Fun on the 4th!

We had our 4th of July family gathering over at my sisters house this year and had a great time. We cooked Morning Star hot dogs on the grill accompanied by lots of yummy side dishes. For dessert my mom made a carrot cake and my sister made a deep dish apple pie.

One of the side dishes was a baked bean recipe that we'd never tried before. My mom found the recipe and decided to give it a try. I think everyone liked it. Here's the recipe:

1 48oz jar Randall Great Northern Beans, drained
4 T butter
3 C cubes tart apples, peeled
1/2 C chopped onion
3/4 C Light Brown Sugar
1/2 C Catsup
1 t cinnamon
1 t salt (or to taste)

• Melt butter in a large skillet. Add apples and onion, cook for 10 min or until the apples are tender, stirring occasionally. Add brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Blend in catsup, cinnamon and salt. Place Randall Beans in 2 qt casserole dish.

• Pour apple mixture over the beans and mix well. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 1 hour. Makes 8 servings.

After lunch, we played games and took rides around the property in my dad's new golf cart. The kids went swimming and had great fun throwing water balloons at each other. Some of us grown-ups joined in on the water balloon fight too. My brother in-law commented on how colorful his yard looked after all the water balloons had been thrown. I'll have to admit, it was quite colorful. *smile*

Shortly before it was time to leave for the evening festivities at our local college university, my husband wanted to share with us an article written by Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr. (Father of notable EIB radio host, Rush.) The article was about the writers of the Declaration of Independence and it's entitled: "THE AMERICANS WHO RISKED EVERYTHING" It's an excellent piece-- something I believe everyone, young and old should read.

After our not-so-brief lesson about the Declaration of Independence, we headed off to the University to enjoy some Independence Day music from our local symphony orchestra, the jazz band, the fife and drum corps and a fairly well known professional trumpet player, Patrick Hession. As always, they were excellent and we had a good time.

After the live entertainment we saw the best exhibition of fireworks ever displayed in my lifetime. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to share of the actual fireworks, but will show you some of our other memorable activities of the day.