Friday, July 4, 2008

American cookout + sparklers

To celebrate America's independence Stefan and I had a nice evening cookout. I made black bean burgers from scratch and was happy they weren't only delicious but also survived grilling. For dessert I used one of my precious mixes and made a whipped Oreo delight.

Something that is comical, or perhaps marketed towards American ex-pats like myself, are the product names and packages. The burger buns we used were called 'Tennessee Hamburger'. The sour cream chive dip was also Americanized with both a Statue of Liberty and the Golden Gate Bridge gracing the lid. I really love seeing how things are portrayed here and finding the occasional item named after a US state. I'm curious who in the marketing department decided that Tennessee was known for burgers or that it was such a great name that it would simply sell itself. They also chose very American baseball players to put on the side of the package.

Stefan made me laugh by asking what movies are traditional for the 4th of July and if we could call my family and sing 'Born in the USA' by Bruce Springsteen. 'I'm proud to be an American', 'The Star Spangled Banner', or 'You're a Grand Old Flag' is probably more appropriate, but I think we'll spare them.

Instead we spent the evening laughing at Germany's funniest home videos and enjoying a few sparklers. Aren't they beautiful? I'm even sending my love back home with a sweet little heart.

3 comments:

N said...

Your food looks so delicious.

Caitlin said...

The "American" products here crack me up too. They sell "Penn State" pretzels and "Maryland" chocolate chip cookies.

Emily said...

Bluefish - the food was quite good... for once I could make black bean burgers that didn't fall apart!

Caitlin - I love that you also have the state inspired foods. It sounds like a blessing you can even get chocolate chip cookies. I hope they aren't a disappointment.