Nah, some innocents I found when I googled "two kids food". :lol:

Well I microwaved them. My brauts only cooked for 3 minutes. Those brats would require a larger oven and longer cooking time. And some really big buns. :D

Seems a good spot to wish the cousins a good day, and night of it, and all the 'dogs' you need and all the fireworks you want. Or not...

It's rather like midwinter here. The heating is back on and the waterproofs are dripping in the hall, and a town dependant on a good summer season is profoundly depressed. Cool wet and windy and certainly no barbeques this weekend!

Yikes, monster, where do you find this stuff? Hehe.

Letting other people do the barbecuing is my specialty. We are bringing fresh bread and cucumber salad.

Had a nice lunch earlier...hot dogs and burgers. Just got home from the store with a 6-pack of Woodchuck Amber and a 6-pack of Schlafly Oatmeal Stout. My brother will probably stop over later. Let the good times roll!

We are barbequeing as I type -- lamb kebabs. The guacamole has been made and eaten already. Shoulda didda bigga batch, I shoulda. We're out of guac and still got half the chips. Good, tho'.

Guacamole per the Trader Joe's Guacamole Kit, as fine a starting point on proper guacamole as may be had anywhere. The kit contents:
1 Tomato
2 Avocados, Haas variety (the dark and lumpy skin)
2 cloves Garlic, peel 'em yourself
1 plump Jalapeno pepper
1 Lime

Mince Jalapeno and Garlic together, quite fine.
Open Avocados, removing pit, and scooping out the flesh with a spoon.
Chop Tomato rather small.
Quarter lime for squeezing.

Mash up the avocado flesh in a mixing bowl with a fork or a potato masher. Add jalapeno-garlic mince and chopped tomato and continue mix and mash. Squeeze two or three quarters of the lime into mix to start, adding salt also, both lime and salt to taste. And do taste. I like at least three quarters of the lime, and salt to balance. If I let my wife make the guac, she'd probably skip the salt entirely, to which I say uh-uh.

Try putting in some fresh cilantro UG, it's vera'nice

good lord - how did you get my pic monster???

My mouth is watering as I read this. Wonderful UG, just wonderful.

I hate the 5th of July. It is the anniversary of my burning.

Don't let your children play with fireworks. Even if you are supervising. Even if you think it's "safe." Just don't. Please.

I'd second that. My mum was injured by a firework when she was little.

My kids had a great time with some kiddie fireworks yesterday. Kids need to be taught fire safety or they experiment on their own and end up getting burned.

I was allowed to have sparklers as a kid, and I learned very quickly to be careful with them. Fortunately, I have no permanent scars that I know of.

Paul Harris (who is a local radio host on KMOX-AM here in St. Louis) lamented recently that parents today are too over-protective of their kids, attempting to protect them from the smallest of hurts. I agreed with his thoughts...kids need to learn pain and consequences. Otherwise, they'll be fucked when they get older. Though I think I understand where Cloud is coming from on this.

I love the 4th and fireworks displays. I don't really care about doing them myself. I like the large displays put on by organizations with deep pockets. My son LOVES it.

I was a beautiful night here and the display was wonderful. Oh, and the fried chicken didn't hurt things at all.

I did get a pack of poppers and noise makers for him. Nothing with fire. While I do agree that we sometimes over-protect our children, I don't think that 3rd degree burns are the way to go to "teach them a lesson."