4th of July
So what is the 4th of July about? Cookouts and noisy celebrations abound, but what is it we are celebrating? We are celebrating revolution, protestors and people who fought their government.
We were a colony, ruled by a monarchy. Had it not been for those who saw injustice, and tried to fix it, we would be bowing to the king today. They were brave and very forward thinking.
Had the Revolutionary War gone the other way, they certainly would have been hung as traitors. I’m not sure how many of us today would be that brave.
So in your daily life, remember and honor the rebel. If you see an injustice, speak up. Do something to make this country better.
There is always room for improvement, after all. Think about the people who risked death to fight for the freedom we enjoy today. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Don’t ever take that for granted.
Natural Food Colors
When we decorate cakes, cookies and the like, we can use any number of ingredients to tint an other wise white frosting. Lots of people use artificial colors. The little bottles found in most any grocery store. Or any number of gels, powders or tubes found in cake and candy making stores. I want to start by saying that its not my business whether you use natural or artificial colors in your cooking. I have a few bottles hanging around myself. This is just about looking at some other options out there.
People starting asking me when I used beet powder to tint frosting for a chocolate beet cake. So I began looking into what other colors I could create using more natural ingredients. My own mother had issues with a red food coloring. I know a few people that have issues with artificial colors. So what follows is what I have been doing and what I have come up with. Not all the answers and I am not a scientist. I’m just a cook and baker who likes to play around with new ingredients in the kitchen sometimes.
The Picture
Let’s start with what powders are in the picture at the top of this post. Starting with the bright blue on the lower left, then going up and around clockwise: Blue spirulina, beet, red cabbage, peas, turmeric, carrot, raspberry and green spirulina. I purchased the blue and green spirulina and the turmeric. The rest I dehydrated and then powdered in a spice (coffee) grinder.
So what colors will you get and how do you make them yourself?
Blue Spirulina: Bright blue
Algae that people consume for various reasons, including the mineral content and other health reasons.
Green Spirulina: Forest green
Like blue version, an algae that people consume for various health benefits.
Turmeric :Yellow
The dried root of a tropical plant used in foods for both flavor and color. Sometimes used to make rice yellow to mimic the use of saffron.
Beet Powder: Pink to light red
Beets are cooked, sliced and placed in a dehydrator until rock hard. Then ground in a spice mill. I have seen beet powder sold so you don’t have to make it yourself.
Red Cabbage: Purple to light violet
Leaves are steamed until just soft, then dehydrated until crisp and powdered up.
Raspberry: Pinkish violet
Raspberries and rinsed, patted dry and dehydrated until crisp.
Peas: Light to bright green
Frozen peas are thawed, drained of excess water and dried until crisp. A note about the peas. They fell right through the holes in my dehydrator. Once I retrieved most of them, I lined the trays with parchment and started over.
Carrots: Orange
The carrots were peeled and sliced and steamed until pretty tender. When I left them in thick slices the first time I made them, they were harder to grind into a powder. The thin slices worked better in my spice mill.
Final notes on colors. For green, you can also dehydrate spinach or other leafy greens. I dehydrate and powder up orange peels. Use them in recipes all the time for flavor. They too, will add orange color, but their flavor is pretty pronounced. I found the carrots were more subtle, but you can add some orange peels, if you have them.
More information For any of the powders, its important that you keep them dry for long term storage. Nice airtight containers and cool conditions will help them to hold their color longer. This seems especially important with the carrot and pea powders. I store them in the fridge or freezer.
The question I got from a few people was taste. Will my frosting end up tasting of peas or cabbage? The answer is pretty much no, based on what I have used them for. Moderation is key though. If you want a super bright purple the cabbage might have a slight odor, rather than a flavor. it seems to dissipate over time.
Well, that’s what I have so far in my use of natural foods coloring. I’m starting cooking camps and will have the kids use them this year to see what they come up with. More pics to follow soon.
Before you ask, Here is the link to the chocolate beet cake recipe. Its very popular.
https://thecharmedkitchen.com/2025/10/02/chocolate-beet-cake-11/
Homemade Blackberry Ice Cream
I am so happy with this ice cream. The flavor came out just right. The texture is super creamy and not too sweet. The chunks of blackberry add just the right amount of tartness. I love fruit based ice creams, but I never made blackberry ice cream before. I will be making it again, for sure.
I have had the inspiration to make a new recipe for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes creative reasons, or sometimes nostalgic feelings. This ice cream came about because of expiration dates. I had both heavy whipping cream and half and half that needed to be used up soon. I didn’t want to freeze them and I wasn’t going to waste them. Since I had a carton of blackberries in the fridge, it seemed only natural to make a blackberry ice cream. I don’t always add eggs to my ice cream, but I had a dozen eggs that needed to be used, too.
Whatever the motivation, this ice cream is one of my favorites. There is a little more work to making an egg-based custard ice cream. But the extra effort is worth it. The texture is so creamy.
With any fruit based ice cream, you don’t want to just put raw fruit in the mixture and freeze it. That will cause the fruit to get big ice crystals. Fruit can be cooked first, like I did with the berries in this recipe, or the fruit can be frozen, then thawed before being added to ice cream base.
So here is the recipe. I used an orange because I had an orange. I could see using a lemon instead, or perhaps lime. I left a little wiggle room on the amount of sugar you add to it. Before someone asks- yes- you can sweeten with honey, if you prefer. Just use a light hand. Honey is sweeter than sugar. Enjoy!!
Blackberry Ice Cream
6 oz. blackberries, washed
1 large orange
½ c. sugar
1½ c. half and half
1 c. heavy whipping cream
3 egg yolks
¾ c. sugar- or a little more or less to taste
1 t. vanilla
In medium saucepan, place the blackberries. Zest the orange and add the zest to the berries. Juice the orange and add the juice to the berries along with the ½ cup of sugar. Heat until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture starts to thicken, about 6-8 minutes. Stir occasionally. Don’t let it burn. Remove mixture to a bowl to cool down. You can use the same saucepan to heat the half and half and cream to a low boil. In a small bowl, beat together the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla. Add ½ cup of the hot cream mixture to the eggs, whisking in well. Add another ½ cup of the cream mixture, whisking again. Add one last ½ cup of the hot cream and again, whisk until smooth. Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan with the cream and while whisking, simmer until mixture starts to thicken and will coat the back of a spoon. This will take about 5 minutes. Don’t use too high a heat, or you will scramble your eggs. Mixture should reach 160 degrees to be sure eggs are cooked. Remove from heat, stir in reserved blackberry mixture. Pour mixture into a bowl. Allow ice cream base to cool down, then chill in fridge. Chilled mixture can be frozen in an ice cream maker once cold- in a few hours- or even the next day. Once mixture has been frozen in ice cream maker, place in a container and freeze until ready to serve. Makes about 5-6 cups of ice cream.
Sweet Cherry Vanilla Jam
I look forward to cherry season every year. I love eating fresh cherries, but I also like to preserve them, to enjoy year round. One of my favorite things to make is cherry jam.
This must be a great year for cherries. They seem bigger than usual, and very sweet.
While I normally make jam from sour cherries, I knew the sweet ones would work. Besides the cherries, sugar and pectin, this jam also contains lemon juice and vanilla. Those extra ingredients give the jam a more complex flavor and a little bit of a tang.
This may be one of my favorite jams ever!!! I was worried it would be too sweet, but it isn’t. The flavor of the cherries comes through as well at the flavor of the vanilla and cinnamon. Thinking I made need to buy more cherries and make another batch….
Here is the recipe. Enjoy.
Sweet Cherry Vanilla Jam
4 c. chopped pitted sweet cherries, about 2 lbs.
6 T. powdered pectin
6 T. lemon juice
2 T. pure vanilla extract
4½ c. sugar
Wash jelly jars and lids and keep warm until ready to use. Place a large pot of water, with a rack, on to boil for the water bath. In large saucepan combine cherries with pectin, lemon juice and vanilla. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring often. Add the sugar and bring mixture back to a rolling boil, stirring often. Once the mixture gets to a full, rolling boil, cook for one minute longer, stirring constantly. Remove jam from heat and skim off any foam. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, filling to about 1/4 inch from the top. Wipe off rim and screw on the lids. Repeat with remaining jam. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let jar sit in canner 5 minutes before removing. Remove from water bath and allow jars to cool. Yield: about 6 half pint jars of jam.
Adapted from The Ball Blue Book
No Bake Chocolate Eclair Cake
This recipe has been around a long time. It’s very tasty and deceptively simple to make. For starters there is no baking involved. Nice when it is hot and you just don’t feel like turning on the oven.
The dessert itself is layers of graham crackers and a pudding and cream mixture with chocolate frosting to finish it off. You do need to assemble it a day ahead, so there is some planning needed, but no cooking. As the mixture sits, the crackers soften. When you serve the cake it cuts beautifully. The cake is supposed to remind you of an eclair, thus it’s name.
The original recipe calls for frozen whipped topping – like Cool Whip. You can easily substitute real whipping cream. That is what I do.
No-Bake Chocolate Eclair Cake
4 c. vanilla pudding
1 small container non-dairy whipped topping, thawed or 1 cup whipping cream, whipped
1 box graham crackers
1 can chocolate frosting or 1- 2 c. homemade chocolate frosting
Combine pudding and whipped topping or whipped cream and set aside. In 9×13 inch cake pan place 1 layer of graham crackers. Try to cover the whole bottom of the pan with the crackers, breaking them to fill in gaps, ff needed. Spoon half of the pudding mixture over the crackers and spread out evenly. Place another layer of graham crackers over the pudding mixture and then spoon on the remaining pudding mixture, smoothing evenly. Place last layer of crackers on top. Warm frosting slightly and pour over the top. Spread out evenly. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serves 10-12.
Strawberry Shortcake Trifle
I am not sure why I never combined ladyfingers with strawberries before. Using them together in this dish made a wonderful dessert- that was also very easy. It was somewhere between a trifle and a shortcake so I called it both!
I want to just say something about ladyfingers. There are two types I see in stores around here, soft or crisp. The soft ones are smaller and cake-like and found in bakeries in grocery stores. Like sponge cake. The other ladyfingers are crisp and larger. I find the crispy type at Italian stores and sometimes at specialty grocery stores. The ladyfingers you want for this recipe are the larger, crisp ladyfingers.
I was happy with how it came out. The ladyfingers were soft, not mushy. They actually were kind of fluffy. The flavors blended so nicely. Great summer dessert. Light and refreshing, but a little rich, too. I made vanilla pudding, but make life easier and just use store bought or instant from a box- if you prefer.
Here is the recipe. Enjoy!!
Strawberry Shortcake Trifle
1½ – 2 pounds strawberries, washed, stemmed and sliced
½ c. sugar
24 ladyfingers
1 recipe vanilla pudding- recipe follows
¾ c. Hazelnut chocolate spread
Whipped cream or whipped topping
Combine strawberries with the sugar and set aside. Make the pudding, if you haven’t already. You can use pre-made pudding. You’ll need 2-3 cups of pudding. In a 9×9-inch baking dish, place one layer of the cookies. You might have to trim them a little to fit. I had 2 rows of 6 cookies, but I had to break off a little for the second row to fit. Spoon over half of the strawberries, with some of the liquid in the bowl. Spread a layer of pudding over the berries. For the next layer, spread some of the hazelnut spread over each lady finger before putting it in the pan. When you put them in the pan, place them with the spread on the under side. Add another layer of the pudding, then top with the rest of the strawberries. Cover and place in fridge until ready to serve. You can do all this up to 2 days ahead. Before serving, remove cover and top with whipped cream or any whipped topping you like. Serves 6-8.
Vanilla Pudding
1 c. sugar
½ c. cornstarch
½ t. salt
3 ¾ c. half and half
1 T. vanilla- or a little more
2 T. butter
Combine dry ingredients in a medium saucepan. Whisk in half and half and vanilla until well mixed. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture starts to bubble and get thickened. Mixture will get pretty thick. Turn down heat to keep it from scorching. As soon as pudding is thickened, remove from the heat and stir in the butter until melted. Place pudding in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to use. Makes about 4 cups.
Cherry Bombs
These little treats make a great addition to your 4th of July party. They are simple to make, with only three ingredients. You can make them in no time at all. It is a fun treat for kids to make, too.
Think of the cherry bombs as a type of candy. A simple, sweet treat that can be served just as they are. They can also be used to top a cake or other dessert. You can even garnish a cocktail with them. I did the same thing with strawberries, but “strawberry bombs” did not have the same ring to it.
To make the cherry bombs, you will need cherries, white chocolate and blue sugar. If you don’t have blue sugar, you can put granulated sugar in a bag, add a few drops of blue food coloring, seal the bag and shake it up. The sugar will turn blue. You could also use blue sprinkles.
Wash and dry off some large, sweet cherries. Melt white chocolate, stirring until smooth. Dip the cherries in the white chocolate, then the blue sugar. Place on wax paper to firm up. Store in fridge.
Lemon Curd Ice Cream
This is one of the easiest ice creams to make. You don’t need an ice cream machine to make it and there are only three ingredients, if you count the lemon curd as one ingredient. I did make my own lemon curd- recipe follows, but you can just use a jar of store bought. It has the nicest flavor and texture.
This ice cream came about because I had made lemon curd for a party and had some left over. I also had whipping cream that needed to be used up. I combined the two and it was even better than I thought. Two friends have tried it so far and both really liked it. Below you will find the recipes for two different lemon curds. The traditional recipe and one that is egg free.
Here is the recipe.
Lemon Curd Ice Cream
1-1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups lemon curd
1/2 c. powdered sugar
In a medium mixing bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Beat in the lemon curd and sugar and place in a freezer container and freeze until ready to eat. Makes about a quart. I told you it was simple!!!
Classic Lemon Curd
1/2 c. lemon juice
zest from one good sized lemon- you should have 2-3 teaspoons
1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
6 T. unsalted butter- cut into little cubes
In medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Whisk the mixture until the eggs are well blended. Cook over medium low heat, whisking often, until the mixture thickens. This will take 5-7 minutes. Whisk more often as mixtures warms and starts to thicken. Better to heat over lower heat and take longer than cook over too high a heat. You don’t want the eggs to scramble. Once the mixture is thickened , transfer to a bowl or jar. Cover the surface with a piece of plastic wrap to keep the surface from developing a skin- like any pudding will do. Chill until ready to use. Makes about 2 cups. Will keep in fridge a week or two.
Egg Free Lemon Curd
For this recipe, depending on what ingredients you use, it can also be vegan. All variations have worked well. I have a vegan family member and friends who can’t eat dairy. Something for everyone.
½ c. sugar
1½ T. cornstarch
½ c. milk, or non dairy “milk”
1/3 – 1/2 c. lemon juice, or the juice from 2 lemons
Zest from 2 lemons, about 1½ tablespoons
1/4 c. butter or oil
¼ t. turmeric, for color, optional
Place sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan and whisk together. Stir in remaining ingredients, then place over medium heat and cook, stirring continually, until mixture thickens and gets bubbly. Cook another minute or so, then remove from heat and cool down before serving. Makes about 1¼ cups. Serve with cakes, scones or cookies. Or just eat it with a spoon, no one will judge you. Store in fridge.
Easy Triple Berry Trifle
If you need a dessert and don’t have a lot of time this trifle might be what you are looking for. Not a traditional trifle in any sense of the word, but it is simple and tasty. I used vanilla wafers but you could substitute pound cake, angel food cake or even torn up cupcakes. Be creative and use what you have on hand. I had an open box of vanilla wafers and that is what I used.
Triple Berry Trifle
2 c. blueberries, washed
1-2 c. blackberries, washed
1 lb. strawberries, washed, stemmed and sliced
1/2 c. sugar, or to taste
1 c. prepared vanilla pudding
2 c. whipping cream, whipped
1 box vanilla wafers, you won’t need the whole box
Sprinkles or extra berries for the top, optional.
Combined washed berries in bowl with the sugar and toss to coat. Let sit 10 minutes. Meanwhile, whip the cream until stiff peaks form and fold in the pudding. Set aside. In glass bowl place a layer of cookies. I used a pretty good handful- maybe 12 cookies. Spoon some of the berry mixture over the cookies- about 1/3 of the mixture. Top with 1/4 of the whipped cream mixture. Repeat the process, placing cookies in a single layer and adding more fruit and cream. Save a little more of the cream for the top layer so you’ll have enough to cover the whole thing. Repeat process one last time- you’ll have 3 layers in all. I added patriotic sprinkles on the top- just for fun. You could also add a few berries, if you like. Chill several hours or overnight.
Firecracker Chicken
Sometimes the best recipes happen when you don’t have time to plan. This is one of those recipes. Even better because it only uses 4 ingredients. Fun for the 4th of July, too.
I needed an appetizer, but didn’t have extra time for prep. I also did not have time to go to the store, so I used what I had on hand. I had some boneless chicken breasts. I could also have used boneless thighs or even chicken wings. I used what I had.
I cut them into strips and poured a bunch of hot sauce over them. Put them in the fridge to marinade overnight. The next day I just tossed the chicken strips in breadcrumbs and fried them in a little oil. Served with extra hot sauce on the side, they were a big hit.
Firecracker Chicken
2 lbs. boneless chicken
3/4 c. hot sauce, plus extra when serving
2 c. bread crumbs
2 c. oil, for pan frying
Cut chicken into strips and place in a bowl. Pour over the hot sauce and stir to coat evenly. Cover and chill overnight, or even for a couple of days. Place bread crumbs in a plastic bag. Place a small handful of chicken in the bag and shake to coat. Place on a plate and continue with the rest of the chicken. Heat oil in skillet to 350- 375 degrees. Fry chicken in several batches- you don’t want to crowd them in the skillet- that will make the oil cool down too much. Fry for a minute or two per side. Remove to platter lined with paper towels and cook the rest of the chicken. Keep chicken warm until ready to serve. Serve with extra hot sauce on the side. Serves 8 or more as an appetizer, but can be served as a main dish, too.
