For the 4th of July this year we celebrated by staying home and playing with our new barbecue and meeting many of our new neighbors. There was a block party on our street for which over fifty of our neighbors showed up to enjoy good food and set off fireworks! Ryan and I barbecued our burgers at home and then brought a big bowl of loaded baked potato salad (recipe to follow) along with us to contribute to the party. Having grown up in dry California with laws restricting how high fireworks can be shot, I was surprised and even a little frightened of the fireworks being shot off in front of our house this year, but we had a lot fun!

Ryan manning our new grill for lunchtime hot dogs, and yes, he is wearing a raincoat on the 4th of July!

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

From the May 2008 issue of “Every Day with Rachael Ray”

Ingredients: (I halved this recipe because I don’t own a bowl large enough to hold 7 pounds of potatoes nor did I want to be eating leftover potato salad for the rest of the summer!)
7 pounds baking potatoes
extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
2 pounds bacon, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
2 sticks butter, softened
2 pints sour cream
salt and pepper
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1 pound cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Pierce the potatoes with a fork; brush with oil. Bake until tender, 1 hour. Let cool, then cut into bite-size pieces.
2. In a skillet, cook the bacon until crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain.
3. In a large bowl, combine the butter and sour cream; season with salt and pepper. Stir in the potatoes, bacon, scallions and cheese. Serve at room temperature. (It’s good heated up, too.)