Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Grill Out

In my personal ranking of holiday importance, the Fourth of July falls pretty far down my list. Patriotism just seems a little too imperialistic to me. But there are two things about the Fourth that I absolutely adore — fireworks and grillin' out.

Nothing says summer like a hot, sweaty night spent outdoors drinkin' beer and grillin' tofu. We did that last night, right before lighting off fireworks in a nearby abandoned parking lot. Technically, lighting fireworks is illegal inside city limits, but we don't care about silly laws like that. Nothing says "let's celebrate freedom" like breaking the law, right?

Greg started off our rebellious Independence Day celebration by basting some tofu and veggie kabobs:

Here they are on the cheap-o grills we bought at the dollar store. Mine was only $5 and Greg's bigger version was $10. Score! They're cheap, but we only grill a few times a year and these are reusable. My boyfriend Paul also bought his own small, cheap grill so he could keep his meat far from Greg and my vegan food.

I also grilled some Tofurky Beer Brats that I marinated in Ghost River Pale Ale. As you can see, they're pretty well-done. I like my grilled food a little burnt, especially hot dogs:

Here I am with plate #1. I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in tofu veggie kabobs, but thankfully, I only had room for one Tofurky dog:

My friend Leslie was there too with her daughter Toya (the tiny one) and my friend April's kids, CJ and Paige.

And of course, my boyfriend Paul was there, but his eyes were pretty much closed in all the pictures. After dinner, we wore some awesome 3D rainbow glasses, courtesy of my friend Mike, for the fireworks show. The 3D effect made for a pretty trippy light show. I doubt I'll ever watch fireworks again without 3D glasses.

11 comments:

Get Skinny, Go Vegan. said...

Too funny. I never enjoyed the 4th either, except now I associate it with vegan grilling out of stuff like Tofurky!!
Although this year we drank green tea instead of booze & watched bad tv....very bad tv!!
When summer means disgusting humidity, we close our doors & windows and LOUNGE!

foodfeud said...

3D fireworks sounds like wild times! I'm also super jealous of your grill, cheap as it may be. We just don't have any room in NYC - maybe on the roof? But my bf would defintely have loved those grilled tofurky sausages. "Crispy" is def the way to go.

The Health Sensei said...

you had more of a party than we did on the 4th...we're staying away from tofu and wheat and grills...lol!

"patriotism seems a little too imperialistic for me." - please clarify that quote for me. i'm personally quite ashamed of my country and don't consider myself patriotic, but i don't understand how patriotism equates with imperialism. to me they're totally different meanings...interesting...

Anonymous said...

I love those Tofurkey Beer Bratz. I usually wrap mine in foil with beer and onions and red peppers and grill for about 30 minutes, then crisp them up right on the grill. Soooooooooooo good!

Sharan said...

Oh, we had tofury hot dogs for July 4th. I don't think hot dogs are my thing...I think I am a burger (veggie/vegan) person.

http://totefullofveggies.blogspot.com/

urban vegan said...

Looks like a fab cookout!

Anonymous said...

3D glasses and fireworks, sounds like a winner to me! I totally agree that food from the BBQ has to be slightly black, otherwise how can you tell it's from a BBQ??

Unknown said...

Those brats look great. That's twice this week I've heard of someone eating tofurkey brats so I need to give them a try. I agree with your assessment that nothing shows independence like setting off fireworks in city limits.

vegan.in.brighton said...

I've been embracing Thanksgiving for a few years because I've been jealous of all the yummy food you guys get to eat but I think I'm going to have to start having a 4th of July BBQ now too!

Girl in the pink said...

Mmm those kabobs look great!

I just tried tofurkeys Italian sausages - they were really good!!!

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