4th of July Celebration

We didn't do much yesterday to celebrate the holiday, other than the installation of our new swimming pool (snort!). I did, however, make a few special treats for our down-home dinner. It's times like these that we feel bad for not living closer to friends & family. It was a bit lonely yesterday.

We were just talking about childhood comfort food the other day, and Matt mentioned Sloppy Joe's and Tater Tots. So, that's exactly what we had. We enjoyed an appetizer of crackers & smooth goat cheese (my favorite), sloppy joe's on honey wheat buns, 'nacho' style Tater Tots, and a creamy, cold dessert.

Vegetarian Sloppy Joe's (courtesy of this site)

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 large garlic, minced
1 large bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 lbs soy crumbles
3 tablespoons chili powder
1-2 jalapeno pepper, seeded (or not)
1 1/4 cups pale ale or brown ale, room temperature
3/4 cup bottled chili sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup finely chopped green onion (or regular onion if you prefer)
hamburger buns
1-2 avocados, sliced (optional)

Directions
1) Warm oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat.
2) Add garlic and green pepper (if using regular onion, add it too). Saute, stirring frequently, 5 minutes.
3) Stir in soy crumbles and chili powder. Cook 1-2 minutes (until fragrant).
4) Add jalapeños, ale, chili sauce and soy sauce.
5) Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring often, about 15 minutes, until thickened.
6) If using green onion, mix it in now.
7) season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve warm, topped with avocado slices (if desired...I desired & oh yes, it was good!).

After dinner we rode our bikes down to Marina del Rey for the fireworks show there. As all things in LA, it's not quite the same spectacle as Chicago, but it sufficed. Funny that very few at the show actually seemed to be born in the US!

(The crowd in the marina, awaiting the start of the show)And, thanks to Martha Stewart's suggestion, I made this cute dessert...

This morning we woke up to the obnoxious chirping of our smoke detector battery...this freaks the hell out of our pets. Therefore, we were awakened not only by the chirping, but also by both pets sitting on the bed in our faces! Thanksfully, we had another battery to stop the awful noise! It always seems to happen in the middle of the night/wee morning hours.

Today I decided to try my hand at baking some blueberry muffins, sans Betty Crocker mix. They were really good! I subbed in a few ingredients as seen here...

Ingredients:
1 cup buckwheat flour

1 cup soy flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup margarine
One egg
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preparation:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly grease a muffin pan.
2) In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the milk, margarine, egg and lemon juice and stir until mixed.
3) Gently add the blueberries.
4) Spoon the batter in to the muffin pan, filling each cup about 2/3 full.
5) Bake for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.