Our village’s 4th of July celebrations got pushed out a few times due to rain. 3rd time lucky.
We finally saw the fireworks at the local lake (ponds) with several hundred neighbors and friends.
The village does a great job setting up street vendors, food trucks, a stage with live music, and plenty of open space to get an excellent sky view.
The fireworks lasted for approx. 25 minutes. Once it was completed, we started to feel the rain coming, so people hurried home.
We finished the evening around our firepit with a few adult beverages. My favorite part of our house is sitting around the fire and sipping drinks while listening to music on the trusted Demerbox.
Extended Family Gathering
I have come to the realization that I’m getting old. It was reinforced when our oldest daughter wanted to introduce us to her boyfriend, whom she met at college.
A simple dinner meeting was fine, but we were asked to host him for 5 days at the house.
I’m unsure how I felt about that, especially as we are somewhat old-school regarding relationships. One thing was for sure; they were not sleeping in the same room. He got the attic, and she shared a bedroom with our youngest.
The introduction started with meeting him and his family at a restaurant. We could easily depart if we did not get along or had awkward moments of silence.
In honesty, the parents were cool and our age, and they had two other kids too. Our families were very alike, and we had similar views on life and raising our kids.
The boyfriend drove home with us, and we spent the next few days getting to know him and invited him to see Chris Stapleton, Indiana Jones 5, and share some embarrassing pictures of our oldest daughter.
He returned to Florida Tuesday evening, leaving our daughter in a flood of tears, and we should probably have bought a few tubs of ice cream to ease the pain.
The girls (wife and daughters) are heading to Philly Thursday evening to see Lauren Daigle. It’ll be an awesome gig, although it is a two-hour drive each way.
The boys will stay home, eat sushi, and watch Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Waterworld
On Sunday, the heavens opened, and we were convinced God had started the second fold. Rain was coming down in sheets. Flash flood alerts started to pop up on our mobile phones, but since we live on a small mountain, all the water just rushed past our house.
However, the county and neighboring counties were hit with flash floods, rivers rising quickly, lakes reclaiming shorelines, and roads being washed away. A car got stuck, some submerged, and some villages lost access to the outside world.
West Point, our amazing Army complex, turned into a naval academy.
It was a tragic sight and experience, with many homes being destroyed and a loss of life due to drowning.
The roads over the mountain, the road I normally go for work, were destroyed in some places and closed until further notice. It is impacting a lot of commuters.
We are thankfully safe, and so are our friends and their families.
Food, Glorious BBQ
My daughter clearly wanted to impress her and asked me to cook some of her favorite BBQ dishes; pork belly burnt ends, jalapeno poppers, homemade fried calamari, cornbread, queso, and some healthy salad to supplement the massive protein and fat intake.
While he stayed with us, we indulged in Vietnamese food (eating out) and BBQ galore, and then I introduced him to meal planning. I did not invite him to cook with me, but he saw how I cooked Sunday morning to prepare for the coming week.
As usual, I fired up the Traeger and smoked two pork loins. One stuffed and tied with ricotta cheese, parsley, and peaches. The other was “just” wrapped with plenty of bacon – low-sodium bacon, of course.
I used the kitchen oven to bake the ricotta chicken meatballs while I made the Alfredo sauce on the stove. Afterward, I made the roasted pepper sauce and will grill the salmon when we need to eat it. I prefer to cook fish on the day of the meal.
I’m making simple lunches as our kids attend camp and extended school programs. They need some finger food and nothing that may require forks. Eating soup, pasta, and salads while sitting on the grass is not easy.
Sometimes it is ok to use premade dough, so I made some giant pigs in blankets using canned pizza dough. It was divided into eight, matching the sausage pack I grilled on a pan with some nice BBQ rubs.
At the end of the week, I’ll make a batch of homemade mac n cheese. Always a winner.
Broth vs. Stock
The main difference between broth and stock is that stock is made from bones, and broth is made from meat. I combine the two to add flavor to my creation and skip the vegetables.
Instead, I smoked beef tail and some femur bones on the Traeger for 3 hours at low heat. I sprinkled some sweet BBQ rubs over the bones to add extra flavor.
Once ready, I placed the bones and tail in a large stock pot, covered the mixture with water, and let it simmer for 48 hours.
I let it cool off, then strain it slowly. The dogs get the large bones and the meat pieces.
A thin layer of fat will slowly form on the liquid, which is tallow. I will carefully remove the tallow, heat it and strain it several times (rendering) until I have a clean one.
The same goes for the liquid, which I will strain several times to get it clear.
We use broth to drink hot and will add some spices like ginger. The tallow is for cooking instead of butter.
Meal Plan
| Lunch | Dinner | |
| Monday | Fend for yourself Lunch (school and camp canceled due to flooding) | Two Stuffed Pork Loins, ricotta & peach, and bacon wrapped with rice |
| Tuesday | Grilled Cheese Slider and PBJ Slider | Chicken Ricotta Meatballs in Alfredo Sauce with Rice |
| Wednesday | Turkey, lettuce, and tomato wraps | Salmon in Roasted Pepper Sauce with Grilled Potatoes |
| Thursday | Fancy & Giant Pigs in a Blanket | Lauren Daigle Dinner |
| Friday | Homemade Mac n Cheese | Fried Chicken Sandwich |
One day, I might get so organized that I will link the meals below to my recipes. We can only live in hope!
Have a fantastic week, my friends. I hope you enjoy these meal plans. It is much easier to make food in advance, although you must invest several hours preparing meals during the weekend.
Stay in touch with me through social media!
The Viking Heart Within 