The Forth of July

The Forth is and has always been a rememberable day. Cookouts at Uncle Doug and Aunt Lindas, or them at our house. Badminton, fireflies and badminton rackets, cases of hi-top cola and grilled keilbasa with saurkraut and mustard on a hamburger bun.
Maybe a couple other locations over the younger years. One year at my mothers parents house, the first year that I can remember not going to see fireworks, just because there where none around. Being in a small town in Western Pennsylvania after a three hour drive and realizing that Fireworks where not on the priority list of the adults around me.
Then being put in charge, of the first kitchen I worked in, on the forth. When the "chef" decided that "nothing was gonna happen tonight". So he left to go see the fireworks with his girlfriend. At about 9:30PM I get an ass-kicking, with one other young cook/worker (we didn't know anything about food at this point, just the simple things we reproduced daily), As I'm deep into tickets for chicken marsala, seafood alfredo and some horrible Hawian chicken concoction, I angreely reach into the bottom of the left side of my reach-in to grab a handfull of thawed frozen veg medley and as I close the door with my foot....I pull it back too hard and pull the door off the hinges.....
I....awake, I'm still standing. A door laying on the ground in front of me on the hotline covered with blood and most of the mixed veg I had in my hands a second ago. A server coming up behind me with a rag placing it on my temple and holding it there as i grab a new handfull of veg to continue what I was doing.
I think she was holding my head for at least an hour. But, that was a long time ago. Before that there was a time that I visited my brother and his family in the beginning of July and driving over the (brand new) connector, we slowed down a bit and watched the fireworks go off over the Penninsula. One of the many bonds with Charleston was born at that time.
Fast forward several years of working and working and working, most holidays might mean double time or just another day on salary depending where I was at the time.
Jeff Gibbs and the Family from Charleston Chops reinvented "holidays" for me. If we weren't off for a particular holiday (we where for the forth, for the most part), we just invented new ones or just had our own holidays after the fact.
July forth 2006 was spent at my brothers place and I spent the majority of it fishing with my nephew Kane and watching him really learn how to milk firework money out of people. It was awesome, he's a pro. I don't mean that in a bad way, it was awesome! Everyone, including myself, was hell bent on Kane having a kick-ass forth of July. And it was a great time.
This year I'm in Pennslyvania again......?????????? And the theme of Keilbasa, Sauerkraut and Mustard has been on the menu in some respcect. But, today of all days, I emptied a bucket of Sauerkraut. And, I really didn't want to throw away the left over Kraut juice. I love Kraut!

And I love mustard, So, why not Sauerkraut Mustard? It still has three more days to ferment, but I hope it will be beautiful.