Update: Fourth of July 2012

I hope you all had a great Fourth of July! Rick and I finally arrived at his parents' house in Newman, CA for the holiday.

We spent this year's Fourth of July party at our friend's house (Kim and Lance; check out Kim's family blog!). Rick's mom and sister prepared delicious olive pasta salad, fruit salad, and grilled corn, while I made the snickerdoodles that Rick wanted! We also had vegetarian baked beans on the side. This is what my plate looked like:

We're all about side dishes. ;)

On the table were chips, hummus, salsa, pretzels... All of the little snacks that we all know and love.

Too bad there weren't any baby carrots for the hummus!

 After Rick opened many gifts for his birthday (he loved my gifts), we had dessert:

Pardon me, I had to use flash for this one. Heheh.

Rick took two out of the many snickerdoodles I baked and made mini ice cream sandwiches with them using Tempt Vanilla Bean ice cream and fresh strawberries. It was a simple yet genius idea. I savored every little bite. ^_^
Finally, we went outside in the warm night and watched our friends light some street fireworks (don't worry; they're legal). Fireworks are pretty difficult to capture on camera!

The fireworks were very fun to watch, though I was nervous for our friend who was lighting them. We then stayed up past midnight playing Yomi and Apples to Apples with our friends and hosts of the party. It was a great Fourth of July!

Oh, by the way, Rick and I found many vegan options up here so far. Take a look for yourself and see the foods we've eaten lately!

Veggie burrito from La Victoria Taqueria in the southern part of San Jose

This burrito was really yummy. It had rice, beans, salsa, guacamole, and potatoes which were wrapped in a spinach tortilla. It had a great spicy sauce on the side.

Hummus and fresh veggie wrap from Togo's, also in south San Jose

My first order from Togo's ever! This wrap was also bundled in a spinach tortilla, like the burrito from La Victoria Taqueria, though this one was lightly grilled. It's originally made with Feta cheese but we simply ordered extra hummus instead. On the side was a yummy vinaigrette.

Fruit Tangos from Casa de Fruta in Hollister, CA

Ah, Casa de Fruta; dried and fresh fruit, vegetables, on-the-road snacks, teas, and miscellaneous doodads galore. We picked up some of these fruit tangos, which are blended dried fruit rolled in dried coconut shreds. They were pretty good! I bought them because I was craving homemade Larabars. ;)

Rick and I only have a couple of days left until the long drive back to San Diego, so I still can't really cook or bake with freedom right now. Chances are, I'll be posting yet another update before then. However, I think Rick's mom has a recipe for us...