Happy 4th of July, my friends! Today marks the 235th anniversary of our nation's freedom, and reminds us as we look around how lucky we are to be Americans. It is also on this day that the holiest of summertime culinary traditions are observed from sea to shining sea in backyards across this great nation. For every American family, those culinary traditions are different, but they typically have one thing in common: The Grillmaster.
In addition to that apron-wearing, beer-drinking, tongs-weilding juggernaut at the helm of the grill, we also delve into the types of age-old questions posed at such culinary gatherings. Gas or charcoal? Mesquite or Hickory? Kansas City or Carolina? Pork ribs or beef? You picking up what I'm putting down, friends? That's right; for every backyard gathering from Alaska to the deep South, there's that one special family recipe that's better than the neighbor's, better than Uncle John's, and better than any cheap restaurant imitation. It's those special family traditions that bring us back to childhood, and remind us of where we came from and why those traditions are worth continuing.
In my humble opinion, the 4th of July brings out the best of backyard Americana. Aside from Super Bowl Sunday (which is another blog all its own, trust me), I would submit that you'll not find better culinary offerings from any comparable gathering. In fact, the 4th of July is one of what I like to call the Five Food Seasons. It's just my way of dividing up the year into the types of home-cooking that I love best, and that I look forward at certain times of the year. You've already gotten one blog about one of them, but here's my list: Super Bowl Sunday, St. Patrick's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Now, for my Jewish friends out there, I will also note Hannukah as a notable culinary holiday, but as I have little to no experience with Jewish food beyond Matzo Ball soup and Latke, I don't know enough about it to look forward to the food each year. Of course, I'm ALWAYS open to recipe ideas and new food adventures, so if any of you have any good Jewish recipes, I'd love to try them!
Now, this is the first installment of my blog where I'm not going to dole out a recipe of my own, but I have a good reason for that, which is the main reason I've written you all today. I've started up a new email address so that we can more easily share food, wine, and receipe conversations without having to comment directly on the blog. I would love to hear from you, and would also welcome the comments of any of your friends and family who would like to chime in. As always, all are welcome, and I would be happy to post your comments. And if you have recipes of your own to share, it's easier for me to give credit where credit is due. Photos of your food are always welcome, as are any glamour shots of the chef :)
My new email address for the blog is: fearnotyourkitchen@gmail.com
And with that, my friends, I will bid you adieu for this short but sweet installment. Shoot me a line on my email address, and feel free to share this with your friends. Since we're talking about backyard grilling adventures, let's have a discussion about some of the things I touched on earlier: pork or beef ribs, BBQ sauce, smoking techniques, etc. Share some of your grilling stories and favorite tricks, and maybe we can get a good discussion going.
Happy 4th of July, friends! I hope yours was full of family, friends, fun, and as always, good food. See you next time!
~Aaron
