Those of you that know me know that the 4th of July isn’t just another holiday in my house.
It’s a day that conjures up a younger Katie – a Katie from the early 90’s, to be exact.
When I was in 7th grade, my history teacher showed our class a 1984 miniseries on the life of George Washington. Long story short, I became intensely interested in our first president, his home at Mount Vernon and the era of the American Revolution. I was a huge nerd.
Case in point, my high school graduation gift was going to Mount Vernon to see the reenactment of Washington’s funeral on the bicentennial of that event. I got two free tickets because I’d been donating to the organization since the age of 13.
I’m really outing myself here…
Anyway, although I no longer watch my old George Washington VHS tapes every month or so (it’s only 8 hours!), July 4 is something I like to make a big deal out of. We invite some friends over, eat food, drink Reds (vodka and red soda), Whites (vodka and clear soda) and Blues (blue Curacao and clear soda) and hang out in the kiddie pool. We decorate with red and blue crepe paper and I set out my old American history books and the clay Mount Rushmore my sister made me when she was about 9. One year we even held a raffle and gave away drawings my husband and I did of Ben Franklin and screaming eagles.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday, and in the event that you’re not a resident of the United States, a lovely Wednesday.
P.S. – the drink recipes qualify this as a scheduled Wednesday recipe post.