Tasked with bringing a side dish to a holiday cookout at our community pool, I went with the “what’s in stock?” route and came up with a pretty nice platter!

I threw together an easy platter with garden cucumber, green pepper and ground cherries. Have you tried a ground cherry? This year is our first time growing them in our garden and the flavor is distinct and unique. They are sweet, yet tart and tangy. I can't quite decide if I like them just yet but I suspect you either have a taste for them or do not. 

I made an easy ranch dip using Trader Joes Ranch Seasoning, sour cream, mayo and a bit of milk to thin it out. This is my favorite way to make ranch dip and it's always a hit! I found some beef sticks and cheese in my fridge and ended up with a beautiful arrangement of goodies. The platter was empty by the end of the cookout. 

It just goes to show, you can make a healthy, full side dish for a gathering without spending a lot of money and with minimal effort. 

It was a beautiful, albeit HOT day and the food was on point! Our community pool is a bit of a hidden gem on the western side of our county. People drive from miles away every single day. Luckily for my family, it's just a two minute drive! This picture was from our 4th of July shindig and we had the largest crowd we have possibly ever had! The more the merrier when it comes to community. 

These pool time memories are what I hope my sons will remember fondly one day when they look back upon their childhoods. I wonder if they will know that sometimes it was hard for me to go, but I always took them anyway because their childhood memories are my fuel. I took them to swim when I battled heavy grief, summer after summer. Watching them have fun became my medicine and became very healing for this hurting mom. One day, they may understand all of that but for now, we swim and we laugh. 

We eat good food, we fellowship with our community and we make sure to lather on the sunscreen!

Blessings,