4th of July - Fried Squash

The buildup of summer peaks with Fourth of July celebrations. Maybe it peaks because of the heat, or the realization that summer is halfway gone, or a connection we feel as Americans to the spirit of fire, defiance and independence of the founding fathers. For me, it is a combination of all three.

I have always loved history, but my earliest images of America's founding fathers had to do with wooden teeth, white powdered hair and staid speeches about how America was the 'shining city on the hill' that was meant to be. As a History major in college, I was mesmerized by studying the personal stories of the Revolutionary War characters and how the series of events may have never unfolded without these people's desire and passion to create a new kind of government. I'll never forget one professor's description of Thomas Jefferson as 'a red headed hippie'. The government that they argued with each other to create included a framework of checks and balances. But, the specifics were purposefully not set in stone so that it could be an ongoing experiment; with room for future citizens to continue to govern themselves. I think they would be excited to know that we are still experimenting and arguing over how it should all work, and that it is still worth the debate.

So, for me, the 4th of July is a celebration of wild, wacky, defiant ancestors who threw caution to the wind and made an attempt to create a place where everyone had a chance at life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

My July 4th memories begin in Lattimore with camp outs on the farm. We celebrated the 4th with a campout, cookout, sparklers, homemade ice cream and birthday cake for my sister, Penny. Penny was born at Fort Bragg, NC on the 4th of July. How patriotic can it get!

At our Lattimore 4th of July campouts, The Hunt, Martin, Sperling, McMurray, Crawley families and other friends gathered under a big tree near the pond with campfires and sleeping bags. Sometimes, the adults put mattresses on flatbed trucks and slept there. Of course, everyone slept in their clothes and there is a hilarious picture of three men sleeping, all with split seams in the back of their pants.

The first time I ever went frog gigging was at one of those July 4th campouts. Tim Martin and I along with several others got into a flat bottomed boat with 2 oars and rowed out onto the fish pond. We rowed around the edges looking for where the loud, croaking sounds came from and gigged the frogs out of the mud with a pole that had fork tines on the end. When we pulled the frog gig up, Tim would swing the wide flat part of the oar under the frog and flip it into the boat. I remember him comparing it to flipping a burger. "Burger that frog!" became the rallying cry of the night.

When we had enough frogs, we went back to the campfire to cook frog legs. I don't remember who dressed the frogs, but I am betting it was Carl or Tim. We cooked the frog legs in a cast iron frying pan over the campfire and they really did taste alot like chicken. It was the middle of the night; we had experienced wildness and liberty in the wide open spaces and that was about the best feeling in the world.

Lattimore summers in the 60s included a small parade with all the area kids on bicycles that we decorated with red, white and blue streamers. We tied the streamers through the spokes of our bikes and wound them all around the handlebars. Someone would start the parade and when it came by each house, kids would fall in line. We would ride to Lattimore church, park our bikes and march inside to songs like "America the Beautiful" and that was the start of Vacation Bible School. In Bible school, we practiced Bible drills, made crafts, sang songs, had snacks and then rode our bikes back home.

Lattimore still has a 4th of July parade which is much bigger and more organized. A few years ago Cindy and I, along with sister-in-law Kathie, Barbara and several other friends, dressed up like Sweet Potato Queens and rode the Lattimore parade in the back of a pickup truck. We wore long curly red wigs, black cat's eye glasses, sequin dresses and danced the entire parade to Aretha's R-E-S-P-E-C-T. It's a joyful time when liberation and good clean fun come together!

This year, I missed the parade, but I did get to Lattimore Church in time for the celebration. Now the parade winds up at the Lattimore Church ballfield where everything is festive in red, white and blue. Veterans of all ages are honored for their service and then there is music, food and games. It's like a community's family reunion and I always love to be there.

After the Lattimore festivities, we head to Lake Lure for more celebration. This includes more families, more friends and friends of friends. We have alot of friends at the Lake and we roam from house to house on foot or by boat. We swim, walk, kayak, ski, enjoy libations, cook, eat, and cook some more. Water sports makes everybody hungry. There are always alot of fireworks at the Lake. Some of them are even in the sky.

The menu this 4th of July included David's tenderloin, corn on the cob, pound cake, cheese wafers, lots of fresh cold watermelon, and chopped salad with Carol's Fantastic French dressing. We also had Angus Beef Hot dogs with chili, Carol's Blackberry Cobbler, Beth's Brownies, and Rhett's roasted potatoes with his own version of Aioli sauce. I fried some fresh summer squash for an appetizer. Turns out Rhett's Aioli sauce was really good on the fried squash too.

The 4th of July is the peak of Summer. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Fried Squash

Note: Mom, Dad, Mama Crowder, Nishie and Sis have all contributed to the way I fry squash. With four sisters and a mother-in-law named Sister, there is yet another Sis in our lives - Sis Davis. More about Sis and her wonderful cooking later.

1. Pick out the right sized squash for frying. They should not be the smallest or the largest, but should be fairly young and tender. Those hard ones aren't worth the trouble.

2. Slice the squash into thin circles. 1/8" - 1/4". I don't slice the necks.

3. Put the circles into salted water. Sis adds ice or puts in the fridge to get really cold before frying. I think this makes them extra crispy.

4. In one bowl crack an egg or two and pour in some buttermilk. Stir together.

5. In another bowl mix flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper.

6. In a frying pan, heat vegetable oil until hot.

7. Dip each squash into liquid mixture, then flour mixture, then add to frying pan. They need to sizzle in there or they will be soggy.

It is a really good idea to use one hand for the liquid, the other hand for the flour and frying pan. I always wash my hands alot during this process.

8. When the squash is browned on one side, flip over and brown the other side. Sometimes you have to flip more than once. Daddy salts and peppers the squash during this process.

9. When browned, remove each circle to a plate or biscuit pan with a paper towel to absorb the grease. Daddy might want to salt and pepper again at this point. Fried Squash is a vegetable, but we never claimed it was healthy!

Serve fried squash as an appetizer, because they won't make it to the dinner table.