I absolutely love that song by War. It reminds me of summers in Fort Wayne, happier, free times and a wide open future. However, summertime is not actually my favorite time of year now, that would be spring. I'm crazy for the food though so that keeps the seasonal love alive. Fried Chicken, potato salad, corn on the cob, watermelon. This is a true American plate.
The potato salad was made with the usual suspects, eggs, pickles, celery but I used yogurt instead of Mayonnaise and lots of fresh dill and pickle juice, mustard to flavor the potatoes.
My little Barbie oven passed away right in the midst of pre-heating for my baked chicken, so I pan fried it in a small amount of oil. I wasn't sure if that would work but it came out very good and juicy, cooked through, nice color.
American food brings everyone together in the summer. I grew up near the cornfields of the Midwest. Rows and rows of winged Dekalb signs before it was owned by Monsanto. If we were lucky we could buy a bag full from a farmer's stand and shuck it at home. We would wait for Dad's deliberation on if it was sweet enough. It made him so happy when it was. My mom made the best potato salad and used Rach and I to help cut the pickles and mix the yolk with the mustard, guiding us on how much to put in each time. My dad plucked our heads to check for ripeness on the watermelons at Eavey's grocery. It was a major treat to buy a big bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken back then and it never gave you the squirts like it does now. When you put all of it together, summer meals were a real American family experience in the 70's.
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