The Fourth of July is a day of fireworks and grilling out. It's a day of parties and picnics, music and festivities. For this is the day we come together as a country to celebrate our political independence. We celebrate all that is good about our country, and all that we love about being here. 

Yesterday's Exclusively New Albany event at the mayor's house was a fantastic success. Almost 450 people came to see the displays of more than 70 local businesses, artists, and organizations. The weather was hot but not oppressively so. The food was delicious and bountiful. Drink flowed, music played, bellydancers danced, and art was proudly displayed.

Many of us who grew up in Kentucky may have memories of going down into our grandparents' cellar to retrieve a jar of green beans, canned the previous summer. I know I do. I also remember the sinister hiss of the pressure cooker as my grandma went about the mysterious business of transforming summer's bounty into winter's sustenance. While it was a familiar sight, the activities themselves were foreign and mysterious. I never understood the alchemy that preserved food.

Don’t get me wrong. I heart Bardstown Road Farmer’s Market as much as the next person. But admit it, isn’t it more about being seen with your hand-crafted Ecuadorian re-usable hemp bag than actually buying some food for the week?

Tis the season to bring home food I would never purposely buy, and figure out what to do with it. Our farm share with Misty Meadows Farm (http://www.mistymeadowsfarm.vpweb.com/) has started up again. This means that instead of planning menus and then grocery shopping in search of ingredients every week, my husband and I plan recipes around what we receive in our share that week.

Farmer’s markets are starting to swing around Louisville now. I can’t stay away, even when it’s just eggs, over-wintered greens and green tomatoes. But I was gone for a couple of weeks and voila!

I was disappointed when I learned our latest stimulus wouldn’t come in a single payment. So much for buying airfare to some exotic destination!