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.