A Belated 4th of July

I'm finally making the obligatory 4th of July post. About 9 days later, but at least I'm doing it now, right?

4th of july got off to a fab start. After having gone to the store the evening before for supplies, I spent the morning ever-so-slightly hungover prepping my food (in this case, it was bbq rubbed portobello sliders with grilled mushrooms and home-made barbecue sauce, garlicky grilled beefsteak tomatoes, and strawberries and blueberries grilled with a simple syrup, served with whipped cream.) I took the portobello slider idea from Vegetarian Times and made it my own, by changing the amounts of some ingredients and adding a few other ones. I also had no herbes de provence, so instead of sautéing the onions, we grilled them (let me tell you, vidalias do VERY WELL on the grill!) We watched some of the Twilight Zone marathon as we prepared and then headed out for my parent's house for the Gomez Family BBQ!

We got there round 1pm, and luckily my brother wasn't there so

wasn't the only tardy person. My dad (the gentleman pictured to your right with me) had an assortment of icky chicken breast and sausages (as you can see in the picture above), but my folks were considerate enough to also make yummy sweet corn on the cob, a fruit and veggie salad, steamed young potatoes, and brown rice with pico de gallo that we could all eat. Unfortunately, I was the only one in a Twilight Zone mood, so I was ousted for ownership of the remote control and instead my brother and his fiance watched some weird movie with Hayden Christiansen being operated on while he was still technically awake. Didn't quite catch the name, or my attention.

Finally sat down to eat and dear lord was it deeeee-lish! My family tends to overcook and we had plenty to choose from. My sliders were a definite hit (forgot to mention I added slices smoked gouda on top... divine!) The potatoes rocked my world as did my garlicky tomatoes (although i'll be honest, they needed MORE garlic and maybe some parmesan cheese shredded over it, but I didn't have as much control over the cooking as i'd liked.

Afterwards, I had some of the grilled fruit I made. It was heavenly, except for the fact that it would've been way, way better with perhaps a slice of angel food or pound cake to go along with it. Still, even just with whipped cream it stood alone pretty amazingly. I'm developing a deep and long-lasting love for grilled fruit! Had a little coffee and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon watching some cheesy Hallmark flicks.

Went home and rested for a bit before heading out for part two. We had some of the left-over bbq and watched Twilight Zone (some of the most fab episodes, including one of the most famous ones wherein an old, bookish fellow who is constantly bullied by all for his love of books finally has time to read and be left alone when suddenly everyone else on earth vanishes... only to mistakenly drop his glasses, disallowing him to ever read again. Heartbreaking. "It's not fair!") Had a screwdriver and then headed out to Joe's place.

Had some more screwdrivers there while people played Guitar Hero and I think some kind of Street Fighter game and eventually Mario Kart and Smash Bros. Erik, German, Telma, her brother Jose, and their friend Dani came by and we all had a good time. Shenanigans with kaleidoscopes and all.

Hung outside for a while and I busted out my old sparklers (that i've had for 2 years now hah) and we took pictures and goofed off and discussed Telma's need to go back in to the world of culinary arts (while Tony also toyed with the idea of perhaps pursuing an education in vegetarian cuisine - which would be mighty fine by me!)

The night progressed well and eventually Tony and I were too tired to continue. We opted to take a nap at his parents house which is a few blocks from Joe's and finally got up at 7am to take the sunrise drive back home.

Hope your 4th's were just as pleasant and eventful!