Wednesday, July 4, 2007

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!

13 comments:

Amey said...

Cool!
That looks like fun! I was in a Fourth of July parade yesterday... and I wish someone had a fire hose around!

The fake dalai lama is intriguing. Is there a big Indian population in Boise?

I'm fascinated by the sun-scar connection. That really makes sense. When we were in Croatia last summer, I took quite a spill on our day trip to Montenegro - and I've got a scar on my shin still to remind me of that happy moment. I kept thinking that it didn't seem like THAT big of an incident, and now I see that it was probably all the subsequent sunbathing in the Croatian islands that got me the scar! Still, I don't think I'd take it back. Ha ha.

Our Boise visit is just a week away!! Let's you and I email about a possible meet up. Monday the 16th is looking good for us. :)

:) Amey

theONLYtania said...

I am definitely intrigued by the pork tenderloin. I neeed to get that DVD.
I'm glad your weather was nice.. we had heeavvy thunderstorms here! The girls are cute as always :-)

aTxVegn said...

You had a great 4th! Your meal looks fantastic and the parade looks so fun. Strange about the bread, though.

Your girls are too darn cute!

julie hasson said...

What a fun holiday Vicki! Seeing the parade pics made me miss Boise. My kids used to love all of the parades.

Your 4th of July food looks sooo good! I've got to keep my eye out for some fresh corn. I love your new clay cooker too (with that gorgeous roast in it); )

madeinalaska said...

what a touching story about Abis shirt and thh veterans for peace guy!
What a bummer about the soda bread..
take care
Julee

urban vegan said...

What a great day with great food and company--your lovely family! Amazing how much emotion can be distilled into a single symbol.

laura k said...

Ah, the festivities look like such fun... I used to love things like that on the 4th but now I would just rather chill out! It sounds like your girls had a nice time, and the stories about the veterans made me choke up a little!

Mmm, your feast of mostly local foods looks delicious!

bazu said...

Aw, I loved the story about Abi's shirt and the veterans. Yesterday, we volunteered with the Syracuse Peace Council to man a table at an arts festival, and everything was going well until a couple of people came up to us and started yelling (like, really screaming) about how wrong we were, and how offensive we were to troops. Even though, all the peace council wants is troops brought home to safety, far away from a nightmarish, unwinnable, illegal war. Ugh!

MeloMeals said...

the story about the vet and abi brought a tear to my eye....

what an ecclectic crowd for the parade.. sometimes, I think about moving to california.oy..

your dessert looks great in the last post. I can't wait to see what everyone entered..

Anonymous said...

I really want to get that DVD but it's just not in the budget right now. Too many other thinks are taking precedence. Your roast looks delicious though and I must admit I can't get the chocolate mint melties out of my mind. I'm going to have to pick it up sooner or later!

Love Abi's shirt. I think it's so awesome how a simple symbol can mean so much. What a wonderful message. Especially on the 4th.

I'm really fascinated by the sun/scar info. I'm curious to see how it works out for Art when he's through healing.

Looks like you all are having a wonderful summer.

Crystal

Dan said...

who said vegan food was boring? This looks DELIGHTFUL!

Tofu Mom (AKA Tofu-n-Sprouts) said...

Ohhh, love the whole post. But I must say the seitan is awesome! I just made some last week and it had such a funky shape... turned out YUMMY but not pretty like yours...

KleoPatra said...

What a great post... i love the parade! Your kids are amazingly adorable. Poor Art and his face! i hope he is healing.

i could go on and on about all the posts i've missed over the last week... wonderful, all of them!