Happy 4th of July!

 

Happy 4^th of July!

Because I like celebrations and picnics, I really enjoy having people over for a backyard cookout, which requires no cooking. Here are some menu suggestions Serve all or a few items.

   BBQ ribs

   fried chicken

   garlic bread

   cole slaw

   beans

   potato salad

   cucumbers in sour cream

   root beer floats for desert

And now the best part is I can tell you where to get any and all of this already made. All except the cucumbers, recipe which I’ll share.

The ribs from Greenwood BBQ on Wolfe Road in Sunnyvale are great, however their sides are not. The sides at Empire Armadillos on El Camino in Sunnvale are terrific – peanut slaw and beans. Actually the ribs are okay if you only want to make one stop. Trader Joe’s has very simple flavorful potato salad. I found that fried chicken from the deli counter at Safeway is better that Kentucky Fried and half the price. Their prepared garlic bread isn’t bad, homemade is better but remember this is so supposed to be work free. And here’s the cucumber recipe:

   3 large peeled and thinly sliced cucumbers

   1 tsp. salt

 Mix and let stand for 1 hour, drain and wring out all moisture.

 Mix together:

   1 cup sour cream

   1/3 cup mayo

   2 chopped green onions, tops included

   1 Tbls. minced parsley

   1 clove minced garlic

   1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Stir in cucumbers. Chill for 4 hours.

France gifted the United States the Statue of Liberty in 1874 for the hundred year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It represented the alliance that the countries shared in the hard fight to get there. And also I think there was an admiration from the French for the US for having survived and having flourished a hundred years of the “great experiment”.

Here is a quote from the inscribed Statue of Liberty poem:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

These words were meaningful then and my hope is that one day they will be meaningful again!