playing to the crowd

Amy Thielen's new cookbook, Company, shares a blueprint for hosting a Fourth of July party with fresh takes on all the classic fixings and none of the stress

- AMY THIELEN

reformed dill dip with iced garden vegetables Good old vegetables and dip might seem basic, but they're actually the perfect start to a big summer spread. It can easily be prepared ahead of time, doesn't take long to pull together, and it won't spoil anyone's appetite.

home-ground burgers with hot-and-sauer pub cheese It's hard to beat the nostalgia factor of a burger on the grill, and to make them special, build in layers of flavor with a spice rub and a tangy basting sauce. Pub cheese, a cousin of pimento cheese, is rich with aged cheddar and spiked with tart sauerkraut and smoked paprika; it melts quickly and conveniently on top of the burgers on the grill. Want to really wow them? Grind your own beef or cook a beef and bacon combo.

In the rural Midwest of my youth, there were no "dinner guests." The people coming to dinner were always referred to as "company." My guess is that "guests" felt too formal or came with some sort of pressure to perform or to impress. But with company, the energy can flow in the other direction: The people bring the fun. They entertain us rather than the other way around. Curiously, company is also both plural and singular, meaning, of course, that it takes just one guest to turn an ordinary Friday night into an occasion.

My mom was always cooking for others, I think because she truly enjoyed feeding people. In the winter, she threw fancy holiday parties, where everyone kept their shoes on, the women's high heels sinking into the soft, deep turf of the carpet, and where she served finger food and gave out door prizes. In the summer, she hosted neighborhood parties in our garage. A fleet of potluck dishes covered a table made out of two sawhorses and a door, a tiny boom box in the corner belted out the Top 40, and it wasn't over until every blackbottom cupcake had been given away.