July 3, 2021

WEEKLY MENU 07.04.21

We’re starting the Weekly Menu 07.04.21 with a bang – literally!

The Weekly Menu 07.04.21 starts out with a celebration: Happy Birthday USA! We have a full menu scoped out for this year. Check out July 4th 2021 for full deets on that. It includes a link for the party game of the summer – Slip and Slide Kickball! If brisket doesn’t appeal, the July 4th 2020 menu is a little more traditional. And that one includes a how-to guide for one of my favorite games growing up: Kick the Can. July 4th 2019 is a go-go menu too. And that menu includes info on a family-wide favorite game: Wiffle Ball.

Wiffle Ball is like playing in the way-minors for baseball. You can’t get hurt even if you get hit by the ball, and picking up the bat is no problem. Even if you let it fly, no one is going to get hurt – unless you bop him in the eye. Alas, we’re not going to have enough people together this 4th for a game of Wiffle Ball. Maybe we can watch some baseball on TV?

Baseball is quintessentially American.

All three boysies played growing up, and we went to every game, as painful as that could be. The worst was when they “graduated” from Tee-ball and we had to watch while the pitcher tried, and tried, and tried to get that ball over home plate. Eventually the umpires would move things along, but it was a wee bit frustrating to watch for hours on end. Thank god for dusk, huh?

Bert is from Pittsburgh, but the Pirates have never been the family team, even when they weren’t abysmal. That honor goes to the Boston Red Sox. I’m not even sure how that happened, but there you go. D, especially, loves the game and his Sox. He even got a channel paid for on his birthday so he can watch every game.

I went to school in Boston, as did my little brother, so we’ve all been to a game or two dozen at Fenway. It’s an awesome, classic park that makes the game even more amazing. WAY back in the school days, a ticket in the bleachers for a game (usually against Toronto) was six bucks. That is no longer the ticket price.

Green Monster at Fenway Park for the Weekly Menu 07.04.21 — ^{The BIG GREEN MONSTER!}

Boys at Fenway for Weekly Menu 07.04.21 — ^{All my boysies at Fenway Park. And no, D has never been photographed with his eyes open.}

Of course one of the best parts of baseball is the food. Hot Dogs, Popcorn, Peanuts…

We’re starting the Weekly Menu 07.04.21 with the Fourth of July, but we’re not stopping there! Summer food continues with Grilled Chicken Sammies (and any leftovers from the big celebration). Now I’m wondering if we should toss a couple of hot dogs on the grill for an appetizer.

Classic packet tacos (affiliate links precede and follow – see disclaimer page for details) make taco Tuesday an easy meal. The Mexican Street Corn Casserole is a take on corn on the cob served in carts in Mexico – it’s creamy and cheesy and elevates dinner to a whole better level. It’s not good for you, and a little goes a long way.

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We’re having D’s favorite dinner on Wednesday. The Chicken Fra Diavolo is what we have every year for his birthday. It’s supposed to be hot, so we’ll eat on the patio – hopefully the heat from the chicken will cool us down internally!

And I don’t normally like to pre-cook before cooking in the slow cooker, but ground beef pretty much necessitates it. The recipe for Slow Cooker Ground Beef Stew looks good enough that we’re going to give it a shot.