July 4th: Brisket, Good Friends, Pool Time and Fireworks

Alex, Addison and Nick

July 4th was a great day!  Weather.com had been calling for rain almost all day, but thank God, it turned out to be a decent day after all.  I started the day out serving at church as usual, we were all a bit nervous as we thought we'd be low on servants and weren't really sure how the attendance would be.  But it, of course, was just fine ... again, thank God!

What is July 4th without BBQ?  So, I made a brisket.  I have discovered that brisket works so much better when cooked in the oven instead of on the grill (at least for me it does).  The recipe:

Around 10pm on the night before, I seasoned the brisket (about 6-7 pounds, trimmed) with a spicy rub,    ground black pepper, salt and garlic poweder.  I lined a big roasting pan with foil and put the brisket in, covered it with sliced red onion and poured the secret ingredient around the brisket:  Corona (I swear it just seems like this beer works better than others).  I cooked the brisket on 250 degrees for approximately 15 hours.  Then I poured BBQ sauce over it and kept it covered until it was time to eat.  You could shred it with a fork ... so tender!

I served this with baked beans, three cheese scalloped potatoes (yes, I admit, they were from a box, Betty Crocker ... but really tasty) and everyone's favorite, King's Hawaiin Rolls.  Throw in a little vino and some beer ... great meal.

We got to share our day, food and pool with our great friends.  Mindy and the boys.  The Andricks and kiddos.  It's so wonderful to have a group of friends that you are so comfortable with that everyone can just hang out and have fun ... no pretenses.  Real.  Love that.  Great friends are so much better (not to mention cheaper) than therapy ... I just hope that Jenn and Mindy don't start charging me by the hour :)

               Trevor (in hiding) & Allie, about to surf :)

It's so great to watch the kids having a good time in the pool ... that's why it's there, to enjoy.

Side Story:  Mindy is one of my very best friends.  And Gracie is my ever present companion; however, the two just don't seem to mesh.  Gracie really doesn't like many people, and Mindy is no exception.  My husband put Gracie in Mindy's lap ... and you can see by her face, she wasn't thrilled.  Later in the day she (Gracie, not Mindy) actually chased Trevor into the pool ... it was quite comical (too bad a video camera wasn't running at the time, or we could be the future winners of $10k on America's Funniest Home Videos).  And Trevor was such a good sport!

After several hours in the pool, we headed out to the golf course to watch the fireworks.  Nothing beats sitting on the course and watching the fireworks up close and personal ... it's just like having our own private show.

After the show, back home we came, company left, kitchen cleaned and then the house was quiet again. 

This post is linked to Serenity Now and Southern Fried Dreams and The Trendy Treehouse.

 ... and Follow Me Back Tuesday.