Best. 4th of July. Ever.

It was a strange bedfellows situation: The American holiday of Independence…celebrated in France…and…hosted by the BRITISH??? Quel bizarre! I think the English secretly miss those wayward colonies. Held at the Leran party palace of Gwenda and Julian Gray and catered by the ingenious culinary talents of Jo Heritage, Saturday evening was ablaze with red, white and blue.

I have attended my share of 4th of July celebrations before, even marched in a parade wearing a Statue of Liberty costume. Our idea of effort on the 4th is a 12-pack of beer and a slab of meat on the BBQ, bowls of potato chips fresh out of the bag, and a few rounds of fireworks. Well, this certainly put us to shame.

The tables were generously spread with delicacies hailing from nearly every state in our Union, except Utah green Jell-O (thank you very much). Gwenda and Jo poured over cookbooks for two months, fine-tuning the menu items. Alaska salmon, Texas red bean wrap, Delaware blue cheese dressing, Louisiana prawns, Kentucky fried chicken satay, and I think you get the idea. But the piece-d’resistance of course, were down-home American hot dogs and hamburgers (a la ketchup), en petit mode. Desserts included chocolate decadent brownies, key lime pie and strawberry compote. All washed down by the local bubbly. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Finger lickin’ good, as the Colonel would say.

Attendees wandered in and out, not flustered by the occasional downpour. Julian was rarely spotted without a bottle in hand, refilling a guest’s vessel; Gwenda flitted to and fro, gathering empty plates, chatting with neighbors and seeing to everyone’s comforts. Jo, who had insisted that she had never catered a finger food party before, either had serious beginner’s luck or wasn’t telling the whole story. It was smashing, food was gobbled up in true American style---a real compliment!

Unfortunately, the Queen couldn’t make it due to other commitments. Rumor has it, however, that in her place an infiltrator snuck in. Terror broke out through the masses, and when he reached out to shake hands with Doug…..well, Doug refused. The individual was escorted outside

It was one humdinger of a party, guys and gals! Much obliged.