Took Us Forever to Blog About the 4th of July Corn Dogs, But We Were Recovering from a Corn Coma

NOTE: You can totally tell that Kelly took the pictures, as they are the least attractive yet. She's nice, but an eye she does not have. - K

KELLY * July 4 * PAR-TAY!!

So, it has taken a while to get this up here, but it's largely because we have been recovering from the 4th of July weekend. As we have done on many occassions, we threw a 4th of July party. When living in NYC, we started doing 4th of July corn dogs and fried chicken. We did the same here last year. All I know is that it was a hit. The other thing I know is that baking wildly and deep frying for hours in the middle of the summer in an apartment with no A/C is rough, BUT in the end it was totally worth it. I started baking on the 3rd (after delivering a 2nd anarchy cake to a friend's house). I decided to do mini cupcakes, as I could make fewer batches. In the end I went back to the mingmakescupcakes site and chose a chocolate Guinness cupcake with sour cream frosting and a red velvet cupcake with butter cream frosting (that I colored blue). Everything was topped with fresh blueberries. Liz spent the 4th making slaw materialize from the CSA items and deep, deep, deep, deep frying. In the end, the folks seemed to enjoy all of the fried items. We had food to feed Steppenwolf Costume Shop for days. I wish we could have corndogs all of the time. (My butt thinks otherwise.) I am also pleased that my need to watch the hot dog eating contest does not hamper my ability to eat corn dogs. That said, Joey Chestnut is a pariah.

ELIZABETH * July 4 * Partay!

She is not kidding. We were exhausted.

The party was great fun - I deep fried for 3 1/2 hours, turning out 40 pieces of buttermilk double-crusted drumsticks and 48 corn dogs. (My attitude about deep frying is thusly: It is a big pain and a big mess. It smells up the house and is hard to clean up. It creates delicious foods. If you are going to do it, do it up. In for a penny...) We made up a new cocktail. We set some stuff on fire. The guest contributions to the potluck were plentiful and creative. See recipes below:

* Aunt Ginny's Corn dogs
(This is enough for one package. We made 5.)

Dogs on sticks (we used all-beef ballpark augmented with one pkg jalapeno-cheddar dogs because Kelly is a teenage boy.)

1 c. Flour
1/2 c. Cornmeal
1 T. Sugar
1/2 t. Salt
1 t. Baking Powder
1 Egg
3/4 c. Milk
1 T Vegetable Oil
1 t. Mustard Powder

Mix this business together and get it to stick to the dogs (this is easier if they are dry, but not easy at all. Silicone spatula helps. Work fast or it falls off.

Drop in hot oil until yummy. (Thanks Ginger.)


* Double-Dipped Buttermilk Fried Chicken

I augmented this recipe with some beer in the batter, but otherwise stuck to it.


* Creamy Coleslaw

Started here but upped the sour cream to mayo ratio and added some honey and water. The veggies included kohlrabi, cabbage, carrots, red onion, and cauliflower.


For the PDR (Piece de Resistance), drumroll.... Our Signature Cocktail

* The Lee Greenwood. (It was gone in an hour.)

1.75 L Svedka Lemon Vodka
1.75 L Welches White Grape Juice
Juice of 1 Lemon
2 L Seltzer (courtesy of Soda Stream via Dr. Caroline Frick-Page, Thanks)
2 c. Blueberries
2 c. Strawberries
Handful Fresh Mint

Mix ingredients and bash around fruit with a spoon. Steep as long as you can before someone drinks it.