July Monthly Goal (I Get Excited About All-Things July 4th)

 I'm not much of a summer person but July
does give me something to get excited about:
patriotism, decorations, food, explosions.
It's all there on the 4th!


Just a heads-up:  this is a long post with a whole
round-up of inspiration for the upcoming holiday.
For those visiting from Elm Street Quilts' link-up,
my OMGoal is at the end but I'd love for you to
hang out a bit and maybe share some of your
own July 4th faves if you have the time!


I love Revolutionary War history!
The HBO mini-series "John Adams" is one of my
favorites and I watch it almost every summer
The book John Adams (McCullough) is very
long but very good--worth the time.  (For
history, you can't go wrong with McCullough.)

I know I've mentioned this before but several years
ago on a trip to Boston where we took in all the
historical sites, we slipped down to Quincy, MA
for the day and visited John and Abigail's
homes, most notably, Peacefield:


Oh the history!  I was in heaven.  SO much to see!
 If you've seen the mini-series, you'll recognize this
home, though it was later that his son John Quincy
who finished the library to the left there and there
are more trees and flowers all around.  
This is my kinda place.

"The Patriot" (Mel Gibson) is another goodie.
There is also the series "Turn" which I think is still on
Netflix.  We dropped Netflix quite a while ago so I
couldn’t say but I should get my hands on the dvd.
I recently surprised hubs with the book
that it's based on--he was verrah happy with that.
(Washington's Spies by Alexander Rose)

Gettysburg ('93) and Gods and Generals ('03) are
both good ones, based on the Shaara novels.
Michael (father) and Jeff (son) Shaara books
make great gifts for the men in your lives but if
you are into history at all, you will enjoy them
almost as much.  Hubs has every single one;
I've read two now so lots to go.  You can find
them on audio, too, btw.


Two years ago we visited Philadelphia
where we caught more of our country's
revolutionary history. 


This must be done in the fall, btw!



I keep some pics on my phone to use as wallpaper.


I love the red, white and blue decor!


I just don't have enough of it so I'm trying to make
 at least one new thing every year but, just like a
FQ bundle greatly trumps a single fat quarter,
making five new things would be better.


I should work on that.


I love fireworks.  I can be a real piro, and it just
isn't a real party without my Saturn missiles!
If you're into mortars, you can't beat Excalibur
and the Never-Ending Fountain is a whole lot of
spark for your buck.  A few tips from a piro!
I've already made my trip to the tent and
I'm ready to go.

And the food.  Oh my goodness.  Holidays are the
time to forget the diet.  FOR-GET it!  But you also
don't want to spend the whole time in the kitchen.
There is nothing wrong with good ol' hotdogs!
Around here, it's Chicago-style dogs, and we
take 'em seriously.   And Mexican Street Corn
(elote); if you don't want the mess of cobs, here's
 a fantastic Mexican Street Corn Dip that can be
made up ahead of time and kept in the fridge
till it's time to bake--even easier, use a disposable
foil pan.  And for the hubs, I make a blueberry pie
with lattice top.  Every. Single. Fourth.

With the 4th on a Sunday, we'll be celebrating
all weekend around here.  We're a whole family of
foodies so we love foodie-movies like Ratatouille,
The Hundred Foot Journey, No Reservations and
Chef.   Appalling language aside, Chef inspired
us to try out the Cubanos (yes, his actual recipe).
For this killer sandwich, I guess you could go buy
bread <insert food-snob snort here> but we're
aiming for authenticity and just where can you find
Cuban bread smack in the middle of Kansas anyway?
Trust me, this Medianoche Bread is easy-peasy.
You can even make it the day before.
Don't think about the calories; remember, this is
 the only holiday of the summer and all diets are OFF.
Speaking of OFF, make sure that's on your grocery
list--the mosquitos, you know.
Also put lard on the list because you'll want to use
that and not the optional shortening in this recipe.
Shooting for AWE-THIN-TISS-I-TEE!


To finish OFF this meal, I've chosen to make
There's no describing this one.  Beyond words.
 It's one of the top  5  8  10 best things I make.
(Gosh darn it, I have a LOT in my cooking
repertoire so it's really hard to pick a "Top" list!)
I know I just said not to spend the whole day in
the kitchen so I just pick and choose my
showstoppers (preferably all make-aheads!)
and the rest could be bagged chips for all I care.
But, everyone likes to bring their own
show-stoppers so we end up with quite the feast. 
(It's a proud mother that I am!)
Anyway, this thing will bring you to your knees.
I'll drop my mic there.


One other little thing that has nothing to do
with this holiday but it does occur at the same
time:  pumpkin and gourd planting.


I was up bright and early this morning putting
in five varieties of gourds (a few multis) and five
varieties of pumpkins.   I looooove them all. 
This day always means fall is on the way!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Apparently I felt the need to share ALL of my
July goals but I'll now wrap this up with the goal this
post is supposed to be about:  something quilty.

 Here she is, my patient patriotic persons:
My July Goal


To finish both of these Positivity quilt tops!


Well, I guess it doesn't seem all that awesome of
a goal since one top is already done and the other
isn't that far behind so let's add in quilt them!
There.  That should make me an overachiever.
I'll leave off completely finishing, binding and all,
but don't be surprised if I do.  Gotta leave myself
open for squirrels and such.

Now go out there and blow something up!
(If you're lucky enough to be where you're
free to do that.  If not...I'm so sorry!)

Happy Quilting!
Linking up to Elm Street Quilts
One Monthly Goal

Comments

piecefulwendy said…
Well, I'd say you are geared up and ready to go for the weekend. It will be a quiet one around here. I'll be recovering from today's dental fun, and I don't know what the rest of the fam is going to be doing. Enjoy your weekend!
Pretty Positivity quilts, have fun quilting them!
Julierose said…
What a fantastic upbeat posting!!;)) thank you;)))
I do love your positivity quilts--I like them both--when they're done--ummm just wrap em up and send them here hahaha!!

That is on my list to make but only AFTER I do my stash re-org and finishing all those poor quilt babies hanging in my spare room closet..I really do have to FORCE myself to finish up!! (Can I hold out that long???) I love making blocks and quilting them--but the finishing not so much...
I hope your 4th of July celebration is wonder--full hugs, Julierose
Needled Mom said…
I love your enthusiasm for celebrating our great country. Unfortunately, we cannot light the world up here, but I’ll imagine myself there as you do it. Your Positivity quilts look fabulous.
Home Sewn By Us said…
Hi Cheree! Happy Happy 4th of July to you and your peeps! Your historical visits look and sound like fun. {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne
Joyful Quilter said…
Hate to ask, are you on another caffeine high? hehehe Thanks for all the recommended reads. Have a great 4th! I'm looking forward to all your July finishes (want a few of mine?).
Linda said…
What an absolutely delightful post! Loved every word. We are planning to watch Saving Private Ryan this weekend. Our little town doesn't allow fireworks and we are too far from the "big" town to see them, so we'll miss that part. Going to check out all the yummy sounding recipes!
Kate said…
You definitely have the party 'tude for the 4th. Sounds like a totally excellent bash. Good luck with your very holiday appropriate July goals.
Loved your 4th of July post, Cheree! We are meeting up with my hubby's Navy group in Boston next May, so I just put Peacefield on my list. We love places like that! Love your 4th of July quilty things, too. Have a great weekend!
Ratatouille is fun and I love No Reservations. I haven't heard of the other 2 movies.