Hot dog

Eastside Road, July 4, 2014—

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! We celebrate it on the couch, watching the World Cup games — Cook sees to it that they're recorded, and we watch them delayed. That isn't easy: it means we have to stay off all social media and even incoming phone calls and any Internet connection, lest someone spill the beans. We don't want to know the outcome in advance!

And what do we eat on this important day marking our independence from the overweening English? Why, typical American: Hot dog on a bun, mustard from our ally France, pickle relish, Lou Preston's remarkable sauerkraut, a sliced raw onion, and the first tomatoes of the season.

Sierra Nevada pale ale