There have been few family Fourths in my adult life. I've spent them on New York rooftops, Long Island beaches, France, Italy, Argentina - which is say, I did not really celebrate. But this year the family was together, my youngest sister home from Prague, and a few close friends, harmonious and relaxed, just like a TV family, only cousin Bryant and his family were missing.
Uncle Dennis and Aunt Marsha live on a winding, hard packed Georgia red dirt road in a house Marsha's great grandfather built in 1909. This year celebrates its 100th birthday. I spent summers and major holidays in this house, in the woods across the road, ivy covered ground that felt like a different planet, my boy cousins shooting squirrels, leading the way to various dares and risks I had not yet tried. At night the tall windows, no curtains to soften them, showed me a darkness that did not exist in the street lamp lined suburban streets of my city home. I tried not to think about Children of the Corn on those nights.
Now my sisters and I are grown, my three boy cousins are men with young children of their own. We descended on the open space, flanked by peach trees in full harvest, pecan trees, and cherry trees, a dozen children running about. At 3 o'clock Uncle Dennis started serving the first of a long menu of small feasts. Spicy steamed shrimp and homemade corn tortilla chips - I have absolutely never tasted better - BBQ sandwiches to die for, squash casserole, smoked chicken wings (Dennis boasts a full smoke house kitchen out back, his haven, a space of comfort.) Later there was grilled shrimp, grilled corn in the husk, and portobellos off the grill, homemade cole slaw, Grandmother Griffitts' (my grandmother) Refrigerator Pickles, hot dogs for the kids - I really wanted one but ran out of room - cake, pie...some of us were still eating at 10 p.m.
We played baseball, corn hole - a beanbag tossing game that got it's name from filling a sock with dried corn kernels, tying it up and tossing for points, and we watched a spectacular fireworks show my cousins put together. Down the road, and another across the peach orchard, distant firework displays lit up small parts of the sky. I drew "Mable & Bunny" the next morning, the day's finale still bright in my mind. It was a perfect July 4th.
I've included some recipes below - most are written by Uncle Dennis, the last I improvised on the directions, but the ingredients and quantities came from Grandmother. Keep in mind Dennis does not keep exact recipes so all quantities and times are ballpark figures. Keep a close watch and season to taste.
Spicy Steamed Shrimp:
5 lbs shrimp, preferably wild caught local (these were Georgia coast)
rough chop 4 or 5 celery stalks, one large onion, and one bell pepper.
*If you have to thaw your shrimp first, be sure to drain them. The idea here is to keep them as dry as possible.
Mix veggies and shrimp, pour in a little extra virgin olive oil and toss some more.
Now add approx 1/3 to 1/2 cup Tony Chachere's More Spice Seasoning - add a 1/2 cup of Tony's Original Cajun Seasoning if desired - and make sure everything has a light coat of seasoning. Place your pot on the fire (medium high on a big burner, wide open on a smaller one) for maybe 3-4 minutes then stir (or toss the whole pot) to mix those shrimp that are cooking on the bottom with those on top. You will need to do this again after every 2 minutes until the shrimp are just underdone. Do not over cook them because they continue to cook during steaming. Now pour off all the liquid you possibly can, you will be surprised at how much you have considering you started with none. Cover the pot and let them sit for maybe 10-15 minutes. Pour off the liquid again and eat a few........or as many as you like! BTW, the veggies are good too!
Uncle Dennis refuses to give up his BBQ sauce recipe, calling it, G Deddy's Blackmarket Bar-B-Que - "So good you'll swear it's illegal".
Grilled Corn:
Snip the silks off and hope it doesn't have any worms. Place it, unshucked, on the grill on medium heat. Turn it after about 15 minutes and let it cook a total of about 30 - 45 minutes. The time will be determined by how hot your grill is. For the best flavor pull the shucks back (the silks will go away with them) and using the still attached shucks as a handle dip the corn in pure melted butter. With this method, as opposed to boiling, the silks fall off with no effort and the corn cooks in it's own juices and steam.
Grandmother Griffitts’ Refrigerator Pickles (or Overnight Pickles):
8 cups sliced, unpeeled (or peel if you prefer) cucumbers
2 cups sliced onion
1tbsp salt
1 ½ cups vinegar
2 tsp celery seed
2 tsp mustard seed
2 cups sugar
*This is the only direction I got from Grandmother, except to put the mixture in the fridge for a few hours – she usually makes them the day before. Mix the vinegar, salt, sugar, celery and mustard seed in a mason jar, tighten the lid, and shake what your momma gave you until everything has dissolved and blended. Pour this over the sliced cukes and onions in a Tupperware (or whatever you’re going to serve them in), cover, and sit in the fridge for 4 to 8 hours.
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