Mornin'! I've made a quick scoot through many of the other blogs this morning. There's been talk of favorite patriots, freedom, thankfulness for our founding fathers, poetry about liberty, etc. It's inspiring, really. But here you'll get none of that. But if you hang in there, you will get a Really Good Recipe at the end.

We basically had a relaxed, chilled out Independence Day. We stayed home and had several friends over for good food and company. The kids got to swim a great deal, and Peyton and her friend Anna Grace had a grand time decorating our flag cake with blueberries and strawberries. It was basically a day of enjoying one another and we loved every minute of it. For accompaniment on our lazy day we had Bud on guitar and banjo. Many of our activities were punctuated with Peyton's "One, Two, Three - Happy Birthday America!"

We cooked out on The Grill, of course. Our menu included hummus with pita bread, clam dip and potato chips (my all-time favorite dip), a great tomato salad I had in Boston last week and had to try, shrimp skewers, and steak.

Leanne, my darling friend and neighbor, made homemade ice cream. Chocolate mint. It was to die for! And of course we had the flag cake, which was very average, but also very cute (I quickly grabbed a white cake recipe off Allrecipes and it just wasn't as good as it could have been).

When we finished eating we walked over to a nearby golf course where we had a view of fireworks shows from THREE directions! We spread out our blankets and watched the rockets' red glare while the kids danced around on the greens with sparklers. Then we dragged ourselves home, threw the kids in the pool to get the bugspray off, and went to sleep. A great day!

And now for your recipe. When I make shrimp, they are usually boiled, chilled, and served with very hot cocktail sauce and lemon. But, with The Grill now a member of the family, I thought it only fair to share the fruit of the sea with him.

Shrimp Skewers (This is from the Sunset magazine I stole off my neighbor's coffee table while I was taking care of their dog. I returned the magazine, so this is from memory and may not be exact, but it's very close.)

2-3 lbs of shrimp, shelled and rinsed
3 T kosher salt
3 T sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3-4 minced garlic cloves
1 1/2 T lemon peel

1. Cure the shrimp. (I've never done this before, and it made them DELICIOUS.) Put the shrimp in a bowl and mix with sugar and salt. Refrigerate for 45 minutes. Then rinse the shrimp and the bowl, and return shrimp to bowl.

2. Mix remaining ingredients with the shrimp. Place the shrimp on the skewers in a C shape, so that the skewer pierces each shrimp twice. If you are using wooden skewers, be sure to soak them very well so they won't catch fire on the grill. You can prepare to this point the day before if you need to, and just cover the skewers and refrigerate until you're ready to grill.

3. Place the skewers on a very hot grill and close cover. Turn skewers in about 2-3 minutes. Shrimp are done when they are pink and opaque. Don't overcook them or they'll be tough.

Enjoy!