Killer Q

Friends had a barbecue. Typically, I go over the top, buying too expensive rare ingredients and coming armed with too much food (I swear). Not so much this time.

Too bad, too, because these foodies would have really dug meg's famous guac or meg's very own original roasted tomato green been salad or even meg's amazing sesame asparagus. Instead, I went to Straub's (gulp!) and brought Thai pasta salad (blush) in a non-recyclable plastic container (eegads!).

Anyway, on the menu was the most phenomenal barbecue food I've ever consumed. Here you didn't see any Dogs-in-casing orWonder Buns. Nope, this stuff was fresh made, homegrown, and organic. For real.

Bean dip. This rivals any hummus I've ever had. The black beans are Missouri-grown--from the farmer's market! Mixed in are fresh herbs from the host's garden, including chives and such. And also friend's famous "ugly dip": this stuff is just whatever's handy mixed up--tomatoes, onions, olives, corn, etc. Nothing beats fresh salsa.










Grilled curried squashes...









Since mac seems to be the thing to eat lately, we also had homemade mac-and-cheese, perfectly cheesy with swiss and cheddar, perfectly melty, and perfectly browned on the top.



Don't peek underneath because you'll see those Straub's noodles lurking down there.

And then, oh my god, fresh broccoli (from friend's garden), spiced up with herbs (also from the garden!), then grilled! Grilled herbed homegrown broc!

Delicious.

To complete the meal, hostess baked her famous cupcakes. Now these aren't vegan, I guarantee, but they were chocolate and peanut butter and cream cheese. And they came in two sizes!

Never again should "ham salad" or "Lays" be a part of Q talk... this is the way to do it up right. What a Q!!!