Celebrating in the American Way.

Although today Christopher and I have absolutely no plans (what with shooting off fireworks last Saturday and all), we did have some friends over for a cookout-y meal last night. And it dawned on me, as I looked at the food on the table, that this is a very odd holiday when it comes to All Things American -- especially where the food is concerned.

You see, Thanksgiving -- as far as the food and tradition are concerned -- is truly the quintessentially North American holiday. After all, as far as I know, only Canada and the US have them. And, Thanksgiving -- at least in the States -- has at its center foods which can really only be found here (like Turkey and Pumpkin Pie). On the other hand, the food on the Fourth of July is usually much more... well... international. Sure, there are the stand-bys, like burgers on the grill or Jell-o salads, but you never know what else will be on the table. For instance...

We started the evening with a homemade Lavender Lemonade (Christopher combined a few recipes he's found and came up with something amazing), which was served along with our appetizers: Guacamole and Chips on one side of the table, Fresh Vegetarian Thai Spring Rolls on the other.

After the lemonade was gone, we moved on to Lime Sorbet and Coke "floats" (although the sorbet sank, so "float" may not be the right word), some with Rum, some without.

When I headed outside to drop the Hamburgers on the grill, they were accompanied by Zucchini and, eventually, Asparagus (the latter two, once grilled, were tossed with lemon juice, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper... yum.) -- and a couple of Tofu dogs, as well. Back inside, we were met with a Bok Choy salad and a Chickpea and Couscous salad (with some kind of cheese and veggies in it -- it was really good).

Palates were cleansed with slices of Watermelon, and we finished the evening with both a Strawberry/Rhubarb pie and a frozen Key Lime pie -- both with a lightly sweetened homemade whipped cream.

Maybe that's what makes the Fourth so American, though: The fact that the foods come from all over, yet fit together to make a wonderful meal. Great American Melting Pot, indeed.

Oh. And as a bonus, I found this amazing (-ly silly) video (sorry... haven't figured out how to embed a video directly into my blog, so you'll have to click through to it.) while reading someone else's blog this morning. Oddly enough, it also makes me kind of proud to be an American (and it has fewer calories than most of what I ate, yesterday).