Here are some recipes that will make for a fantastic 4th of July celebration. I can guarantee that if you use this menu and these recipes, you’ll have a spectacular spread for your 4th of July celebration.

First are the salads to accompany the meal. You don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen, so here are two salads that are out of this world and will only take a few minutes to make.

Here is a wonderful corn salad. It is easy to make - and it is delicious. Best of all, you can make it the day beforehand so you’ll have more time to enjoy the 4th of July.

Meleah’s Corn Salad

For the other, I’d suggest this great Orange-Feta-Walnut-Field Greens salad. It’s another super easy but scrumptious dish. Have the ingredients on hand, and when you’re ready for the meal, just dump it all in a big bowl, and you’re ready to go. A commercial bottled vinaigrette is great to go with it.

Orange-Feta-Walnut-Field Greens Salad

Next is the drink. You, of course, need Southern sweet iced tea. Anything else is sacrilege. You can use either sugar or Splenda. I always use Splenda - and I love this iced tea made with Splenda. However, sugar would be just as good. I make a gallon of this tea at least a couple times each week.

Sweet Iced Tea

You need to slow-smoke some ribs to make an official 4th of July meal. Buy the best quality babyback ribs you can find. Rinse them well. Then make a rub of salt, pepper, paprika, seasoning salt, onion powder, garlic salt. Just add enough of everything to rub it well into all surfaces of the ribs. Taste the rub before you use it. Be careful not to overdo the salt. Add all the ingredients in a small bowl, mix well and then taste to be sure it has the flavor you want. You will need 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the rub - depending on how many ribs you’re cooking. Once I’ve rubbed down the ribs, I always wrap the ribs well with aluminum foil, place them in a large pan and cook them in the oven at a very low temp for two or three hours (about 275 - 300 degrees). Then I transfer them to the smoker and smoke them for a few hours. Cooking them in the oven for awhile guarantees they’ll be falling-off-the-bones tender. If you don’t have a smoker, you can leave them in the oven until they’re done. THEN transfer them to a grill and grill them for 15-20 minutes to get grill marks and that grilled flavor in them. Use your favorite barbecue sauce when you eat them. YUM! I LOVE smoked/grilled ribs.

If you want bread, just buy some rolls or whatever kind of bread you like - the heat & eat kind. With this meal, bread is secondary and making something from scratch would be a waste of time, in my opinion. Spend your time and efforts on the important parts.

Dessert is next. With strawberries being so plentiful this time of year, I suggest strawberry shortcake. However, don’t go for the same old strawberry shortcake. Use my special recipe for the absolute BEST strawberry shortcake you’ll ever put in your mouth.

Strawberry Shortcake with Custard

Now - wasn’t that a wonderful and delicious meal?

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I awoke this morning to a little voice talking in the next room.

“Daddy here, Grandma Carol here, PawPaw here, Joey here…” and the voice continued as she named all eight members of our little branch of the family tree. RT and I looked at each other and smiled.

“She’s talking about where each of us will sit around the table,” I guessed. I quickly got out of bed and went into the great room of the condo we’ve rented at the beach and found that I was correct. It was Sunshine talking to her mommy as she pointed to the chairs that were placed around the large round table in the dining area.

Soon she, my daughter and I were sitting together as we ate our respective bowls of cereal. The sounds of my grandgirl’s voice and my daughter’s voice in the foreground, and the sound of ocean waves in the background. Life is good.

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Fred Keller is a staunch believer in green business. He feels that companies must do more than simply complying with laws in order to reap long-term benefits. Keller, of Cascade Engineering, was a keynote speaker this past week at a conference on sustainable manufacturing.

Fred Keller

Fred P. Keller is chairman, CEO and founder of Cascade Engineering, a global provider of plastic solutions to the automotive, office furniture, and material handling markets. Keller was “green” before green was cool.

He may not have written the book on sustainability, but for six years, Keller has taught students at his alma mater, Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., about sustainability, innovation and a range of concepts just now reaching the “buzz word” lexicon.

“Six years ago, that was relatively unknown and largely the domain of people who would say, ‘You must be a left-wing tree hugger,’ ” Keller said. “I was pretty adamant at the time that this is something really good for business as well as for the planet and for people.”

Keller built Cascade Engineering to reflect his beliefs about sustainable businesses. He says that equal importance should be placed on the three key types of capital: social, ecological and financial. Not only his sustainable business model, but also his community and environmental programs have earned him wide spread recognition.

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Eric Morris, age 26, obviously was not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. Put together immaturity, a drinking contest and an adult nightclub, and the result was death.

We have witnesses that have described the victim as taking anywhere from 23 to 25 shots in 30 minutes,” Hillsborough County Sheriff’s spokesman J.D. Callaway told ABCNEWS.com.

Eric Morris, 26, was allegedly taking part in a drinking game with another patron at an adult nightclub, Angels Show Bar, in Seffner, Fla., just hours before he died, according to police.

“Apparently [other bar patrons] were describing the shots as ‘cherry bombs,’” said Callaway, referring to a shot of liquor that is typically made by combining cherry-flavored vodka with Red Bull, a popular energy drink.

While Morris’ drinking buddy, who police declined to identify, stopped playing the game after a few shots, Morris kept going.

That’s one time when persistence didn’t pay off.

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Nicole Kidman has said that she is enjoying married life with KEITH URBAN - because their relationship is more ‘gentle’ than her previous marriage to TOM CRUISE. See photos and video here.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban

The 41-year-old actress and Keith Urban were married in 2006. She was married to Tom Cruise for ten years. She tells that her relationship with Keith Urban is very different from her relationship to Tom Cruise.

She says, “We just gently, gently sort of fell into each other. We were just two lonely people who went, ‘Ah, there you are.’”

Nicole Kidman

Nicole and Keith are expecting their first child sometime this summer. The baby will be Nicole’s first biological child, although she has other children she adopted when she was married to Tom Cruise. She says that she was so overwhelmed with joy the first time she saw the baby’s image on the ultrasound machine that she started crying . She just couldn’t hold back the tears. I know how she feels.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban Video

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Last night Dr. Phil McGraw and Robin attended a George Michael concern in Los Angeles, and George Michael “served up Dr. Phil a big can of whoop ass!” Photos and video here.

George Michael
During the concert, George pointed out Dr. Phil and Robin sitting near the front of the arena. When they were put on the monitor, the crowd booed. Then George said that it looked like Robin was having a great time but that Dr. Phil looked bored. The elicited another round of boos. Dr. Phil and Robin reported took off soon afterwards.

Dr. Phil

People called it “tough love.”

George Michael gave Dr. Phil McGraw a little tough love at his concert Wednesday night at the L.A. Forum.

“I probably shouldn’t say this, but it’s very me. Dr. Phil is here, and in the sea of faces he has this miserable look - he’s been doing it for the last hour,” the British singer said from the stage at McGraw, who was in the audience. “Maybe you need to see someone about that.”

A source at the show described the jibe from Michael as “very playful.”

George Michael: Faith on “Eli Stone”

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The History Channel had a program tonight called “MonsterQuest.” It was about pet snakes that were turned loose in the wild. Photos and video below.

The “MonsterQuest” crew researched reports of escaped or released pet pythons in the Florida Everglades. Supposedly they’ve grown into “super snakes” that could eat an entire alligater. Then they headed to Venezuela to look for giant anacondas.

Click the link above to go to the History Channel. The photos and video below aren’t from the History Channel, but they ARE of Giant Snakes. And Lord, wouldn’t you hate to come across one of these giants on a walk through the woods!?

Giant Snake

Giant Sneak

Giant Snake

Giant Killer Snakes Video

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When Tim McGraw saw a fan abuse a woman on the front row of his concert Tuesday night, he yelled for security, but when they weren’t fast enough, he took matters into his own hands. A video of the incident is below.

Don’t you love the way he took hold of the guy and wouldn’t let go?

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Deanna Pappas sent Graham Bunn packing tonight on “The Bachelorette” when he refused to open up to her. Photos and video below. Actually I can identify with him. It would be difficult to not acknowledge the girl is dating and making out with three other guys.

When Deanna walked Graham out to the limo, they sat on a bench to talk first. He gave her a note and asked her to read it privately - not for the show or for anything else - just him to her. She read it after he left and cried that she was afraid she sent the wrong man home. Who knows? The previews for next week showed her having a grand time on “overnights” with the other three. So apparently her doubts weren’t very deep.

Deanna Pappas is an annoying bachelorette. Every week she declares that someone is “breaking my heart.” Her heart’s been broken so many times this season, I can’t even keep count.

Video of Deanna Pappas talking about Graham Bunn

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It’s Nashville Star night again. First of all, Billy Ray Cyrus isn’t a very “natural” emcee for the show. However, he is better this week than the first two weeks. So maybe he’ll continue to relax and be more at ease in the coming weeks of the show. I think it’s just so obvious that he’s reading a teleprompter.

Tonight’s show has the theme of “Pop Goes Country” - taking pop songs and giving them a country feel. The first singer, Gabe Garcia was horrible singing “La Vida Loca” - but the judges acted like he was good. Totally unremarkable peerformance.

Pearl Heart performed “Love Shack.” I have to admit a preference for this group since the youngest sister attends a local school. I enjoyed their performance. The judges had positive things to say. I still can’t stand John Rich, though. He comes across as such an egotistic person.

Allison Gilbert put everyone to sleep with “I Think We’re Alone Now.” What an awful arrangement. The judges agreed with me.

Ashlee Hewitt was next singing “You Drive Me Crazy” - a Brittney Spears’ song. I thought she was pretty good. Not “Nashville Star” good - but good. The judges liked her, too.

Coffey was next with “Umbrella.” He got a wavery voice - rather nasal sounding. He’s singing to his daughter, Savannah. He seems very likeable, but I thought the song was lame. Some talking - some beat boxing. Ho Hum… I don’t think the performance was star quality at all. The judges reactions were mixed.

Laura and Sophie were next. I like them because they’re young and one of them has the same name as one of my granddaughters. They’re singing “PYT” by Michael Jackson (Pretty Young Thing). They sure have harmony down pat. I liked their performance. The judges liked them, too.

Shawn Mayer was next singing “Bye-Bye-Bye” by NSYNC. I really liked it - but then I really like that song, too. She did a good job, though. She looked gorgeous tonight, too. The judges’ reactions were mixed.

Melissa Lawson is next - singing “True Colors” by Cindy Lauper. She reminds me of Wynonna - her nose and cheekbones, I guess. I have to admit that Melissa is my favorite of all the performers. She’s got the most talent and potential of any of this year’s contestants. I think she did a good job on tonight’s performance. The judges agree with me.

So it’s between Tommy and Justin Gaston - the bottom two. Who will go home tonight?

Justin Gaston is singing “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.” Silly song choice, in my opinion. Why on earth would he select such a stupid song? Now that I’ve written that, I have to say that he did a pretty good job of country-fying the song. It’s was catchy. Still not star material, though. The judges liked his performance tonight, too.

Tommy Stanley is last singing “Maniac.” Hmmm - can he make “Maniac” sound country? I WANT to be for this guy since he’s a Navy person - serving on U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. He reminds me of Elliot Yasmin (or whatever his name is) that was on American Idol a couple years ago. Tommy put his whole heart in tonight’s performance, but it just didn’t do it for me. The judges agreed with me.

Who went home? Bye-bye, Justin!

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