4th of July and Garlic Pasta Recipe

Hello, friends. 

I hope you all had a great 4th of July! We certainly did here!

In the morning the girls and I got up and started cooking. We ended up making baked beans, a blueberry and strawberry layered mousse dessert for our red white and blue theme, as well as macaroni salad. We made burger patties and prepared everything to grill out later in the day. After cleaning up the house and mowing the yard everything was set and ready to go. (Thank you, Aaron for doing such a great job on the yard!)

Kayla - All Decked Out for the 4th!

I started the grill about 4:30 in the afternoon and got the meat on, and by the time it was done our company had arrived. My mother-in-law Lisa came, along with her new boyfriend, Terry. Also in attendance was my sister-in-law Izzy, and her fiancé Christen. We ended up bringing the food inside to eat after we grilled it because it was way too hot at 95 degrees F. to enjoy much outside time while the sun was still shining.

Me and My Double Beauties

After we ate in the evening we went up to our church to view the Worlds of Fun fireworks from there. We get a great view from the parking lot there. This year we couldn't afford any fireworks but Terry ended up bringing some with him and when we got back we shot them off. They were very pretty and the girls really enjoyed the sparklers.

Watching Fireworks Over Worlds of Fun

Overall it was a great day and the girls had a lot of fun. We got to get to know Terry a little bit and look forward to spending more time getting to know him in the future.

Shortly after our company left a very strong thunderstorm hit. Thankfully we never lost power completely but I feared that we might because it kept pulling down. I have a tree in my backyard that I worry about every time it storms. I think my brother is going to try to come cut it down for me soon, and I will be thankful to not have to worry about it anymore.

This morning Alysia was very sweet. Last night we were too tired to do much cleanup from the holiday and so we went to bed. I got up this morning and Alysia had gotten up early and on her own accord had taken it upon herself to do some of the cleanup. There really wasn't that much left to do when I got up. I swept the floors and we got rid of some trash.

This afternoon and evening I have been working on school with Alysia still trying to get her caught up. Hopefully that will be done tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime Kayla has been watching Finding Dory, which is apparently one of her new favorite movies.

Aaron is at work tonight and I'm just kind of trying to keep everything a little bit low-key. We had plenty of leftovers from yesterday, so I didn't end up having to cook dinner. I did make a very simple garlic butter pasta for lunch. It was super delicious and I'll tell you how I made it here.

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Garlic Butter Pasta

1 pound spaghetti

1 stick butter

¼ cup olive oil

1 head garlic

1 large handful of fresh basil (can use dried)

1 teaspoon garlic salt

2 teaspoons garlic powder (or just sprinkle until the ancestors tell you to stop)

Salt to taste

Cook spaghetti to al dente. Meanwhile, chop garlic. Put butter and olive oil into a skillet and melt. Add garlic and saute until soft. Wash and chiffonade fresh basil and throw into skillet. Drain pasta. Add butter mixture, garlic salt, garlic powder and salt. Toss well and add more seasoning if desired. So delicious!

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Well…that’s all for today. I have to fold a load of laundry and grade Alysia’s math final as soon as she finishes here in a moment. Have a good night!

Amanda