4th of July Weekend Photo Diary: Part 2

Yesterday I posted photos from our night of Independence Day festivities.

Today I'll be sharing photos from the day after the Independence Day festivities.

Confused yet?  I am.

But, moving on.

On Saturday we hosted a shindig involving a whole bunch of food and a bit of kubb (shown above).  The kubb action photo was the only shot I got the entire night of any of our beloved guests.

I was so distracted by my need to entertain friends without cutting myself and/or bleeding on the food that I totally spaced taking pictures of the actual festivities.

If you host a party, don't be like me.  For the love of Pete, take photos of your beloved guests.

Technically I caught a picture of the elbow of one of our party people, the knees of another, and part of Mr. Pihl's right hand, but I don't think that counts since I was actually going for the food.

See?

Pathetic.

But the company and the conversation were lovely.

Since thus endeth the photos of human beings, I'll move on to the grub.  Folks brought some kind of snack or dessert to add to our night, and all of it was divine.  Amazing blueberry cobbler.  Refreshing homemade kale chips.  Delicious cucumber salad.  Swoon-worthy corn dip.

We know some amazing cooks!

Mr. Pihl was scheduled to work all day so I was up and moving in a frenzied state of activity from 7:00 am to the time that people started arriving at 6:30 pm.

My Fitbit proves it.

Anyhow, also included in our smorgasbord were juicy watermelon slices, to DIE for California style guacamole (I'll post the recipe), chips and salsa (Herdez is my favorite.  AMEN.), Mexican quinoa salad (I'll post the recipe), a taco bar featuring amazeballs CrockPot pulled chicken for tacos - which turned out to be the EASIEST RECIPE EVER for a crowd, gluten-free monster cookies, and gluten-free rice Chex treats (because GF Rice Krispies were nowhere to be found in my town).

Need counterspace?  Use a cutting board!

The absurdly easy and seriously delicious CrockPot Chicken Tacos.

The Mexican quinoa salad was a light, fresh, and perfect way to balance out the summer heat.

And, my plate - minus the other taco I snarfed down in two seconds.

Our over the top dessert options.  And I wonder why I was so full...

Oh!  I almost forgot!

I also found a divine recipe for a Basil Grapefruit Ginger Spritzer, and made a large batch of mocktails: a non alcoholic beverage that happens to be fancy-schmancy.

I know what you're thinking.  Basil?  In a beverage?  Nope. 

To which I reply, "oh, YES."  

It was amazing, and I knew I had to give it a whirl after I found it on Pinterest (and happened to have a flourishing basil plant in my vegetable garden).

The author of the recipe suggested mixing the mocktail with white wine, which I had ready on the sidelines for those of us who chose to.

I chose to.

And it was divine.