[misc] Happy Patriotic BBQ Jello-shot Pyrotechnic Day

4th of July weekend. I think I eat more booze and food over this weekend than Thanksgiving and Christmas combined. We had Friday off work, so I bought all the BBQ food and ran errands. I set up the holiday-themed front entryway:

Saturday people weren't arriving until the afternoon, so I had all morning to make Sangria and test the jello shots that I made the day before.

I tried making these last year but the white and red layers mixed a bit and made red-pink-and-blue shots. This year, I followed this recipe (WTF is up with this guy's plating technique?). I used the same pyrex measuring cup to mix everything. The red layer is strawberry jello mixed with boiling water to the 1-cup line, then 1 cup of vodka. Pour into dish, refrigerate until firm before adding another layer. Same for the blue layer. The white layer is two packets of Knox gelatin mixed with nearly-boiling water and a can of sweetened condensed milk. This brought the mixing glass to 2-cups, so there was no room of vodka. This layer was firmer than the jello layers. Next year I might only add half of the can of sweetened condensed milk and then vodka.

Anyway, I was consuming alcohol before noon on Saturday. WELL before noon. I prepared most of the food early (pasta salad, potato salad, veg, cupcakes) and then relaxed the rest of the day/night. The men dragged pieces of a dead tree down to the firepit. This is pretty much the only time my firepit gets used. Then fireworks all evening. Here's my only picture:

My camera immediately ran out of space. I downloaded and deleted all the pictures- but then we needed my phone for music. So, I just sat back and enjoyed the fireworks with my eyeballs rather than through my camera. It was better that way. I was worried that the fireworks were going to be too big/loud but they were just right. I can't wait for next year. It's so nice having a pyro display right in the back yard.