Fourth of July's Bounty

My House on Independence Day

I got up early on the Fourth with plans to make a Lemon Meringue Pie, then drive 80 miles to my grandparent's house for lunch. My pie was to have a homemade graham cracker crust, lemon custard filling, and a fluffy meringue. My brother was grillling ribs and BBQed chicken, and I thought Paula Deen's pie would hit the spot. The crust went OK, but I'd never made a lemon custard pie filling before. First, I had the heat up too high and cooked some of the egg whites. I strained it and started again. Then, I didn't let the mixture thicken enough. So I had to strain it again, put it back in the pot, and redo my crust. I finally got the hang of it, and I think it turned out excellent. My grandparents loved it. So did my brother. And, I must have too considering I ate three slices that day. My only complaint is that I thought my second crust was too sweet. (I was fairly frustrated at that point, and just eyed the ingredients instead of measuring.)

After lunch my grandparents and my brother helped me pick and shuck two 5-gallon buckets of corn. Once the corn was packed in the cooler for the ride home, we cracked open one of the season's first watermelons. My grandpa had picked the best looking one earlier that morning. We sat under thebig oak tree and savored our afternoon snack.

And for my blog readers, I took a photo tour of my grandparent's garden. What a garden it is! Folks, this is what I call Independence. In this garden (above) they've got purple-hull peas (my favorite), string beans, corn (lots and lots of corn), squash, zucchini, cucumbers, cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelons. And in this garden (below) they've got peppers, more corn, and some fruit trees. I can't remember if those are grapes or muscadines. And those are just the summer crops...And then there are the Tomatoes.

Ah, the tomatoes. All organic. Getting fat on my granny's beautiful compost. The plants are at least 6-feet tall. The fruit is divine, as perfect as you can get a tomato. My brother took my photo in front of the plants so you can see how tall they are. I'm about 5'2". Wow!

My granny sent me home with the corn I picked, some peas my brother picked for me, string beans, squash, and cucumbers. And my pawpaw put a cantaloupe in the front seat when I wasn't looking. Yum-yum.