While the politicians breathe their own brand of firepower at each other, the men in the barbecue pits have their own spicy blend of firepower.
I spent last year's picnic in the pits and in the Knights of Columbus Hall to observe the amount of work behind the scenes. The men and women of the St. Jerome Parish worked tirelessly to feed the crowd, and several families explained that they know their duties from year to year.
Last year, the picnic required 120 gallons of farm-fresh corn, 12 cases of green beans, eight 20-pound boxes of lima beans, six cases of purple-hulled peas, 700 pounds of potatoes, 1,500 pounds of slaw and 500 delectable desserts. One parishioner estimated the congregation served 11 tons, or 22,000 pounds, of food to a crowd of 10,000.
The biggest treat came from hanging out with men such as Billy Hobbs in the pits. The pork and mutton slowly cooks for 18 hours over a low fire before it's chopped into small bites inside a tent and eventually served to the public.
"We have our own special barbecue sauce," Hobbs told me last year. "It's like the Bush's Beans dog, you can't give out the recipe."
Totally useless trivia ...
A recent study commissioned by Kraft Salad Dressing found that the ranch variety is the one thing Republicans and Democrats agree on, with 70 percent of those surveyed ranking it as their top dressing. Republicans list blue cheese as their runner-up, or should that be running mate; Democrats list French or Catalina.
Other findings:
— Eight in 10 Americans use the same salad dressing most of the time.
— Women are more likely to favor ranch at 75 percent while men favor thousand island at 39 percent.
— Eighty-six percent of Americans mix their salad with the dressing but 9 percent dip the salad into the dressing.
When summer's at the hottest, nothing tastes better than something chilly with a lemon twist. No, not lemonade. Try this recipe for lemon cheesecake from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.
Lemon cheesecake
2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
2 packages (8-ounces) cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sugar
2 T. cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Juice and grated rind of one small lemon
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat ricotta and cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add remaining ingredients. Beat until smooth. Pour into a lightly buttered 9-inch springform pan. Bake for one hour. Cool completely before serving. Garnish with fresh fruit if desired.
Leigh Landini Wright, The Paducah Sun's features editor, can be contacted at 575-8658 or llandini@paducahsun.com
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