A bunch of family and friends are coming over tomorrow. We’re gonna barbeque and then maybe head over to the speedway to watch fireworks. Or maybe just sit around and jabber at each other.
Uh… I’ll be at work tomorrow evenin’, so I’ll probably be having Chinese takeout. Mmm… sweet & sour chicken, fried rice and an egg roll… so patriotic!
I might make myself a nice red, white & blue dessert when I get home, though; we just bought a pint of really nice blueberries, so I can toss 'em together with some strawberries and cream. Yum.
We started out inviting two other couples over, but somehow the list has grown and we’re expecting about 20 people tomorrow.
We’re having typical fare: steamed crabs (two bushels), hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans (yummy old family recipe), pasta salad, fruit salad, chips, soda, beer, with homemade brownies and chocolate chip-walnut cookies for dessert.
Cheeseburger complete with grilled onions, and avacado slices (I don’t think the bacon’s gonna last until tomorrow though…sigh)
Baked beans
fresh corn on the cob, grilled
ice cold beer, and more beer
and hot fudge sundaes to enjoy while watching the fireworks from our balcony
I don’t know what we’re going to do, so I don’t know what we’re going to eat. Guess I’ll figure it out tonight so I can shop if necessary. Isn’t PB&J All-American??
Well, it looks like I’m going to hang out with a few members of my family, so I’m sure I’ll be eating whatever they’ve got going.
But, I’m going to run by work and pick up a Key Lime Cheesecake to take with us. I’m too damned tired to cook this week. Well, I did make the cheesecakes… just that they’re at work…
A friend is having a party tomorrow, and she was torn between grilling hamburgers and ordering pizza. Ordering pizza seems to have won out. My family always had barbecue on the Fourth. Back home, they’ll have brisket, ham and sausage while I’m eating cheese pizza. It just seems sacriligious.
Hmmm. My most excellent friend Karen & her hubby Mike are making BBQ ribs & homemade baked beans. If the Gods are smiling, she will make her chocolate cheesecake too…The rest of us will be bringing side dishes & salad. I’m working tomorrow so I’ll be stopping at the deli for a side dish on the way down.
Mom’s Red, White, and Blue Raspberry + Blueberry jello dessert
Uncle Jeff’s smoked barbeque ribs (the finest ribs I’ve ever had, cooked with a homemade sauce and on a water smoker, mmm)
Corn on the cob (I hope)
Leftover mashed taters
Who has time for anything else when you have to set fire to explosives? Besides, salads are for women.
Same thing I’ve done every US Independence Day–throw a cookout, then hijack the US nuclear arsenal and attempt to launch a thermonuclear strike against the UK.
It warms my crabby old heart that you leaped over everyone else’s mention of grilled ribs to single out mine.
I confess to cheating. Contemporary BBQmaniacs insist on slowly cooking the ribs con hickory or fruitwood smoke over a period of several hours.
Today’s method, which I haven’t used fo a couple years, so I’ll let you know later how it comes out, involves parboiling the ribs on the previous day.
Put a 5-pound rack in a large stockpot, cover with cold water, add one whole onion (unpeeled) stuck with two cloves, 2 tsps dried marjoram, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 1/4 cup soy sauce. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and allow to simmer uncovered until tender, 45 minutes to an hour.
Baste ribs with sauce (I just threw 'em in a big freezer bag and poured the sauce in. And turned 'em over ever time I went in the fridge.)
Unbelievably Great Sauce:
4 parts molasses
2 parts Dijon mustard
2 parts red wine vinegar
1 part Worcestershire
Salt and Tabasco to taste
Later today I will bring the meat to room temperature, and grill it over medium heat for about seven minutes on each side.
