The first part of our 4th of July, as I discussed in a previous post, involved a hike to Annette Lake in the Snoqualmie area. We got home around 3 and, after a shower, I settled down for a little nap.  What a luxury!  I stumbled downstairs a little before 5 and wandered around the yard watering plants whilst sipping a gin and lemonade.  Shortly thereafter the husband joined me on the patio for a glass of homemade sangria.  There was no rush to fix dinner, I had prepped all of the food before we left for Seattle on the 3rd.  On the menu:  grilled baby back ribs, broccoli salad, non-traditional potato salad, sangria and Tillamook salted butterscotch ice cream.

The ribs came to us by way of Stewart’s Meats, a local meat market that sells high-quality (read:  amazing) meat.

The broccoli salad was the traditional style:  broccoli, red onion, shredded cheese, cooked and crumbled turkey bacon and a dressing of light mayonnaise, nonfat plain greek yogurt, white wine vinegar and sugar.  I used the dressing from this recipe, though I used only 2 tblsp of sugar.  The rest of the ingredients I just tossed together in the quantities I desired.

The potato salad was an Avocado Potato Salad recipe that I adapted slightly from that posted on foodgraciousness.com.  I used arugula instead of watercress, totally forgot to buy fennel, and couldn’t find lemon thyme.  The result was still absolutely delicious and will be a salad that I will make again.

Let’s talk sangria.  My sangria recipe is well-used and well-loved.  I think I may have adapted it from an Emeril recipe, but I’m not quite sure.  Actually, this is the first time I made a single batch.  I usually make it when we’re expecting company and double or triple it.  I’ve drank many a glass of sangria, but this is the recipe I return to.  Instead of using triple sec and brandy I simply use orange brandy.  I also don’t cut my sangria with anything. That makes it dangerous due to its potency, but why cut it with club soda?  That wouldn’t be any fun.  I always soak lemon and orange in this delightfully boozy wine-punch, and in the summer time I also like to include stone fruit.  This batch included a peach.  I’ve also used plum and nectarine.

And, finally, dessert.  I was initially going to make something, then was considering ice cream sundaes.  When I was perusing the ice cream selection my eyes zeroed in on Tillamook’s Salted Butterscotch.  I may have whimpered in the frozen food aisle.  The search was over.  It was a decision I did not regret.  Creamy, butterscotchy with a little salt.  I think I hear it singing to me from the freezer.

I grilled the ribs, tossed the salads together and we sat down to a leisurely meal on the back patio.  The weather was warm, the sangria tasty, the company good.  Our entertainment?  The hummingbirds at the feeder.

After dinner we contemplated next steps.  As we drove across Lake Washington on I-90 on the 3rd the moon was a spectacular thing.  I suggested that we hop in the car and drive out to Boston Harbor in hopes of catching the moon in our own neck of the woods.  I slung the camera bag over my shoulder and off we went.

No moon.  At least, not that we could see.  However, we were treated to quite the fireworks show from multiple locations. We leaned on the railing of the dock and chatted, watching the sky darken and the fireworks flicker over the water.

We tired before the fireworks ended.  Crawled into bed about 11:30 and slept soundly.  A good holiday.