others seemed to like it. Not surprisingly, the spices masked most of the flavor of the roo. I would have vetoed the curry idea except that the others were eager to try it. In any case, the bacon-wrapped roo let the meat shine. I grew up eating a lot of venison, and the roo reminded me quite a bit of a mild venison. There was something else in the flavor that I find hard to describe. I’ve read descriptions of roo meat that say it tastes slightly like bison, but it’s been so long since I’ve had bison that I can’t confirm.
Camel tastes like slightly sweet beef. We made a camel stew that was delicious, albeit not particularly exotic. If someone served it to you without telling you it wasn’t beef, it’s possible you wouldn’t notice. On the other hand, the difference was definitely there - just subtle. We also grilled skewers with chunks of camel along with bacon-wrapped dates. The sweetness of the meat blended perfectly with the sweet-and-salty of the bacon-wrapped dates. This was definitely the crowd favorite.
I was proud of my nephews. They tried everything, and asked for seconds on most things. The closest thing to a complaint was when the youngest said he didn’t like the camel stew, and then asked if he could have more kangaroo instead.
I guess I’ll represent the rednecks this year and profess my love for and the fact that i made Rotel Dip. I’ve not made it in years, but felt this was a special occasion. I like to add the spicy sausage to class it up a bit and I was very classy for 4 July 2014.
However, I also made my “famous” homemade soft pretzels. Always yummy to eat, a hit to share, and a mini science-lesson to make.
I used to call it DoD dip, because the only people I knew who made it were DoD, military, and contractors. (Pace Medium-Hot Picante Sauce was the default.)
I would love the lentil salad recipe! It sounds yummy!!