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 queen
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.
No time to bake? Maybe too hot? Here is a fun and easy no-bake dessert, that is perfect for any picnic or cook out. This is also a nice dessert for kids to make. They are great when you agreed to bring a dessert- and realize you have no time to make something from scratch. Fun dessert for the 4th.
The “burgers” are super fast to assemble. Vanilla wafers are the buns, and small, chocolate cookies are the burgers. I usually use chocolate mint cookies. You can also use thin mints, instead of the cookies. The “cheese” is orange tinted frosting. The “lettuce” is made from tinting coconut green.
To finish off the look, brush the tops of the cookies with a thinned out powdered sugar icing (not tinted), and sprinkle on a few sesame seeds.
They really do look like little burgers.
Cheeseburger Cookies
1 package vanilla wafer cookies 1 package Keebler Grasshopper cookies, or other small chocolate cookies 2 c. powdered sugar 1- 2 T. milk few drops of yellow and red food coloring 1 c. coconut several drops of green food coloring 1/4 c. powder sugar 1 T. milk sesame seeds
Combine 2 cups of powder sugar with the milk and red and yellow food coloring. This should be the color of cheese. Place the coconut in a small bag and add a few drops of green food coloring. Close the bag and shake well to evenly color. This will be the ‘lettuce’. To assemble cookies use 2 vanilla wafers (the bun) and one chocolate cookie (the burger). The orange frosting works as the cheese and glue. The coconut is the lettuce. Place a vanilla wafer flat side up on work surface. Place a little dab of “cheese” on the vanilla cookie and then a chocolate cookie. Sprinkle a little coconut on the burger, then some more cheese and the top bun, flat side down. Combine the remaining powder sugar and milk. You should have a thin glaze. Brush this lightly on the top of the finished “burgers”. Sprinkle with a few sesame seeds. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
If you need a really special dessert for your next party
or cookout, consider making this cheesy cherry blueberry coffee cake. It is one
of my favorite coffee cake recipes ever. This is a great dessert for the 4th
of July.
The cake is not too sweet, and the combination of cream cheese, with the fruit, reminds me of a cherry-blueberry blintz.
The streusal topping adds a nice little crunch.
It is fine served all on its own. You can also serve it with ice cream or whipped cream. You can also top with more blueberries and cherries.
While I think of this cake as a wonderful dessert, it can
be served as a breakfast or brunch dish.
As if this weren’t enough- this cake freezes great. Who
are we kidding? There won’t be any leftovers – but you could freeze them, if
you had some.
So here is the recipe. Enjoy!!
Cheesy Cherry-Blueberry Coffee Cake
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs
2 1/4 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. milk
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1 c. pitted and coarsely chopped cherries
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
1 t. grated lemon peel
Topping:
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1 t. grated lemon peel
2 T. butter
Preheat oven to 375. Grease and flour a 13×9 inch baking dish. Cream together sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Combine 2 cups of the flour with baking powder and salt and beat into batter alternately with the milk. Toss fruit with the remaining flour and fold into the batter along with the cheese and lemon rind. Pour batter into prepared pan. Combine sugar, flour and lemon peel for topping and cut in butter to resemble coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter and bake for about 45 minutes. Use toothpick to test for doneness. Serves 12.
With blueberries in season this seemed like the perfect time to bake this wonderful coffeecake and share the recipe with you. Its not too sweet and the addition of cream cheese with the blueberries makes it super moist. Its a cake but it always reminds me of a blueberry blintz. I hope you’ll try it. I am sure it will be a hit.
Blueberries and Cheese Coffeecake
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs
2 1/4 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. milk
2 c. fresh blueberries
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
1 t. grated lemon peel
Topping:
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1 t. grated lemon peel
2 T. butter
Preheat oven to 375. Grease and flour a 13×9 inch baking dish. Cream together sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Combine 2 cups of the flour with baking powder and salt and beat into batter alternately with the milk. Toss berries with the remaining flour and fold into the batter along with the cheese and lemon rind.Pour batter into prepared pan. Combine sugar, flour and lemon peel for topping and cut in butter to resemble coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter and bake for about 45 minutes. Use toothpick to test for doneness. Serves 12.
One of the perks of defrosting the freezer, is finding stuff you forgot about. Apparently, I froze more blueberries than I thought. Seemed like the perfect time to make this wonderful coffee cake, and share the recipe with you.
Even though I love eating fresh berries when they are in season, there is something special about baking with berries as snow flies outside. Makes me think about warm, summer days.
This blueberry cake is not too sweet, and the combination of cream cheese, with the blueberries reminds me of a blueberry blintz. It is a wonderful dessert, but can also be served as a breakfast or brunch dish.
You can also freeze leftovers, to be discovered and enjoyed another day.
Blueberry and Cheese Coffee Cake
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs
2 1/4 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. milk
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
1 t. grated lemon peel
Topping:
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1 t. grated lemon peel
2 T. butter
Preheat oven to 375. Grease and flour a 13×9 inch baking dish. Cream together sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Combine 2 cups of the flour with baking powder and salt and beat into batter alternately with the milk. Toss berries with the remaining flour and fold into the batter along with the cheese and lemon rind. Pour batter into prepared pan. Combine sugar, flour and lemon peel for topping and cut in butter to resemble coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter and bake for about 45 minutes. Use toothpick to test for doneness. Serves 12.
One of the perks of defrosting the freezer, is finding stuff you forgot about. Apparently, I froze more blueberries than I thought. Seemed like the perfect time to make this wonderful coffee cake, and share the recipe with you.
Even though I love eating fresh berries when they are in season, there is something special about baking with berries as snow flies outside. Makes me think about warm, summer days.
This blueberry cake is not too sweet, and the combination of cream cheese, with the blueberries reminds me of a blueberry blintz. It is a wonderful dessert, but can also be served as a breakfast or brunch dish.
You can also freeze leftovers, to be discovered and enjoyed another day.
Blueberry and Cheese Coffee Cake
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs
2 1/4 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. milk
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
1 t. grated lemon peel
Topping:
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1 t. grated lemon peel
2 T. butter
Preheat oven to 375. Grease and flour a 13×9 inch baking dish. Cream together sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Combine 2 cups of the flour with baking powder and salt and beat into batter alternately with the milk. Toss berries with the remaining flour and fold into the batter along with the cheese and lemon rind. Pour batter into prepared pan. Combine sugar, flour and lemon peel for topping and cut in butter to resemble coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter and bake for about 45 minutes. Use toothpick to test for doneness. Serves 12.
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a recipe for mini strawberry shortcakes. Now, we go to the other extreme. One giant shortcake.
Seriously, it is a fun way to make shortcake. You could make one for any special occasion or party.
This is a great dessert for a party, picnic or barbecue. Instead of
making a bunch of individual shortcakes, make one really big one. It
makes quite an impression.
When ready to serve it, just cut into slices, like cake or pie. I
often serve this shortcake with ice cream on the side. Feel free to
switch up which fruits you use. I used kiwi fruit with the strawberries,
but you can add different fruits. Peaches would go well with the
strawberries or blueberries. Just have fun and use fruit combinations
you like. For the 4th of July, you could use a combination of
strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.
Giant Strawberry Shortcake
1 egg
3/4 c. milk
1/2 t. lemon juice
2 c. flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 stick cold butter plus 1 T. softened
1/2 c. plus 1 T. sugar
1 qt. strawberries, sliced thin
2 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced thin
1/4 c. chopped nuts, toasted
whipped cream, optional
In small bowl combine egg, milk and lemon juice and set aside. In
larger bowl combine the flour, brown sugar and baking powder. Cut in
cold butter to resemble coarse crumbs. Add egg mixture and stir until
mixture forms into a soft dough. Knead dough gently on a lightly floured
surface about 10 times. On greased baking sheet pat dough into a
15×6-inch oval. Sprinkle dough with the 1 tablespoon of sugar and dot
with the softened butter. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-25
minutes, or until lightly golden. Place on wire rack to cool. Toss the
berries with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. Allow to stand 30
minutes. Split the shortcake lengthwise and remove the top. Spoon over
the half the berries and replace top of shortcake. Combine the kiwi with
the remaining berries.Spoon over the remaining fruit and sprinkle with
the nuts. Dot with whipped cream, if desired. Cut in wedges to serve.
Serves 8.
Note: you can bake shortcake day ahead and prep the fruit day ahead, keeping it chilled and just assemble when ready to serve.
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, vanilla and cinnamon. 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 Jam
4 c. chopped pitted sweet cherries, about 2 lbs.
6 T. powdered pectin
6 T. lemon juice
2 T. pure vanilla extract
1 t. cinnamon
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, vanilla and
cinnamon. 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.
This is the perfect summer dessert. Fresh berries, a light, citrus-scented cake and ice cream. What more could you want?
When you say cake roll, I think a lot of people first think of a pumpkin roll or Buche de Noel (yule log).
There are so many more desserts you can make with them. Cake rolls
can be made in many flavors and they can be filled with custard,
frosting, fruit, ice cream and more.
For this sponge cake roll, I used homemade strawberry ice cream to
fill it, recipe follows. You could use store bought ice cream, if you
prefer.
Start with the sponge cake roll recipe below, and use whatever flavor
ice cream you like. You’ll need about a quart of ice cream- or a little
more.
Once finished, you just wrap it up and pop the cake in the freezer
until needed. Great to have on hand for summer parties and cook outs.
You can decorate with fresh berries when serving. Blueberries would make
this a fun red, white and blue dessert for Memorial Day or the 4th of
July.
Sponge Cake Roll
This sponge cake roll can be filled with whipped cream or ice cream, or use your favorite filling.
5 eggs, separated
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2/3 cup cake flour*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons melted butter
Beat egg yolks until thicken and lemon colored; gradually add 1/3 cup of
the granulated sugar, the lemon juice and the lemon zest. Beat egg
whites until almost stiff then gradually beat in the remaining 1/3 cup
sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Fold yolk mixture into whites. Sift
dry ingredients into a separate container; add to egg mixture, folding
in carefully. Fold in melted butter. Pour batter into waxed paper-lined
10x15x1-inch jelly roll pan. Bake at 375° for 12 minutes. Sprinkle with
confectioners’ sugar. Turn onto a clean kitchen towel which has been
generously dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Trim edges, if necessary;
roll cake up, towel and all, while still warm. Let cool completely.
Unroll and fill with whipped cream or ice cream then re-roll cake. The
trick is to let the ice cream soften up a few minutes before spreading
it on the cake. But don’t wait too long. Rather than trying to let the
ice cream get soft enough to spread I used a spatula to sort of cut
slices of ice cream and place them on the cake. Store ice cream cake
roll in freezer until ready to slice and serve.
*If you don’t have cake flour you can make your own. Measure out a
cup of all purpose flour, remove 2 tablespoons of flour and replace them
with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. For larger amounts place 7 cups of
flour in a bowl and combine with 1 cup of cornstarch. Mix well or even
sift together. Store in an airtight container.
Strawberry Ice Cream
2 c. chopped strawberries
1 c. sugar
1 T. vanilla
2 c. cream or half and half or a combination. You can also use some milk or even almond or rice milk.
Additional sugar to taste
Place strawberries, vanilla and sugar in saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and chill. Combine chilled berry mixture with cream. Add additional sugar if you like. Remember that once it is frozen the ice cream will not taste as sweet so make this mixture a little sweeter than you want the final product to be. How much sugar you add varies with personal taste, and how sweet the berries are. Place in an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s directions. Once finished put in an air- tight container and place in freezer. Makes about 1 quart.
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 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, I used breasts, but thighs would be good, or wings
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 col 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.
