As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, our nation is not at its best. Last week, The New York Times columnist Bret Stephens wrote about cringing for the country we have become.
Our enormous income inequality evokes comparisons to the Gilded Age. Our politics are marked by division and incivility. We are losing much of our international standing. We seem to be abandoning our commitment to civil rights.
Late-night comics have a point when they evoke the flaking, algae-infested Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as a symbol of larger currents in American politics and culture … not to mention the overall deterioration of our planet in this era of climate change.
Nevertheless, I plan to celebrate our nation’s birthday this Saturday and indeed all year long. This country has never been perfect. It has tried, however.
The Declaration of Independence is one of the world’s foundational documents. In contrast to the instigators of previous wars and revolutions, the signers of the Declaration carefully listed the reasons for their separation from Great Britain. And they rooted those reasons in a humanist philosophy that speaks to citizens of the world even now:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness — that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed …”
The Declaration, like all of our history, had its dark sides. In one of our nation’s most famous speeches, Frederick Douglass reminded Americans that the ideals of the Declaration were in direct conflict with “the great sin and shame of America,” slavery.
While he revered the founders’ words, Douglass refused to celebrate the anniversary of the nation’s founding and called upon Americans to live up to their ideals.
Even the actual text of the Declaration has a cringeworthy moment, when our revered founding fathers refer to the indigenous people of this country as “merciless Indian savages.” Clearly, the men who were supposedly created equal had their blind spots. Even so, I would argue, we must celebrate on Saturday … and in doing so pledge ourselves to the better, more moral path that the majority of the Declaration lays out.
I plan to attend two events on Saturday, both of which honor the best in our country. The first is Hawley’s Independence Day picnic.
In Washington, the dueling commemorators of our country’s anniversary, American 250 and Freedom 250, may be at odds.
In Hawley, we know how to come together and nourish our neighbors without acrimony. The meal will be simple. Our firefighters will grill meat (and faux meat), and the rest of us will bring salads, side dishes and desserts.
One of our senior residents, a historian, will read from Joseph Hawley’s correspondence with John Adams, in which Hawley laid out many of the Revolution’s foundational ideals.
Hawley lived in Northampton and never came to our town as far as we know. Yet we are named after him, however, and bear that name with pride. We expect no acrimony, just delicious local food and a commitment to friendship and ideals.
My second event on Saturday will be Mohawk Trail Concerts’ presentation of its annual July 4 jazz concert, this year featuring the Caelan Cardello Trio. Most of the music this summer concert series provides is what one might call classical. Each July, though, it brings jazz artists to the stage.
This annual free concert acknowledges the importance of jazz in American music and of marginalized people in American culture. Jazz evolved from distinctly African-American roots. Frederick Douglass and other Black pioneers were right: Black people were not traditionally welcome in very many places in our supposedly egalitarian country. Their music wafted in through the back door, however, touching the ears and hearts of all Americans. Like the Declaration of Independence, jazz argues for the importance of listening to everyone as all of us improvise our way through life.
Food and music will thus come together for me on Saturday to remind me and others of our nation’s ideals and help us practice them. Others may have their fireworks and family parties. I can’t imagine a better celebration than mine.
In honor of Independence Day, I am making a red, white and blue dessert that is sure to please and isn’t particularly difficult to make: a sundae. It takes advantage of the last of our red, juicy local strawberries. If you can find local blueberries, use them. I was unable to do so last week, so mine had traveled quite a way. The only disadvantage I find with this recipe is that everything has to cool for a while, even overnight. Fortunately, that process comes with an advantage: you will have less work to do on the holiday.
Have a glorious Fourth!
Red, White, and Blue Sundaes
Ingredients:
for the ice cream:
2 cups fresh strawberries (glorious at this time of year)
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 pinch salt
3/4 cup whole milk
1-1/4 cups heavy cream
for the sauce:
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar, divided
1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 cups blueberries
plus, for assembly:
a dab of whipped cream
a few slices of strawberry
Instructions:
Begin by mixing the base for the ice cream.
Puree the berries in a blender.
Place the pureed strawberries and the sugar in a saucepan and warm the combination, stirring, until the sugar dissolves.
Let the mixture come to room temperature; then refrigerate it, covered, for at least 6 hours.
Stir in the vanilla, the salt, the milk and the cream. Combine thoroughly so that the red color spreads throughout the white liquid to make it pink.
Pour the pink liquid into an ice cream maker and churn. If you are using the kind of ice-cream maker that has a frozen insert, start the machine before pouring in the liquid and pour through the future ice cream into the hole in the top.
Once the ice cream has finished churning, freeze it for 6 to 8 hours (or overnight) to allow it to set. If you prefer to eat it right away, of course, you may; you will have soft-serve ice cream.
To make the blueberry sauce (ideally started several hours before you finish making the ice cream), in a smallish saucepan stir together the water, the lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and the cornstarch until the cornstarch more or less dissolves.
Over medium-low heat, cook the contents of the saucepan, stirring, until the sauce starts to thicken, about a minute.
Stir in the blueberries and the remaining sugar. Cook, stirring, until the berries release some of their juice. (This will take very little time.)
Remove the sauce from the heat, let it cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate it, covered, for at least several hours to allow the flavors to meld.
When you are ready to make your sundaes, put scoops of ice cream into 6 bowls. Ladle a little blueberry sauce onto each ice-cream serving. Top with just a little whipped cream and a piece of strawberry to achieve the white and the red in red, white, and blue. (The ice cream is pink.)
Serves 6.
Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning cookbook author and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.