Happy Fourth!

Can I just say? Fourth of July is awesome, and even more so than it is in Texas. Love for my state (country) can only go so far as long as it is proud of itself as well... not when they go banning fireworks for fear of drought... all fireworks.

This morning, when I woke up, Kyle was on Skype and warned me how amazing the Fourth was, since, you know, he's from the future. Even though he's in China, he was able to celebrate when the professors offered to take them out to a four course dinner. He ate goose liver and pig skin. He said the goose liver was disgusting. I told him it was because it wasn't prepared by the French. The French have a particular way of preparing their foie gras so that it tastes more like flavored butter than a mouthful of iron.

Then Rachel and I went to the Provo parade with one of my good friends, Rebekah, who got married scarcely two months ago. It turns out that, since her husband had to go to work for eight hours and was getting dinner at work, she had nothing to do from 12-8, so we invited her over to our Fourth of July dinner.

After the parade was over (there was a float for construction working. Only in Utah, eh?) we went over to Rebekah's to chat for a little while, then we went to Smith's to pick up corn and sesame seeds.

Then we started dinner. I made burger buns from scratch. They were amazing. I got them from this blog, which I have decided is my hero.

I promise, they are real. I did not get them from the store. I also made the burger patties with ground beef, grilled onions and garlic, and balsamic vinegar. It was delicious. I'm not certain I could ever go back to store-bought buns ever again. (They are also very easy. Time consuming, yes, but simple and easy.)

This was the best dinner I've ever had in a long while. Especially since it was followed closely by The Cupcake Cafe. Delicious.

It was wonderful to see Rebekah again; I don't get to see her all that often, but I'm so glad that she's happily married to someone who well deserves her. She's such a wonderful, optimistic woman who I admire greatly. She's always smiling, and she's so kind-hearted, so much so that I would aspire to be like her.

Later in the evening, my roommates and I went swimming with several other people in the ward. We played Marco Polo for, perhaps, two hours straight. It's been a long time since I've gone swimming, and I've forgotten how relaxing it is. It's my favorite form of exercise, and if I could, I would go every day. Unfortunately, the pool on campus is disgusting that I hesitate to dip my feet in them. Not to mention, really crowded. Ah, such is life.

I'm in a cooking mood. The kitchen is clean for once, so that must be feeding my odd fancy. I would go bake right now... except that it's midnight.