4th of July Recipes: 4 All-American Cookout Favorites

The 4th of July is the one holiday where Jake actually takes charge of the cooking and tells me to sit down, which I do for approximately seventeen minutes before anxiety gets the better of me and I’m back in the kitchen “just checking on things.” He makes these cheeseburgers that are genuinely special—not fancy, just incredibly flavorful and juicy—and he’s convinced that his method is the only correct one. I stopped arguing about it three years ago because he’s actually right, which bothers me more than it should.

The kids go absolutely feral for fireworks. We go to the small-town display, drive back home, and they crash hard, which is perfect because it means actual silence for a few hours. Duke hides in the basement during the big fireworks, which is hilarious because he weighs ninety pounds and yet a neighbor’s bottle rocket sends him into the bedroom to hide with his blanket. It’s his traumatic secret.

This meal feels quintessentially American in the most unpretentious way—good beef, baked beans, homemade ice cream, pie with a crust you can actually taste. It’s not about impressing anyone; it’s about having summer food that tastes like freedom. Jake’s mom made that cherry pie for every July 4th when he was growing up, so there’s history in it. And when the sun sets and the kids are sticky from ice cream and the adults are sitting around talking about nothing important, that’s when you realize the point of the holiday isn’t the fireworks or the flag decorations. It’s this: good food, your people, one long evening where nobody’s in a hurry.