Life Lately: Celebrating the 4th of July, hot dogs on the grill, and staying cool with Luna Pops

Ah, July!

When the conversation turns to summertime and the month of July, the topics we discuss are:

• *What are we doing for the 4th of July?
• *What are we doing to stay cool?
• *What are we grilling?

We love a good old fashioned cookout at our house on this holiday, whether it’s just the two of us or it ends up being twenty of us.  I’m talking burgers, hot dogs, and even some lobsters (girl from New England and all)!

We have a family saying…

My mom came to the United States from Sicily years ago, and the first time she had a grilled hot dog at a 4th of July get-together, she thought it embodied everything about the US and being an American.  People gathered together to meet up with friends and family, to prepare, cook, and share a meal, and to watch fireworks after the sun went down.  This sense of community is something my mother believes with her whole heart, and it is also something she passed along to her children.

So…the family saying?

Although the official start date of summer is June 21st, my mother believes: “It is not summertime unless you have eaten hot dogs off the grill.”

“All that blistering adds flavor,” she would say.  Your hot dog bun with a top slit, condiments to suit your taste buds (ketchup for me; relish for my older brother; mustard for my mom), and voila!  Summertime is here, and in full effect.

How do you dress your hot dogs? (c) Jay Wennington/Unsplash

With the temperatures sweltering in the high 90s + a good healthy dose of humidity (did I mention we don’t have AC?),

we kept this 4th of July week fun and fantastic with the help of cold watermelon and Luna Pops.

Luna Pops are the ultimate snack for these hot days!

Hope your 4th was happy!  What did you do?  More importantly, what did you do to stay cool?