Fourth of July in Austin: Eat, Play, Love.

Hey 'mericans!

What are y'all doing for the 4th of July?

This little lady is headed to a lake house. Remember how Ross is gone? His parents, my sweet-in-laws, and I are doing the 4th together, complete with burgers, boating, and babies. (Alliteration non-intentional ... but I'm rather pleased with it).

Here is one of the babies! We have twin nephews on Ross's side, and last time we got together with them, Ross tried to teach them how to play ukulele. As indicated by the instrument being pointed to.

Way too much adorableness!

Anyway, if you're an Austinite, and are sticking around town, here are three ideas I had for local 4th of July fun. Enjoy!

eat:

The Final BUNtier: 4th Annual Veggie Hot Dog Eating Contest

What red-blooded Austinite doesn't have a weakness for texturized soy protein? I sure do!

In all honesty, I've wanted to go to this event every year, but I'm always out of town. Someone go, and take pictures?

play:

Everyone needs a place to watch fireworks on the 4th. And you are no exception.

Beginning at 4:00pm on Sunday, the 4th of July Celebration at Seaholm Power Plant is dishing out beer, barbeque, TexMex, and music. But most importantly, killer fireworks viewing.

Entry is free, but the food/libations are for-purchase. You can also bring a donation to benefit the cause, Anthropos Arts, which brings professional musicians into local Title I, low-income middle and high schools (primarily East Austin) to offer free music lessons, workshops, masterclasses, and performance opportunities to economically disadvantaged youth. That almost made me tear up just typing that.

rsvp here, where you can also find parking info.

love:

Are you cooking and/or grilling for friends? For recipe ideas, please check out my new local blog crush, The First Kitchen.

So, every once in a while, I stumble upon a blog that I frankly geek out over. This time, it's The First Kitchen. And it's written by Natalie, a college student at UT.

Now, many food blogs feature good recipes. Ditto with photography. But The First Kitchen is written by a girl cooking for herself for the first time, which feels like my experience in the kitchen, every time. Also, call me nuts, since I don't know her in real life, but Natalie seems like the type of girl I'd like to hang out with! Her posts are so funny and cute. Observe:

"The First Kitchen is more than a blog. It’s a learning process. It’s you watching me learning how to feed myself. And this week in Natalie’s learning curve: buying too much of one product and then eating nothing but said product for the entire week."

Well this is somebody I can relate to. I am constantly learning how to feed myself, with varying degrees of success, and even more unpredictable levels of culinary inspiration. Isn't it funny how some weeks, you're all, "YAY Farmer's Market! Fresh fruit smoothies and hand-tossed salads, ahoy!" And then the next week, it's back to instant oatmeal? 

Anyway, I am greatly looking forward to learning cooking techniques along with Natalie, and I hope you guys find her food blog as delightful as I do. Her roasted tomatoes in particular look like the perfect complement to your freshly-grilled burger.

happy 4th of july weekend, friends!