The June semester is over, my roommate and I are finally in
the new apartment and we are mostly unpacked. My kitchen gadgetry is put away
and I can finally enjoy the stainless steel appliances and granite countertops
that enticed me to the apartment in the first place. With the Fourth of July
falling on a Saturday, everyone got Friday off. The three day weekend was a
welcomed retreat from the super-packed June I had, largely accounting for the
lack of blog posting recently.
As my weekends usually do, some friends and I stopped in at
Pig’s Eye for happy hour. Unfortunately, because of the holiday, the bar was
dead and there was no food like usual. Oh well, quick plan change, we are going
to get pizza toppings and cook pizza at home (I balked at the idea of ordering
cheap pizza). After we all arrived at the apartment, we did the first logical
thing for a three day weekend, celebratory shot. Dough was flung about the
kitchen as we topped three pizzas with variations on pineapple, ham, bacon,
sausage, and extra cheese. The pies came out thin and crispy, largely thanks to
a perforated pizza pan the host had. The rest of the night was full of
inebriated debauchery, and yes, we all crashed there. I created a mixed drink
of pineapple vodka, watermelon pucker, limeade, lemon juice and a splash of white
rum. I didn’t have the presence of mind to name it at the time, but in retrospect,
I think I will call it a Pimermelon Splash.
With the crazy Friday night, Saturday was more relaxed. We
hit the grocery store to pick up the fixings for grilling. I’m a bit of a snob
when it comes to buns on hamburgers and hot dogs. I will readily eat them
bun-less if the bread isn’t something worth eating on its own. Unfortunately,
we were non-plussed by the bun selection, so we ate them with knife and fork.
The charcoal grill was in full swing by the time I added Worcestershire sauce,
soy, liquid smoke, steak seasonings, and freshly chopped onion and garlic to
the beef, formed patties, and stuffed them with sharp cheddar and blue cheese.
Those went on the grill as I shredded green and purple cabbage with carrot, and
added plain Greek yogurt, lemon, salt and pepper, ginger, white balsamic
vinegar, diced apple, dried cranberries and golden raisins, and chopped almonds
to a big mixing bowl for the slaw. I tend to stray away from pre-made coleslaw
dressings as they are usually full of oils and high fructose corn syrup. We
cheated a bit with the corn though. Did you know you can steam corn in the husk
in the microwave? We did, peeled back the husk, and ringed the burgers in cobs
of corn to give them just a little smokey flavor and a touch of char. Burgers
came off medium rare and juicy and we ate on my new back patio.
Dessert was strawberry cake. A recipe a gleaned and modified
from my mother, it uses a box of yellow cake mix as a base, and builds on it
with sliced frozen and thawed strawberries, jello, and a topped with a glaze of
butter, powdered sugar, and more strawberries, which is poured over the
perforated cake as it is still warm. The cake is set to cool, but is served
re-warmed with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Very moist, not too sweet, perfect
for summer.
After the meal, we hopped in the car to find fireworks, the
charcoal smoke still lingering on my shirt wafted to my nose, but it was now
accompanied by the heady aroma of fireworks as well. Couldn’t ask for a better Independence
Day.
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