Healthy Patriotism

Yesterday was, of course, the gigantic 4th of July food-fest at my house. Mmmm-mmm-mmm the patriotism was a-flowing while the burgers were a-grilling. I'm happy to report that there were actually quite a few political discussions going on in the house. Topic discussed included racism, political candidates, gay marriage, gays in the military, the movie Sicko, and the legal requirements to move out of the country. We even had some more healthy dinner choices. Sure, we had ribs, burgers and hot dogs, but the hot dogs were Hebrew National and some of the burgers were turkey! And of course we had the baked macaroni salad and the yummy corn casserole - but we ALSO had roasted vegetables, low-fat slaw, broccoli-slaw salad (Called Olympia salad though I have no idea why) and some other inventive veggie salad options such as wilted cucumber salad. We had a vegetarian friend over who brought his own veggie dogs, and with respect for him everyone was aware to ensure that most of the sides were veggie friendly (watching out for those hidden ingredients).

Yes, we had a little bit of everything. And not just the food. Our crowd represented White, Black, Hispanic, Bi-racial, Male, Female, American, Canadian, Gay, Bisexual, Straight, Single, Partnered, Divorced, Senior, Adult, Teen, Pre-Schooler, Vegetarian, South Beach Diet, Weight Watchers Diet, "See Food" Diet and many more combinations if we looked a bit deeper. But our commonalities were even greater. Friendship - and great food.

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And at the end of the party, as I was feeling the environmental guilt after taking out a full 30 gallon bag of trash from plates, cups and napkins, and emptying the recycle container - I noticed that there were a few folks attempting to pack up their empty dishes. This would never do. It was time to institute a new tradition. BYOT - Bring your own Tupperware. Or Plasticware. Everyone at our parties are encouraged to "take a plate" as there are far too many left overs. Most folks put this on a paper plate and cover it with foil. Our next invitation will encourage them to bring one or more small containers to take their "leftovers" home with them. I'm also tempted to tell them to all bring their own plate and forks too - but I think that might be pushing it.

I have decided that I need to look into investing in some cheap but durable re-usable plates. We do these big meals at least 4 times a year - so this could be a great investment, and a great way to reduce our annual trash output. It just might be time to sell that stock in Chinet....