The GUILD - 7-3-02 - Countdown to Fourth of July Festivities Thread II

7-02-2002

[BigWaveBetty]

Avoid the rush, and get all your holiday cookout necessities today!
Are you ready for some grillin'?

Grill... check!

Something to grill ... check!

Whew, it's hot out here! Something cold to drink ... check!

ALL PREVIOUS THREADS

More good recipes on Thread I

[BigWaveBetty]

And now for the all-important safety message:

*Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. At temperatures of 50 to 125 F, most bacteria can grow and some produce poisons that may cause illness.
* In preparing chicken, egg, or meat salad, refrigerate it as soon as possible. Try to prepare it as close to picnic time as you can. Then, keep these foods cold right up until the time you serve them.
* For foods that are to be served cold, such as meat or poultry salads, make sure you prepare them with cold ingredients. For example, the cooked chicken for chicken salad should be allowed to cool before it's added to the salad.
* Thermos bottles can keep stews or drinks at the right temperature for hours. If foods are poured boiling hot into sterilized bottles, there shouldn't be any problem. Coolers, insulated containers and styrofoam chests are perfect for keeping food cold when teamed with ice cubes, dry ice or reusable gel cold packs. Small, airtight containers and aluminum foil will keep foods fresh inside the larger containers.
* For packing the food to take outdoors, put foods in the cooler in the order opposite to using them. This means that the food you'll need last will be packed first, at the bottom. Take out the food only as you need it. Repack the container carefully and keep it in a shady spot to keep the chest cool.
* Try to have plenty of ice on hand and in the cooler to keep your food cold and safe all day.
_______________

Recipes and picnic suggestions are welcomed today. Allrighty, then, let's celebrate our nation's birthday!

[BigWaveBetty]

Good Morning!

[Timeout]

Great morning to you, too! Can I bring over my last post from the previous thread? Everyone should read this and feel especially proud this 4th of July:
______________________________ _________________

THANK YOU, AMERICA

By Jan Nowak
The Washington Times
Wednesday, July 3, 2002

This July 4, many Americans may feel baffled and disappointed by the waves of anti-Americanism sweeping through countries that, not too long ago, were either saved or helped by the United States. Allies such as France and Great Britain and former enemies such as Germany and Japan benefited greatly from America's generosity and support in their time of need, as did Belgium, Holland, Italy, Russia, Poland, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan and others. Without the United States, some of these countries might no longer exist.

Those of us who remember and remain grateful should no longer remain silent. For people like me -- and there are millions of us -- this Fourth of July is a good opportunity to say, "Thank you, America."

My old country, Poland, is a good example. I was born 89 years ago on the eve of World War I in Warsaw, when Poles were forced to live under the despotic rule of the Russian czars. In 1917 Woodrow Wilson made the restoration of Polish independence one of his 14 conditions for peace. If it had not been for Wilson, Poland might have disappeared forever from the map of Europe. The United States did not have any strategic or economic interests in this remote eastern part of the European continent. But thanks to America, the ambitions of the Hohenzollern empire to dominate all of Europe were thwarted.

The war in Poland did not end in 1918, however. For six more years, the wheels of war rolled over the Polish countryside as Poles fought to repel the invasions of the Red Army. The country was left in ruins. Food was scarce. The undernourished population was hit by epidemics of typhoid and Spanish flu.

I belong to the generation of children of this era, the early 1920s, who were saved by the benevolent intervention of the United States, in the person of the future president Herbert Hoover. As a private citizen, Hoover organized the emergency supplies of food, medicine and clothing that saved a starving and sick nation. I still remember the tin boxes inscribed "American Relief Committee for Poland."

The Polish state survived, but with no economic resources, no reserves of gold or foreign currencies. Roaring inflation had brought the country to the verge of collapse. The United States came forward once again, providing the Dillon loans, which helped stabilize the Polish economy.

Following the surrender of France in 1940, Hitler was only one step from victory. The United States, by joining Great Britain as it faced alone the greater might of Nazi Germany, and at enormous sacrifice of young American lives, saved European civilization and its values. It is known that Hitler's postwar plans called for elimination of Poland's educated classes, while the rest of the population was to become slave workers. Once again, the United States saved the lives of millions. I am grateful to have been one of them.

Tragically, the defeat of Nazi Germany did not bring freedom to the nations of east and central Europe. Hitler's tyranny was replaced by Stalin's terror. It was the United States that contained the Soviet Union's drive for domination of Europe. It understood before others that the Cold War would be a struggle for human minds.

One of its major weapons in this war was the skillful use of radio. As a former radio operator with the Polish underground and later a broadcaster with the BBC foreign service, I was recruited in the early 1950s to start the Polish service of Radio Free Europe (RFE). No country but the United States would launch or could have launched such an ambitious undertaking, broadcasting from dawn to midnight.

RFE destroyed the monopoly of the Communist public media and frustrated the efforts of the Soviet Union to isolate the satellite countries from the outside world. Citizens of these countries had only to tune in to the RFE frequency to learn what their governments were attempting to hide from them. People were able to get the information they needed to form their own views, even if they could not speak them. Their minds remained free.

Workers' strikes were banned under communism. So when Polish shipyard workers in Gdansk, led by Lech Walesa, defiantly called a strike in August 1980, the government immediately ordered a news blackout. But within hours, the whole country knew of the workers' resistance and related developments from RFE broadcasts. Because the Communists feared a general strike might follow, they quickly agreed to a compromise settlement with the shipyard workers. Solidarity was born.

The following year, however, the Communist leader, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, sought to destroy the movement by imposing martial law. The United States responded by applying a sophisticated carrot-and-stick policy in which Jaruzelski was never forced into a position where he had nothing to lose and nothing to gain. Economic sanctions were imposed, but economic assistance was promised. The patient and consistent application of this policy over the next eight years resulted in the survival of Solidarity, which emerged triumphant in 1989.

News of this victory spread rapidly to East Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Bucharest and Sofia, as well as Moscow, through the broadcasts of RFE, Radio Liberty, RIAS (Radio in the American Sector, Berlin) and the Voice of America. The overthrow of Poland's Communist dictatorship inspired millions throughout the Soviet orbit, unleashing an avalanche that brought down the Berlin Wall and led to the reunification of Germany, the self-liberation of the nations of east-central Europe and eventually the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

Poland formed the first non-communist government in the former Soviet empire. But the nation's economy remained a disaster area. Again the United States came to the rescue. Poland's first democratic government and the nation's economy were saved by U.S. leadership in proposing and aggressively promoting an emergency international financial assistance package.

In the spring of 1998, I watched from the public gallery of the U.S. Senate as it ratified the admission into NATO of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. For the first time in its history, my old country was not only free but also secure.

Thank you, America.

[he writer directed the Polish service of Radio Free Europe for 25 years.]

[BigWaveBetty]

I was just about to bring it over myself. :-)

I must go gang, I get to go to the opening of The Power Puff Girl Movie!

So have a great day all! See you soon.

[mountaineer]

Gotta link something HLL has posted, What is an American?

[Carolina]

Bye, Betty. Have fun.

I'm off to Tennessee for the holiday.

If I see Tipper, I'll...well, let's hope I don't run into the Goreskis.

The kids are chanting, "We're off to Grandma's house, we're off to Grandma's house...!"

LOL! Have a safe 4th, everyone!

[mountaineer]

With regard to holiday grilling, I have to update my post 37 from yesterday's thread. I made the rub, more or less (I didn't have all the spices on hand, so skipped the coriander and onion powder, added cayenne and curry), smeared it all over pork tenderloins, gave them a spritz of veg. oil spray (e.g. PAM) and grilled them. Delicious!

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Dry rubs are great. I always dry rub my steaks and ribs. The salt brings out the natural juices and tenderizes the meat. Make sure you leave the rub on for at least 30 minutes. I am so glad that people are finally learning about a dry rub.

[Billie]

Hi, ya'll! Great 4th of July hints, graphics, etc! If it hasn't been mentioned yet, I think just put "Call Lodwick" at the top of the list should take care of everything! He's such a great grill cook and bartender, etc! Come say hello to him today as FR's Finest FReeper of the day - Daisy did an excellent profile of him! Come over and embarrass him some more! LOL!

[lodwick]

Thanks for the excellent link @ 5.
As the President has said, "out of the
tradegy that was 9.11, may come some
great good for the future."

I feel this here at Free Republic
on most all the threads where the
posters are people who
pay to support this forum.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Hello all. I am taking action on my electricity woes. My power went out again last night at 8:15 pm. I immediately called the power company and spoke to a live human being. I asked what the problem was and why I can't expect to have electricity in my home 24 hours a day.

She said that the lines can't handle it when people come home from work on a hot night. I told her that they should expect people to come home from work and to plan accordingly. I am not going to put up with their crap anymore. I sat in a 96 degree pitch black house and have to have people call me to wake me up so I can go to my office. Normally I would be working out of my home office, but since it's in total darkness and I have no power for my computers, it kind of cramps my style.

This weekend I will be walking my neighborhood with a petition to keep the power on. I have also acquired the CEO of Detroit Edison's home phone. If my power goes off, he is going to get a personal call from me. I will do it daily until I have power. If I go to jail, at least I will have lights and air conditioning.

I will also send him these half cooked lemon poppyseed muffins that never stood a chance when the lights went out.

Pray for the power this weekend. It's a scrorcher, and frankly, I think it's making me ill. I can't sleep at night due to this heat and I can't eat with rotting food and no stove.

[Timeout]

I can't believe it's gotten that bad! I'd be parked on their doorstep and calling the mayor every hour on the hour till they promise uninterupted service. Who do they think they are, Gray Davis?

[pubmom]

I would be livid!

Is it too much to ask, provide the service they're supposed to?

I would total up the dollar amount of your food loss, and present them with a bill.
Bug whoever you must to get this taken care of.

[lodwick]

[ohioWfan]

I thought some of you might be interested in the update on Eric that I posted on the USO, ATRW and FR's Finest threads this morning:

Good morning, all!

We have gotten a letter, and a phone call since I last reported on Eric's boot camp experience, so I thought I'd give you a brief report.

He's one third of the way done, and says time is flying. Yesterday the whole squad had to run a mile, and they were told that the first 5 men in would get phone privileges that night, and he said when he heard that, he had to win! He came in third, and called us last night! It was incredibly good to hear his voice, and his enthusiasm for what he was doing!

He's a little homesick, but says he tries not to think about home very much. He says he misses things like being able to jump in his car and go where he wants to, or just grabbing a can of pop when he wants to. He also said that you never realize what you have until you are away from it, and he thanked us for our love (OK, I cried a whole lot about that one!.

He loves the physical stuff, especially the obstacle course where he had to climb a wall with a rope. He also mentioned crawling around in wet sawdust as a fun activity (??). He's excited that they're going to learn hand-to-hand combat on Thursday, and will soon learn how to fire their M-16's (that's what he's been waiting for!).

He did say that because it was so hot today that they didn't do their PT outside......some humanity has obviously crept into the military! He also said that they would be marching up Misery and Agony hills (about 15K, I think), but they wouldn't be forced to run because some people had died doing it (good thinking).

The food, he says, is good.....they have chow 3 times a day, but he said he's never really full.......of course he's always eaten like a horse anyway (6'1", 155 lbs!), and with all the physical exertion, there would be no way to fill the boy up. They spend a whole lot of time cleaning, and a few days ago had to change from BDU's (Battle Dress Uniforms) to PT's (Physical Training) in 5 minutes, then line up, then change back to BDU's then line up, then change change back to PT's run upstairs and line up, then run downstairs, change back to BDU's and line up........he said he'd never worked up a sweat before changing clothes!

His Drill Sergeants (with one exception) have been 'awesome' (his word), and he hasn't been yelled at individually yet (who would yell at such a good boy anyway? LOL!)

He has been able to continue to witness to lots of the guys around him, and really feels as though he has grown spiritually because of this experience. He says he can feel all the prayer for him (thank you, friends!!!), and wants us to keep praying for the guys he's been able to share his faith with.

Praise the Lord for his faithfulness!!

[MaeWest]

I am so glad that people are finally learning about a dry rub.

Uh, this is gonna be an interesting thread.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

I will expand on the torte.

Use a frozen Sara Lee Pound cake-- partially thaw.

Slice it thinly, maybe 5 slices horizontally with dental floss.

Take whipped cream or dream whip and slit it into two bowls.

In one bowl add cocoa powder or a flavored instant coffee. You can also add a liquor of you like.

leave one small bowl of plain whipped cream.

I also use fresh raspberries or raspberry jam.

Spread the whipped cream between the layers. Alternate the plain and flavored creams. I like to put my raspberries in the middle layer. Cover the whole cake with the chocolate/coffee cream.

Put that sucker in the fridge so it stiffens. Serve and watch your guests ooo and ahh over your fabulous cooking skills.

[mountaineer]

I'm sorry, that just rubbed me the wrong way! ;^)

Seriously, though, HLL is right - the dry rub made the pork so tender, like buttah.

OWF - it is great to hear how well Eric is doing. You won't mind if we're proud of him, too, will you?

[ohioWfan]

You won't mind if we're proud of him, too, will you?

Not one teeny bit, mountaineer! Thanks!

[Aggie Mama]

What a fantastic update. You have good reason to be so proud of him.