Green Party Foods

So you consider yourself a pretty good earth steward... you're clean, green, low impact and you're hip on global warming. What does it take to transform your squeaky clean green image out into the backyard? I see it like "taking your green on the road." Make it fun... you're about ready to get your barbeque freak on and you ask yourself, "What can I do to make this Cool Q as green and earth-smart as it can be?" Here's a couple pretty simple starters.

GO OUTSIDE

Simply by getting outdoors and turning your indoors off, you're already saving mega loads of electricity. Even turn off your air conditioner if you're bold. Find yourself an old school "Smokey Joe" kettle grill and let the magic come to you. No propane or other gases needed- just stamped wood and wood bi-products charcoal briquettes. Get the cheap ones and please don't use the lighter fluid for the start- use a couple sheets of wadded up newspaper and a charcoal chimney if you've got one. See, you're getting greener already.

BUY LOCAL

So the grill is going leaving you just enough time to quaff about 1.5 beers before the cooking begins. Whatever you throw on the grill, make it local. Local chicken is very easy to find, in fact you can even grow them in your backyard if you're so inclined. It's common for municipalities to allow up to a half-dozen birds per property and that's a pretty steady source of eggs when you think about it. Obviously, your local farmers market is your best means of participation and a shining endorsement for the "Locally Grown" movement that is afoot. Beside the fact you're doing your neighbors a good, you're keeping the revenue in the community and not paying someone else the unit cost of the product- plus fuel, shipping, distribution, labor, taxes etc. to get that cold, dry, stamped chicken breast from Chili.

WHAT'S ON THE MENU?

Straight from the farmers market down the street, scratching the back of a local guy I don't know, we've come up with a pretty green, well-rounded, eco-friendly and healthy faire for a cookout. No appetizers required. Beer.

Mixed Greens, Mint and Radish with Cranberry Vinaigrette

Local Asparagus shoots in lemon butter and rosemary

(1) 4x4x4 Slab 'o Cornbread

New baby rounds and golden potatoes with chives and lemon butter

(3) Beer Can Chicken, smoked in a brightly scented Applewood riff raff and soaked (marinated) in Jack

Dessert... Strawberry shortcake with ice cream made by the local dairy that picks up our local farmers milk ( they make a mean batch of curds as well) It's a perfect blend of garbage in garbage out, Local.

SERVE IT UP

This is pretty simple and sometimes I feel silly even mentioning it but have you ever wondered what the backyard barbeque would be like without all the plastic and paper products we've become accustomed to? Try it sometime - Eliminate all the paper plates, plastic forks and cups and all the Tupperware type plastic containers that swell from your cupboards and instead, take a step back and use your regular indoor plates and silver. It works- It's easy. To compliment that idea is something else taking shape slowly but surely... Bamboo dinnerware. This is a great hybrid and compromise between indoor and outdoor 'ware'. The bamboo stuff is nice because it's like washable picnic ware. I like it. Finally, (and this one kills me) throw away all the plastic water bottles and drink responsibly from glass, the end of the hose or from the nice metal bottles that flood the market today. No liners, no BPA. It's all good.

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