First Friday Happy Hour AND Fluffy Friday

I am so happy it's Friday! I've started a new summer tradition with the boys on Fridays...for lunch we have "Fluffy-Friday" sandwiches-basically peanut butter and fluff sandwiches! I love fluff-especially strawberry fluff. I know, I know-it's not the greatest stuff around, but something about it screams childhood to me. I usually feed my kids healthy meals and snacks, but every now and then, I offer them treats...so they don't crave it all the time. Besides, how bad is a pb and fluff sandwich if it's made with 100% whole wheat bread and natural peanut butter? It actually has less sugar than some jams out there too. And look at these faces, can you tell they liked it?

Tonight, our neighborhood is having it's very first "First Friday" happy hour. Basically, we are getting together on the street around 6:00 pm-everyone brings chairs, their own beverage(s) of choice and an appetizer to share with everyone. The kids play and the adults chat...how fun is that? We are hoping to do this every first Friday of the month. Should be good times for all? A few weeks ago, I posted about my friend K's bacon-wrapped watermelon rinds...I am telling you, these are the bomb. These watermelon rinds wrapped in bacon...they're sweet and salty, how good is that? This is what I'm contributing to tonight's festivities. The watermelon rinds are sold at our local Publix grocery store. Don't knock it until you try it....Here is the recipe:

Jar of Sweet Pickled Watermelon Rines (top shelf in pickle section at Publix)
Package of Bacon (regular or center cut)
Toothpicks

Cut bacon in three pieces (each slice) I cut all of them at once – two slices with the knife and you’re done
On a cutting board, pour out jar and cut into smaller pieces.
Wrap one rine in a piece of the bacon stick a toothpick in it
Put on a baking sheet on Reynolds wrap
Bake at 400 for about 15-20 minutes
Watch.. you want it just before it burns

As for my beverage of choice...well, I must admit I'm somewhat of a beer-snob. But sometimes you just have to drink the cheap stuff, especially when it's HOT! I was also craving something light. I came across this in the store so I picked some up...sounds very summery and refreshing.
I picked up the orange-grapefruit-flavored one. I've had the pomegranate one before at another gathering and it was surprisingly tasty. I really wanted the lime-cactus one, but they were out. The bottle says it's all naturally-flavored. It's low calorie and low-carb-after all-I'll be running 9 miles in the morning. YIKES! I'll keep you posted. Happy weekend!