So something highly suspicious happened last night...the mister, who hates fireworks of all kinds, and for the last century has only been willing to watch fireworks on the 4th at small neighborhood gatherings where as he puts it, "No one will be yelling INCOMING!"...or he only watches them from a safe distance - on TV while lying prone upon his bed - asked me if I wanted to go and see the community fireworks show. My jaw hit the floor...there I stood - gap mouthed - sputtering for words, yet still looking incredibly beautiful, and finally managed to sarcastically (read lovingly) snarl, "YOU want to go and watch fireworks? Yeah right...what are you up to?" The mister replied, "I'm out of the jungle now, the war is over, so why not?"
In case you're wondering what war the mister is referring to, that would be the Vietnam War that's been over for 40 fricken YEARS! But good to know he's finally out of the jungle...what the #$%& does that even mean?!?! So we're going to our first ever BIG fireworks show tonight! I'm thrilled! In the meantime, we shall spend the better part of today sitting on the deck sipping this fabulous Blueberry-Lemon Cooler, waving our flags and enjoying our freedoms...and I hope you do the same! Happy 4th of July!
Blueberry-Lemon Cooler - Pots and Pins
8 cups cold water
1 cup sugar
3 strips of lemon peel
4 large lemons, juiced
4 cups frozen blueberries
sprigs of mint for garnish
Remove 3 strips of lemon peel from one of the lemons. In a medium pan, combine 4 cups water, sugar and lemon peel. Stir frequently until sugar dissolves, bring to a boil, cover with lid and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
In a blender, combine the frozen blueberries with 3 cups of cold water, puree. Pour pureed blueberries into a clear pitcher (you'll want to see the pretty blue color!) Remove the lemon peels from the sugar syrup and discard. Add the sugar syrup to the pureed blueberries, stir in the lemon juice and add the remaining cup of water. Stir to combine. Makes 12 cups. Pour over ice and serve with a sprig of mint - sip leisurely with your feet propped up!
