Last Sunday, I was so excited to have our very first family Fourth of July celebration. I haven’t been to a family July Fourth celebration since 1976. My parents decided to host a Fourth of July bicentennial picnic that year.
I was ten years old and was so excited to have so many people come to our house in Iselin, NJ. A lot of my mom & dad’s close friends and their children came. A few of my dad’s cousins and their families and my grandmothers Nana & Mema were there.
Whenever I think of the Fourth of July as a kid, I remember my dad always made cream cheese pinwheel sandwiches. These pinwheel sandwiches were popular in the 70s. You flattened down slices of bread with a rolling pin. Then a meat or cream cheese is spread on the bread, and it is rolled up like a pinwheel. The pinwheel sandwich is wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and put into the freezer. Later it is taken out of the freezer, unwrapped, and sliced into slices.
My dad’s 4th of July pinwheel sandwiches consisted of white bread, cream cheese dyed blue, and maraschino cherries. Red, white and blue. I loved these so much, probably because I love maraschino cherries.
We had an above-the-ground pool which I was in every day in the summer. I ended up with swimmer’s ear at least once a summer; ouch, I still remember how painful those were. Who would have known that it took me until I was an adult to learn to put a solution of 50% alcohol and 50% peroxide in both ears when done swimming. You can literally feel the water run out of your ears after tipping your head over, fill the ears with the solution, let it sit in there for a minute, and voila! No more swimmers ear. I also heard you can only get swimmer’s ear from pool water.
All the kids were in the pool all day and looked like drowned rats with pruned fingers and toes. Our parents had to beg us to get out to eat and, what was worse, not go back into the pool for 30 minutes after we ate. I hated having to wait and thought it was a bunch of bullshit.
The park in our town, Merrill Park, held a fireworks display on the Fourth of July. My Uncle Chet, not a real uncle, but my Godfather owned a tire shop called “Chet’s tire shop.” The tire shop was literally just on the other side of the busy Northeast corridor Amtrack railroad tracks across Merrill Park.
When it got dark, we all walked to Uncle Chet’s place, which was only a few blocks from where we lived. I remember us kids lying on our backs watching the fireworks. This is probably one of the best summer memories I have. It was magical and historical celebrating America’s 200th birthday.
When we got back to our house, everyone jumped into the pool at 10 pm! I remember some adults were drunk off their asses, and everyone had a great time. I slept like a baby that night. It’s a good thing I got a good night’s sleep since there was a lot of cleaning up to do the next day.
So back to this year…an unfortunate situation came up mid-week, and we had to cancel my sister’s visit. I was so excited to not only spend time with her but really get to know my niece and nephew better since I had only seen them one time in 2019. Jennifer and I have only been biological sisters since April 2019, when she found me on Ancestry.com.
We had fun outdoor activities planned for the kids; our cookout menu was solid with classic cookout favorites. We were going to decorate a flag cake for dessert. Sparklers for the kids, a campfire, s’mores, and camping out in our house. Shit! Jen and I were both so disappointed. Hopefully, we can make this happen still this summer.
At least the shitty-ass weather makes me think it’s ok they didn’t come, and we can reschedule, and the weather will be perfect for tubing down the Battenkill and all of the above. There are a lot of people’s schedules that have to align like the stars for this to happen.
Today our Fourth of July celebration will be just like always. Just like most holidays, actually. We never get to celebrate with our family members. It used to really make me depressed and sad, but now living on the journey, I realize that is the way it is. We can still enjoy a cookout and celebrate without family.
Boil eggs with potatoes to save time and dishes. 
Ingredients 
Best gadget ever 
Ingredients layered on top of each other. 
Everything mixed well. 
No decorative top today, just paprika. 
For better mixing, always mix mayo ingredients separately, then fold veggies in.
We are still planning a classic cookout. There’s nothing fancy, no new jazzy recipes, just the shit I grew up eating at picnics in NJ. Burgers, hotdogs, watermelon, corn on the cob, potato salad, and beans. I think it may just be a Jersey thing since the only people I know are from NJ who eat their potato salad and beans as we do. We put a scoop of beans onto the potato salad and eat both together. Before you say yuck, think chocolate-covered pretzel or salted caramel. The blend and balance of sweet and savory are perfect! Trust me on this one.
My father and my Uncle George (one of my dad’s best friends) called me Beans or Beansie. Not only did I love beans, but I’ve been making my own version since I am a kid. I guess my palate knew what it was doing and what I liked early on, I made the beans that my parents took to other people’s picnics, and I always made them for us. Hotdog buttons and beans are still one of my most favorite dishes ever! Hotdogs are cut into “buttons” and beans; the rest of the world calls it franks and beans. I still make it for lunches. Mmmm!
I say a half-assed cookout because while all the flavors are the same, everything is as basic as it can get. The potato salad that I make is the same recipe my grandmother used. One day my mother ate my potato salad and said, “Oh, your potato salad tastes just like Nana’s.” It does; it also tastes just like Mema’s. How do I do it? I used the same recipe they did; I use the classic original Hellman’s potato salad recipe. This is one of the only recipes I don’t make my own. It’s perfect just the way it is, and since my grandmother’s made the same kind, it has a special place in my heart and taste buds.
Today the only thing that I topped the potato salad with was just a sprinkle of paprika. I always decorate the top with hard-boiled egg and green pepper slices. The egg slices go in the center of the bell pepper rings. It’s just us today, so I didn’t bother.
My baked beans are usually…baked. Today, I just added some ketchup, mustard and maple syrup. The baked version has brown sugar, bacon and onion wedges. I’ve made “real” baked beans, they were good but not worth all the time and work. I actually liked my version just using canned beans. I told you I am not a food snob, everything doesn’t have to be over the top, just delicious. I don’t know one person who doesn’t like my beans and no one accuses me of cheating and not soaking my own beans.
Our corn on the cob I will try what a friend of ours from the Troy market does. He removes the silks of the corn but keeps the husks in tack. Then he soaks them as I do and grills. Soaking them helps the corn steam on the grill in the husks, and the husks give the corn a lovely flavor. We stopped grilling the corn because removing the silks and husks at the table is a mess; I’m eager to try this new way.
We are having our cookout earlier in the day; we were invited to our friend Martin’s for dinner later tonight. Wine, good food, and friends sound like a perfect way to end our July Fourth celebration.
I wish you all a happy Fourth of July. Independence Day is America’s birthday, but it’s a born-again celebration for America this year. Last year during the pandemic, no one could get together, celebrate with family or friends, and many were mourning the loss of loved ones who didn’t survive Covid. This year, we can celebrate again.
Screw the rain, hug your loved ones, party your asses off, cook some great food, have fun, don’t blow your fingers off with fireworks. Say thank you to our Founding Fathers for this great land we live in. I love American history, especially the Revolutionary war era. The masterpiece “Hamilton” solidified my love of that time period. I count myself lucky for our freedom, our country, and to be a citizen here. God bless America! 🇺🇸