Fourth of July

A mostly local foods 4th of July:
green salad with red bell peppers
gold beets (boiled & sliced)
mashed potatoes
vegan pork tenderloin (sauteed in BBQ)
kalamata & sun-dried tomato soda bread
corn on the cob
All the produce is Farmer's Market fresh and organic. It's peak season for beets, which I like boiled - leave 1 inch of the stem and don't trim the root to preserve color and nutrients.


This is the 'Vegan Pork Tenderloin ' from the Everyday Dish DVD -- right out of the oven and still in my new Romertopf clay baker as suggested by Bryanna Clark. This roast is easy to make, the process just takes several hours, so find something around the house to do. It'll make enough for a feast, or plenty to freeze. The texture of the roast is outstanding, and can be sliced thinly. We have been having fun slicing it, dropping Earth Balance into a pan, and experiment with different BBQ sauces, teriyaki, and sweet & sour. This roast has already made our Thanksgiving meal plan.

'Kalamata & Sun-dried Tomato Soda Bread' looks lots better in this photo than it tasted. Art and I agreed that something tasted funny with the bread, and we didn't like it. Maybe I took a wrong turn somewhere. Anybody else made this bread before? I usually have good luck with La Dolce Vegan! I now notice that the title has the word soda, but the recipe has no soda whatsoever. What's up with that?





We went to the parade downtown, and the girls found some curbside seats. Funny how a simple shirt like Abi's can bring such emotions... A sixty-ish man marching with "The Veterans for Peace" made eye contact with Abi, and it brought a tear to his eye as he said to me, "That's exactly why we served, so that there would be peace." An elderly vet in a wheelchair made eye contact for a while with Abi and they exchanged smiles and parade waves.



We found solace in the shade, along the parade route. Almost each parade entrant handed out candies. It was touching to see the older veterans coming through in a bus and waving to the kids.

Art accidentally cut his face earlier in the week (dumb story, forget about it) but that's why he is sporting the bandage on his cheek, trying to keep sun away from the healing process. We learned that scars are most often caused by sun exposure to fresh skin once a scab peels. Makes sense -- the new skin burns easily, then there is a color difference, and a scar. Try wearing a band aid on your face at a parade and see how many double-takes you get.





All kinds of different entries appeared at the Boise parade -- they actually call it "The We The People Liberty Day Parade" instead of just "Independence Day Parade" or something short. In this pic you can see a fake Dalai Lama in the float. Art had the chance to attend and tape a Dalai Lama speech several years ago, you can hear it by clicking the "podcast" link at IdahoTunes.com. Also in the picture is some boy driving the float by way of a ship's steering wheel --- this whole entry was quite fun to watch!


But not quite as fun as the firefighter crews that came afterwards, squirting down the crowds with fire hoses. That was sweet because it was getting hot down on the street (though we were lucky having lots of shade).

Happy Independence Day!