Our annual; July the 4th dinner

Independence Day.
(Above: Isaac aged four with his favourite watermelon.)

This became quickly obligatory when Dixieland came to Wiltshire because you can take the boy out of Georgia, but you can't take Georgia out of the boy. Here's what I cook --it's not necessarily a traditional July the 4th lunch or dinner, but these are dishes that make him feel at home. (Twice).

Iced tea
coleslaw
baked spiced ham
green bean salad
biscuits
cornbread
plain summer tomatoes

The coleslaw recipe you are looking for is earlier in my blog. In addition, try this: Southern recipes with a few tweaks from me.

First of all, make sun tea for your iced tea. Rather than brew the tea with hot water, try making your tea with cold water --as much as you'll need for your guests in the proportion you like (roughly, one tea bag to a person?). I make this in big jugs and I would try to use Orange Pekoe tea, which is the one my mother in law recommends. I have had success brewing with Yorkshire tea, though. But it doesn't have that slightly floral note that I like.

So, on goes the cold water to the tea. In a big jug. Then into the sun it goes to brew for an hour or even two. Then, tea bags out and into the fridge it goes. It needs to be properly cold. Then you serve it sweet, or not, with a little lemon -- and I also like some big sprigs of mint, although we're heading for Morocco not Macon here. Best to add lots of ice, too.

I did have all the rest of the recipes here for you but my broadband failed and my work was not autosaved. So beware: keep pressing Save Now! Write more this evening.