Happy Fourth!

Today we've enjoyed an excellent 4th of July at my parents' house. Barbecued chicken for lunch, grill bratwurst for dinner...Caleb swam in a pool just his size on Grandma's back porch...now we're watching our third fireworks show of the evening on TV. They're pulling out old favorites to perform--Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow and Neil Diamond. Sadly, Barry Manilow is the only one of the three who can still sing! That was a bit of a shocker. Other than that small disappointment it's been a great day!

Oh, except for the wasp who attacked me. I got my first wasp sting ever. And then two more, just to make up for lost time I suppose. Jon tells me that if I weren't jumping up and down and screaming like a banshee then maybe the wasp wouldn't have kept stinging, but I'm not sure about that! We tried a few home remedies: ice first, then an onion slice, then back to the ice, then some pennies taped on the stings. Add some Benadryl spray, Neosporin and an antihistamine and voila! I'm in pretty good shape. :) Don't ask me what helped the most!

Hope everyone had a great 4th as well! We don't realize how blessed we are to live in this free country!

Easter Lunch

Orange-Dijon Pork Loin
Crunchy Onion Potato Bake
Broccoli Casserole
Homemade bread
Lemonade with Strawberries
Chocolate Mousse

Anyone want to join us?

Since I linked to everything but a couple, here are the recipes for those. The bread is just a box mix thrown into the bread machine. And the Broccoli Casserole....

Ingredients:
1 package chopped broccoli, cooked and drained
2 tubes Ritz Crackers, crushed
1 pound Velveeta
1 stick butter

Layer half of the broccoli, half of the cheese (thinly sliced), crackers, and butter (sliced). Then layer with the rest of the broccoli, cheese, crackers and butter. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

My mom was the first to make the pork loin. I've made it once, too, and it's delicious. My sister-in-law made the potato bake at Thanksgiving last year (Jon and I enjoyed it at the hospital!). The broccoli is my mother-in-law's recipe, the strawberry lemonade is really Red Robin speckled lemonade, and the mousse is courtesy of Jason's Deli.

My brother-in-law is joining us for lunch, so it's just three so far, if you want to come by!