4th of July Celebration, 2014 edition: Vintage 1970s

I don’t do rants about politics; I prefer to channel my energy into celebrating what’s right about America, and there is nothing more right about the USA than the 4^th of July. To make sure one 4^th of July doesn’t just blend into another, we’ve begun the theme them. It started simply enough – two years ago as an idea to have a hot dog bar with hot dogs from across the country. That was fun and led to the 13 original colonies theme last year complete with choreographed and narrated fireworks presentation. It’s starting to feel like we’re hitting our groove and we’re excited to share our research and plans for this year’s event. We can’t wait to see friends and neighbors!

ABOUT THIS YEAR’S THEME:

Hallmarks of the Vintage 1970's 4th of July picnic

·         Convenience - era of easy foods, portable coolers and appliances, and anything plastic

·         Affordability - rationing and a deep recession sparked creativity with limited resources

·         Classic America - fear of a changing world drove some to cling tightly to comfort foods and traditions as did the bi-centennial celebration in 1976

·         With new twists driven by the times - others were ready to explore new tastes and try new things

POINT OF CLARIFICATION: Vintage 1970s is NOT a white trash party; white trash is timeless and unseemly. Rather think of Midwestern and Plains people gathering in small towns in 1978.

TIME: Come any time after Noon to hang out, but don’t expect anything organized until 3 or 4 with food ready around 5 PM.

DRESS: It’s vintage 1970s so bonus points for those that come dressed accordingly

ACTIVITIES: Lawn games for adults. Trampoline, games and activities for the little ones.

FIREWORKS: If you’d like to participate in the small but very impressive fireworks display by providing cash and/or planning, please contact the Entertainment team – Drew Bateman and Andy Armbruster, co-chairs. I believe there is a trip to Davey Fireworks Emporium scheduled that day. We will have a view of fireworks from across the neighborhood and city that night so bring a lawn chair or blanket for viewing.

MENU: This year’s menu has required extensive research, so please review carefully and appreciate the thought behind the selections. Otherwise you might show up and think you accidentally drive to your parents’ house for the 4^th.  Assignments for meal components are listed. Plan for up to 20 people for each item.

Drinks

• Classic 70s beers, especially regional – everyone bring your own, as desired
• Punch (alcoholic) made with KoolAid (“The KoolAid punches were often served at weddings and showers, as the many, many flavors allowed people to create the perfect color to match their wedding color.  However, when light blue became the ‘in’ color, those of us who chose it were told we needed to know that our punch would not match, as you just can't make baby blue punch.” - see reference 4) – Kerners
• Peach daiquiris (the blender was a new appliance, so grasshoppers were big, as were daiquiris, as per reference 4) - Andy  
• Country Time lemonade for the kids and when you don’t want alcohol (introduced in 1975) - Carrie

Appetizers

• Deviled eggs (show me a photo of a picnic in the 1970s and I'll find you a deviled egg…and a creepy uncle in pants that are too tight) – Andy
• Guacamole and chips (avocados hit the popular market in the 70s - thank goodness) – Seth/Drew
• Meatballs served with toothpicks (“The ‘in’ recipe for the sauce was:  melt a jar of grape jelly and combine with a jar of yellow mustard.  If you were lucky enough to have a microwave by then, you were assured you could prepare the sauce in it.” – see reference 4) – Seth
• Veggies with beau Monde dip (“There was the new, popular veggie dip, with the secret ingredient beau Monde. This is how people came to know you could eat cauliflower raw, as well as carrots and celery.  Many people did not want to invest in beau Monde, because, of course, there was nothing else you could use it in.  They were thrilled when their wealthier friends brought this new dip to parties.” – see reference 4) – Reference 4 (Jo)

Entrées 

• Cold Fried chicken (Reagan served it in '81 – which was practically the 70's - see reference 1; “Cold fried chicken was always a picnic favorite, but by the 70's you bought it at the store, or drive-in, rather than frying it yourself.” - reference 4  ) – Seth, from Super Saver
• Hot dogs in buns (Bush served them in China in 1975 - see reference 2) – Matt/Donnie or Seth

Sides (please note how many salads we have and how few vegetables will be required)

• Jell-O salads (at least 2) with one having an odd filling (because…Duh, it’s 70s and it’s Jell-O.) – Katie and Seth
• Watergate salad (a pistachio salad – recipe here - possibly named because Nixon loved them and if you don't know the connection between Nixon and Watergate you are uninvited) - Mary (Katie’s mom) 
• Pasta shells salad made with Hidden Valley Ranch (if you are white, Midwestern and lived in the 70s you ate Hidden Valley Ranch and pasta shell salad) - Andy
• Potato Salad, basic recipe none of this weird gourmet stuff (do we need another side? Probably not, but no one ever ate potato salad because they needed it) – Jo
• 7-Layer Salad (“Iceberg lettuce with peas, cheese, etc.  I am sure you know it.  The key was making it in the 9x13 Tupperware you could not keep house without, and making it the night before,  topped with 5 dollops of mayonnaise sprinkled with sugar not being mixed in until serving.” – see reference 4) – Cara White (because you have a 9x13 Tupperware dish)
• Calico beans (made in the newfangled CrockPots) - Katie

Desserts

• Wacky cake (honestly I never heard of it until I researched for the menu, but I like the story behind it and the name – see reference 3 and confirmed by reference 4) - Carrie
• Homemade ice cream (made and served in plastic containers full of PCBs) – Neil Bateman is legendary, no debate on this one

References:

1.        “Hundreds of thousands of people celebrated the nation’s 205th birthday…and close friend of President and Mrs. Reagan held a barbecue to honor her 58th birthday…The menu included cold fried chicken, baby pork barbecued spare ribs and chili brought to Washington from Chasen’s Restaurant in Los Angeles. Among the guests…[was] Frank Sinatra.” ---“Washington Celebrates on a Rainy Fourth of July,” Irvin Molotsky, New York Times, July 5, 1981 (p. 1) [1983]

2.        “With a can of Miller High Life beer in his hand, United States envoy George Bush presided over an Independence Day picnic that broke the Peking diplomatic community’s tradition of staid national day celebrations. About 500 guests gathered on the lawn in front of the U.S. liaison office for hot dogs, beer, soft drinks and recordings by singers Johnny Cash and John Denver. Although a few diplomatic eyebrows were raised, Bush’s party was a hit with the majority of the guests— diplomats, journalists, American visitors and the Chinese guests who happily consumed the drinks and food flown in for the occasion. Attired in fire-engine red slacks and a blue golf shirt, Bush awarded door prizes to half a dozen guests. Most guests later attended a showing of the American movie ‘That’s Entertainment.’” ---“Beer and Hot Dogs in Peking on the 4th,” Washington Post, July 5, 1975 (p. A9)

3.        Wacky Cake: http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcakes.html#wackycake

4.        Jo Bateman, Drew’s mom and home economics teacher during the 1970s. Information shared via email. (edited for appropriateness J) 

Blessed

We picked up Rece a bit early from daycare on Friday to go to the Children's Zoo here in Lincoln. It's a great zoo for kids and the afternoon was beautiful. Watching Rece run from exhibit to exhibit fascinated with the animals was joyful. It's easy for me to get caught up in all the things I need to get done and all the goals yet unfulfilled. Having afternoons like this remind me how blessed we are.

My first 10 miles

I've been training for a half marathon since early August. My first. The race is October 21 and a couple weeks ago I had a run of 10 miles on my plan. I know I've never run 10 miles in a row in my life. Ever.

I asked my friend, Andy, a runner for a few years now, for advice for a long run like this. He told me to be patient and to make sure I gel and water for the run. I totally forget to get gel (I've never used it) and the morning of the run I was searching for something to take with me on the run. My solution? Rece's applesauce packets! These work great for Rece - no mess and they taste great. I had one before the run and filled it with water and took another with me. I ate it at mile 6 and applesauce (and applesauce flavored water) never tasted so good. And, don't tell anyone but this running thing is kind of growing on me. We'll see how the hip and knee holds up through the race. More updates to come.

Losing neighbors - missing friends

It's been three weeks since our neighbors, the Stutheits, moved to Chicago. It was a hard week for a lot of us on the block; we loved having the Stutheits as neighbors. They are genuine, caring and fun people (typical K Staters). There was a palpable sense of loss - our block commiserated. I felt a bit like when I was in third grade and one of my best friends moved away. What has caught me by surprise was how attached I've become to our neighbors. I suppose it's because since I moved off the ranch in Bartlett I've never really felt like anyplace was "home" - there are places I lived but no place that was ever my community.  Carrie and I have lived in our house for 5 years and in that time we've put down deep roots. This is our home. We care about this place, this community and the people here.  And, we're happy for Jeff and Jennifer, it gives us a great excuse to Chicago, but we're going to miss them for a long time. That's what communities do.

Derner men fishing trip

On thing my dad, brothers and I have never really learned to do is relax. (Well, I'll admit, I've been trying harder than they have to learn this skills for some time) We're trying, though. We planned our second fishing trip this year to Wetstone Bay in South Dakota. Dad upgraded the fishing boat which was much needed after our harrowing experience in the 16' Lund last year at Pierre.

Yes, it was only 36 hours together and the fish were few and far between, but that wasn't the point. The fact that we all made the time and effort to do it - that just hanging out together was important enough. I don't think we'll ever be good at relaxing; I don't see any weeklong camping excursions in the immediate future, but we had a great time and have memorable experiences to build on for the future.

My brother Levi and nephew Chance with the best catch of the trip - nice walleye

 

 

Dad - fishing, driving and directing (can you believe he going to be 70 next year?? I hope I age half as well as him)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swimming Lessons

I "learned" to swim at 29 years of age, and by swim I mean frantically splash across a pool. Carrie was a life guard and looks like Michael Phelps to me. I always wanted Rece to take after his mom in this regard, but when Carrie brought up swimming lessons for Rece - at 20 months of age - I was skeptical. What I had read online was that the current recommendation is to wait for lessons until age 4; when kids can learn to hold their breath. But, our neighbors, the Jones, had taken their little girl who is a month younger than Rece to the previous session and was thoroughly impressed with the program at Country Swim School.

Carrie signed Rece up but was willing to cancel after we went to our orientation meeting.  I was expecting a snake-oil sales pitch and I'm sure my skepticism was obvious. Not to mention feeling put out that they require new parents to attend an orientation meeting before your kids can take a class.

It's nice to be pleasantly surprised.

Sue, who has run Country Swim School for more than 30 years, was a direct as she was clear about her wisdom, experience and methods to help kids learn to swim. The kicker was the demonstration. There was a parade of kids - from 10 months to 10 years old showing their skills. When I saw that 10 month old dive from the side of the pool and swim about 10 feet to her mom, I was sold. Not sold because Rece will be able to swim on his own, but sold because he'll have the foundational skills in place to be a good swimmer. I don't care if he ever competes in swimming, but I'll rest easy when I know that someday he can enjoy being on the lake with friends. Not to mention, Miss Sue runs a tight ship and the discipline and routine will be good for our little guy.

So, expect to see lots more swim lesson pics and posts in the future. We'll be in the "Water Babies" class until Rece turns three. This means Carrie and I will be in the pool with Rece for his lessons until then, too. a bit of a burden on the schedule? Yeah, but it's been a ton of fun seeing Rece learn to love the water and spending the time together has been a true gift.

Summer veggie pizza

Love summer veggies. The garden looks rough but thankfully the local farmer's market still kept us supplied. Every blog needs food pics to drive traffic. :) Here's our token pic. Saute' the veggies and put on top of a crust with low-fat garden veggie cream cheese. Easy. Just like summer meals should be.

Crazy summer

This was a crazy summer for travel. Literally dozens of nights on the road. Carrie and I were able, however, to sneak a few days in to visit her family in Oregon and Washington after finishing a conference in Silverton, Oregon. First of all, if you ever want to understand why it's called the "Oregon Trail" so see the paradise that is the area around Silverton, Oregon. You'll quickly understand why pioneers by the thousands risked it all to get out there (just the huckleberries alone are worth the trip).

So, did I get pictures of Rece with his grandparents, with his new cousin Riley, or with anyone in Washington? Of course not. I did get a picture of him standing at his grandma's sink playing in the water. The slightly mischievous look on his face was merited. the next glass of water went right on the floor. Little turd.

Mister fun

To say that this was a hot summer is a bit like saying that state fairs cause people to eat unhealthy foods...understatement. Still, we were committed to playing outside with Rece whenever we could; he needs his vitamin D. To cope, we invested in a kiddie pool (that required being re-filled each day - something about 98 degree water that he didn't enjoy) and a mister. Our awesome neighbors, the Batemans, came by on this summer evening and turned Alece loose with Rece in the yard. Nothing like the joy of little ones...

Here's a pic of the same two characters in the pool a month later. Look how much they both grew up in a month. Crazy.

4th of July - Hot Dog bar

Yeah, it's almost October and I'm just posting about the 4th of July - good thing I'm not trying to sell ads on this thing!

Anyway, Carrie and I love hosting our great friends Andy and Ben over the the 4th of July. This year was all about food and fireworks (and, of course, celebrating America). What's more American than hot dogs? So, we worked on a plan for a hot dog bar. Four different types of dogs and five prototype recipes representing iconic American tastes. of course people could create their own masterpiece (and many did). Regardless it was a great way to get the neighborhood to hang our before the fireworks.

 The five iconic dog recipes.

 

A portion of the bar spread around our kitchen.

7 Amazing Years

Last week, Carrie and I celebrated our seventh anniversary. It's been an incredibly joy-filled adventure with very little about our lives today planned or scripted from seven years ago. But, between faith and each other we feel incredibly blessed to be where we are and where we are going. This photo has layers of meaning. First, it's my "thing" to self-take our photos - even if people are walking by and offer to take it for us. Every fun trip we've ever taken includes a photo like this. Second, this photo is in front of a fountain by the downtown apartment building where we first moved after getting married. We were so excited when the put the small park and fountain in the vacant space. We still love to walk by it. Finally, as you can see we're both in a lot better shape than we were four months ago. A lot of hard work and sacrifice has gone into that (and still does) but we both made the decision that we had to make it important enough to happen now. We feel wonderful and hope that Rece only ever knows fit and active parents. Here's to another 50 or 60 years!

Rece's First Trip to the Omaha Zoo

For those of you that don't know, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo is a top-rated zoo in the United States - in the same league as San Diego and Cincinnati. When I taught, I would take my animal science students on a field trip there annually to meet with the head zoo vet and get a behind the scenes tour of the facilities to learn about animal care, nutrition and genetic research. I love this zoo. Expect to see LOTS of pictures of it through the years.

But this trip wasn't about animals for Rece as much as it was hanging out with cousins, Chance and Shelby, and grandma and grandpa Derner. While Rece had a good time in the aquarium, he had more fun getting attention and playing in the water feature. That's fine, buddy, we have lots of opportunity for me to explain the finer points of giraffe handling systems and large cat dietary requirements.

  

  

Jennie's back!

Carrie's sister, Jennie, is back living with us for the summer. She spent two and half years with us getting her marketing degree from UN-L. We've missed her a ton the past year. Unrelated to Jennie's return we took our first trip ever to Lincoln's horse racing track the first weekend of June. Rece had a great time all the way around. Good thing because we certainly didn't win him any college tuition money on this trip.

Rece gets brave

Just watch this. You'll see what I mean.

May flowers

Our spring was warm and all the flowers are way ahead of schedule. Thankfully, I did think to grab a few pictures of the fron beds in bloom. This never gets old to me.

Shell leaf penstemons - a tribute to the Sandhill pastures of home

The Pickup

Rece loves to play in my pickup. By "loves" I mean we have to spend at least 10 minutes a day in there...every day. I'm guessing I have a few years before he's big enough and coordinated enough to reach the clutch and start it. For now, thankfully, he's content with pretending.

Carrie's Half Marathon

Carrie signed up for Lincoln's half-marathon (13.1 miles for you non-runners, like me) back in December. She wasn't planning to run it, though, because of a hip injury earned while working out so much in March. But, by the week of the run, she decided that she'd try it - at least to earn the t-shirt.

Here she is at the starting line with Katie and Drew (good friends and neighbors for those new to the blog). We took this just as a thunderstorm passed. The day before was 94 degrees, but May 6 turned out to be gorgeous.

Rece and I went home for a bit after the drop-off. We missed Carrie running by at mile 8 because Rece had fallen asleep and was gawking at the spectators. We raced another mile down the course and got out to cheer on Carrie and snap a quick picture.

Of course, in the chaos of trying to find and pick up Carrie after the race, I totally forgot to take a picutre. I am so proud and amazed that Carrie finished the race. And, I felt like a real slacker the next few days as Carrie, Drew and Katie all nursed themselves back to health. None of them were interested in how the early morning drop-off really messed up my sleep schedule for a couple of days. Go figure.

Discovering the Hose

Rece was fascinated watching me water the flowers in the pots on our deck. So I got him a watering can to help. That was good enough for a day or two...then he wanted the hose. So, I gave it to him.

Then he decided he wanted a drink. I obliged.

Check out this concentration:

Soaked...

Fun in the Yard

I love to play in the yard with Rece. We run, roll around, swing...just hang out. Shot this video on an exceptionally beautiful May day after letting him "tackle" me to the ground.

Yogurt pops

Our friend, Katie, gave Carrie a set of popsicle forms for her birthday last week. I caught pics of Carrie and Rece working together on their first batch of fruit & yogurt frozen pops today.