What a 4th of July week. As usual, I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be... Who ever is though? The day was oppresively hot, so other than a quick trip to the neighborhood pool, we stayed mostly indoors until about 7pm. Our big plan was, of course, to go to the fireworks since they were going to celebrate both July 4th and our town's 250th anniversary. We figured that the already limited parking would be even more limited, so we got there 2 hours early and spent our time at the playground.
We all had a lot of fun... He found the wheel on the playground and spent most of his time playing with that, but I did actually manage to introduce him to the slide. By the third or so time down, he got the hang of it and was pushing himself down and laughing. Only one very small disaster occured when he fell off a step, but thank goodness the wheel was there to help get him through the trauma.
After moving the party to an abandoned tennis court for a round of beachball volleyball with breaks to blow bubbles, read books, and drive cars around the court, we were off to the town green for a picnic of popcorn (microwave popcorn popped and brought from home) and to hand out glowsticks. Is it sad I knew they'd sell the things there but I knew they'd be cheaper at Dollar Tree so I brought my own? For the price of one set of 3 glow bracelets there, I had 15... Everybody was lit up like Christmas which was not only fun, but made keeping track of everyone VERY easy.
Finally, the fireworks started. Considering his almost crippling fear of thunderstorms and lightning and the fact that the fireworks didn't start until 9:30 (well past his bedtime), we held our breath and prepared for the worst... But he watched the whole thing and was completely captivated. He even called out "oooooh" and "wow" and, always one to copy everybody else, he gave us a series of claps and "yay yay YAYs" at the finale. Thank goodness.
After yelling "wwweeeeeeee!" all the way back to the car and falling asleep on the way home, despite the fact that the ride home was only about 10 minutes, he called it a night at about 10:30 and went happily to bed, glowsticks in hand.
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The big culinary hit for lunchtime though had to be the mini-corndogs and mac-and-cheese. They were fun to make and made the house smell like a fair, which I loved. I think he must have had 10 of the things and of course the grownups liked them too.
You could use mini-cocktail dogs to make this, but I just wanted to use what was on-hand so I cut full sized hot dogs into thirds. I also wrapped a few of the hot dogs in a little American cheese for a cheesy corn dog which was quite delish. Along with the mustard, I had little dipping bowls of BBQ sauce, tomato sauce, and salsa for a little variety. And you can wrap the extras and store them in the freezer for up to several months.
Mini Corn Dogs
1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold butter
1 tablespoon shortening
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
8 hot dogs, cut into thirds
Honey Mustard Sauce:
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup prepared mustard
1 tablespoon molasses
In a large bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Cut in butter and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat egg and milk; stir into dry ingredients until a soft dough forms.
Turn onto a lightly floured and cornmealed surface; knead 6-8 times or until smooth. Roll out to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut dough into squares of about 2 inches. Fold each dough circle over a hot dog and press edges to seal (dough will be sticky). Place on greased baking sheets.
Bake at 450° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. In an small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients. Serve with the corn dogs. Yield: 2 dozen.
 |
| Still in love with wheels |
After moving the party to an abandoned tennis court for a round of beachball volleyball with breaks to blow bubbles, read books, and drive cars around the court, we were off to the town green for a picnic of popcorn (microwave popcorn popped and brought from home) and to hand out glowsticks. Is it sad I knew they'd sell the things there but I knew they'd be cheaper at Dollar Tree so I brought my own? For the price of one set of 3 glow bracelets there, I had 15... Everybody was lit up like Christmas which was not only fun, but made keeping track of everyone VERY easy.
 |
| A necklace and one for each foot... |
After yelling "wwweeeeeeee!" all the way back to the car and falling asleep on the way home, despite the fact that the ride home was only about 10 minutes, he called it a night at about 10:30 and went happily to bed, glowsticks in hand.
_______
The big culinary hit for lunchtime though had to be the mini-corndogs and mac-and-cheese. They were fun to make and made the house smell like a fair, which I loved. I think he must have had 10 of the things and of course the grownups liked them too.
You could use mini-cocktail dogs to make this, but I just wanted to use what was on-hand so I cut full sized hot dogs into thirds. I also wrapped a few of the hot dogs in a little American cheese for a cheesy corn dog which was quite delish. Along with the mustard, I had little dipping bowls of BBQ sauce, tomato sauce, and salsa for a little variety. And you can wrap the extras and store them in the freezer for up to several months.
Mini Corn Dogs
1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold butter
1 tablespoon shortening
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
8 hot dogs, cut into thirds
Honey Mustard Sauce:
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup prepared mustard
1 tablespoon molasses
In a large bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Cut in butter and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat egg and milk; stir into dry ingredients until a soft dough forms.
Turn onto a lightly floured and cornmealed surface; knead 6-8 times or until smooth. Roll out to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut dough into squares of about 2 inches. Fold each dough circle over a hot dog and press edges to seal (dough will be sticky). Place on greased baking sheets.
Bake at 450° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. In an small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients. Serve with the corn dogs. Yield: 2 dozen.
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