Known mostly for fireworks and cookouts.. And that's cookouts, with a grill and a wide assortment of meat.
We were invited to a couple cookouts, and ended up going out to my brother's in-law's. The pickins' included hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans with bacon.. In other words, the usual fare.
So, we just took our own. Our hot dogs were made of soy and pea protein. My husband even had his cooked on the grill. (I nuked mine, as I've never liked that 'smoke' taste.) We also brought our own vegan-friendly buns, some sauerkraut, and Sun Chips.
As anticipated, people asked what we brought, started inspecting the labels of our buns.. to see if they were actually vegan. Almost as if they were trying to catch us cheating.
I'll give my brother credit though.. He was perhaps the most avid meat eater in the bunch, and he actually tried one of our soy dogs. First he picked it up and smelled it.. untrustingly. Nevermind that he had just watched me eat two of them. It just cracks me up when people are 'iffy' about eating something that is plant based.. but completely fine with some ground up leftovers from a dozen different animals.
So, as my brother was getting ready to take his first bite, another person chimed in, "Why are you going to eat that? Just cut off a piece so you don't waste it."
Dude was getting criticized for being willing to try it?
But, my brother ate it.. and he ate the entire thing.
He didn't love it; but he didn't hate it. His first comment was, "Well, the texture is a pretty close, but the taste isn't great." Then, about halfway through, he added, "It's not that it's like jelly.. but something is missing."
At that point, I reminded him, "I think it's missing that snap when you bite into it. You know, that 'snappy' intestine casing."
He chuckled and agreed that was perhaps the difference.
His wife quickly tried to ignore what we were talking about.. so she could eat her food without thinking about it (an issue I've addressed before).
At any rate, I give him credit for at least trying. And though it obviously didn't change his eating habits.. it at least let's me know that he's got an open mind about it.
I want to also address that it didn't feel difficult at all to stick to vegan on this 'cookout' day. Most of the non-vegan things didn't look good to me, like the mac & cheese, or chips and dip. And being vegan kept me from eating a bunch of cookies and brownies that I just don't need.. and sincerely, didn't even really want.
No comments:
Post a Comment