July Will Soon Be Gone

I'm waving at my oldest granddaughter, Rachael, who just had her birthday on the second of July. We have two more birthdays in the first half of this month one on the seventh, my daughter-in-love, Amy, and her daughter Alyssia. By the end of the month we will have at least two more birthdays.

The date at the top of my post says it's the third of July. We're set for July fourth already. Well, we're looking at it. I need to get 'stuff' prepared, and I'm hopeful that I'll get that done before we're finished with the cook out tomorrow. Quite a few years ago now, I had planned on preparing a jello salad for a Christmas or Thanksgiving holiday, but I hadn't gotten it done and family began to arrive. I mentioned it to my daughter-in-love (Amy) that I had planned on a jello salad. She asked if I was still going to make one. I looked at her incredulous, I have several families coming in the door... "Amy," I said, "it's too late. Sometimes it's just flat too late. No, I'm not making a jello salad."

One year we had our own sweet corn by the fourth of July. It did take a lot of good things happening to accomplish that here in Iowa. We had an early spring that allowed us to plant corn early. I had found a good variety of corn (I think it was Spring Treat, but don't remember if I got it at Twilleys or where. I'm also not sure if they still have it no matter where I found it.) And everything worked together.

Last fall for our number one Jeremy's birthday we had sweet corn. I'm including this because it worked well for us last fall. We picked enough (our own home grown corn) to fill a large plastic picnic cooler with corn. After shucking and washing it we put it in the cooler, poured scalding hot water over the raw ears of corn. (Do this carefully, please, if you try this) close the lid and in 20 to 30 minutes you should be able to pick out and eat the cooked corn.

Some people don't shuck and wash the corn, but we grow our own, we use organic methods, and on occasion there are some creatures in the shucks. I want them out before I cook them. I'll take the few creatures I sometimes get (it does often depend on the year) to the chemicals and whatnot. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

So far tomorrow's menu looks like: brats, chicken, hamburgers, chili dogs, baked potatoes with butter and sour cream, a green salad (of some sort), deviled eggs, buttered corn, buttered rice, hopefully stuffed mushrooms and bacon, several surprise desserts—and that's only the stuff I'm pretty sure of, maybe even a jello salad.

So, as your family, friends, and neighbors come together, remember, freedom isn't free. Say a prayer for our troops no matter where they are, at home or abroad. Say a prayer for their families, and include our country, our president, our leaders, and the good people of this land. Pray that righteousness will prevail, wickedness will be squelched, and sanity will be restored. May God bless us, everyone, and draw us ever nearer to His will. Take care now.