Happy 4th of July

It's hard to believe that today is July 4th.  Our county and most of the state of Indiana is under a burn ban because of the current drought situation.  Here in Henry County, if you get caught setting off fireworks, you will be fined and could possibly visit the local jail.  The local officials will be having their normal fireworks however, but it's just not the same.  I can take or leave the fireworks, but I always like to reflect on those families who are without their loved ones because they are serving our country in the military. 

Today, I'm just chilling at home at taking it easy.  We are remodeling our living room and dining room, so there isn't much house work to do.  I think we're going to have steaks on the grill for dinner, so we needed something cool to go with the steaks...especially since it's in the high 90's outside.

I had seen a recipe on Pinterest not to long ago that I've been wanting to try out.  It's a Paul Dean recipe and after I made it this morning, I decided it was a keeper.  In the summer, when onion, tomatoes and cucumbers are plentiful this is a recipe that you can whip together in minutes.

Aunt Peggy’s Cucumber, Tomato and Onion Salad

This is Paula Dean's Aunt Peggy’s Cucumber, Tomato and Onion Salad: 

Ingredients:

1 pound cucumbers (about 2 cucumbers), peeled and thinly sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (I didn't have any today, so I omitted them)
1/2 Vidalia onion, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
In a large serving bowl, toss together the cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, onion, parsley, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper, to taste. Let the salad stand for 10 minutes before serving.

We like the taste of apple cider vinegar, so I added about 3 T total to the recipe.  We were out of tomatoes, so we just skipped them.  This was a really quick, tasty recipe for a hot day!