I hosted a July 4 party this year, my first ever. This has always been my brother Perry’s holiday, but he returned from vacation the night before this year and so didn’t have time to put on his usual grilling, explosive-laden extravaganza . I’m guessing he’ll reclaim the day next year, but I’m so happy with how things went that I think I’ll just lay claim to Labor Day.
Getting ready for this made getting ready for Passover look like a picnic, mainly because my yard had suffered from 3 years of neglect. I had two planting beds to weed and mulch, a stone border to dismantle, a stone wall to hew down, a pile of mulch to relocate, a pile of dirt (deck construction debris) to get rid of, a leaf/compost pile in the back of the yard to tidy up, and an old concrete platform to bust up. Matt had to help with the last of the wall and Matt and his brother moved about half of the stones, but I did all the rest except for the platform. And I have isolated spots of poison ivy, a thumb that went into spasm for two days, and a spade injury on my left leg to prove it. I’ve also got a respectable yard and a pound of new muscle mass, so I’m feeling triumphant! And the party was grand.
Here’s Simon, the day before, “helping” Matt move stones to the back of the yard.
Simon is a big help.
The next day, the party got started with badminton and corn toss. To my delight, everyone headed straight to the back yard and started playing.
Getting the Party Started
Two platters of chilaquiles, heaping amounts of side dishes, a pitcher of sangria, and four pitchers of lemonade later, the party looked like this:
That’s Simon getting soaked with cousins Liv and Maddie. The next day, I would do three loads of wet clothes and towels, and then invite friends over to play more corn toss, throw back a second pitcher of sangria, and kill all the leftovers.
Isn’t summer the best?
Yep, summer is the best!
What did you grill?