Red, White and Blue Drinks for the 4th of July

Red
If you don't want to use the red sodas that are out there, here is a special refreshing red drink, a
Shirley Temple.

1/2 cup of ginger ale
3 Tablespoons grenadine
1 Tablespoon maraschino cherry juice
ice

Fill a tall glass with ice. Pour the ginger ale over the ice, then add grenadine and cherry juice. Stir gently. Garnish with a maraschino cherry. (from Over the Crescent Moon)

White
Mountian Dew makes a new white soda called White Out, or you could make these
Mint Juleps (non-alcoholic)

6 mint leaves, rinsed
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups cold water
3/4 cup lemon juice
4 cups lemon-lime soda pop)
2 cups ginger ale

Place sugar, water and lemon juice in large bowl. Mix until sugar dissolves and add mint leaves. Let sit for 1 hour. Fill a large pitcher with ice and pour sugar, lemon juice mixture over ice. You can discard the mint leaves at this time, or leave them in for a stronger mint flavor. Add fresca and ginger ale. (source: Farm Girl Recipes.)

Blue
If you don't want to try one the blue sodas out there, mix up some Lemon-Lime Soda (or Mountain Dew Whiteout) with Blue Wildberry mixer. Add ice. The kids say it tastes like cotton candy.

4th of July: Red, White and Blue

In an attempt to keep the day special even through difficult times, the kids woke up to red, white and blue pancakes.





They must have been good because there was a bite taken out before I could get them to the table!

We will not see fireworks this year because I can't drive, but we will try to come up with some fun at home.

Patriotic Mummy Dogs for lunch.

Our menu for this evening:

(from the grill) Bar-B-Q Ribs and shrimp, Chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, sausage,

potato salad

cole slaw

chips and salsa

watermelon

cookies and cake

rice krispie flag

Red, White and Blue Drinks (non-alcoholic)

4th of July Cake

 

This is just a variation of the rainbow cupcakes, only done in red, white and blue only. This bundt cake recipe can be found at the Betty Crocker website, but all you do is make a white cake batter and then take out one cup of batter and dye it red and another cup and dye it blue. The red batter is placed in the greased bundt pan and then the remaining white batter is placed on top. The blue batter is added to the top, keeping to the middle. The icing is Betty Crocker® Whipped fluffy white frosting, which is divided into three bowls, dying one red and one blue. We only had liquid red dye, so it came out a pink instead, but at least the cake came out red. The frosting is heated in the microwave for a few seconds (about 10) and then drizzled on top.

Quick & Easy Way to make Watermelon Festive for the 4th of July: Watermelon Stars

Red, White and Blue Strawberries

Aren't these adorable for the 4th of July? They are so simple to make, it is not too late!

Just like any other chocolate-dipped strawberries, the method for making these is very easy. There is only one additional step; dip the tips of the strawberries into some blue sprinkles or blue sanding sugar once they have been dipped into the chocolate. Blue sprinkles or jimmies have a bold color to them and look cute on the strawberries, but blue sanding sugar, which was used for the strawberries here, gives the berries a little bit of a sparkle. The color of the sprinkles will not stand out well on milk or dark chocolate, and you won’t get the same visual effect as you do with white chocolate. However if you really want milk or dark chocolate, just double dip the berries; first into the chocolate of your choice, let that layer set up, and then dip a second time in the white chocolate. Store the berries in the refrigerator until you’re ready to eat them, as white chocolate is a little more heat-sensitive than other chocolates. The berries are best within a day or two of being made.

This idea comes from Baking Bites and you can get the full recipe here.

4th of July Pie

This idea comes from Busy Bees.

Flag Cake

This recipe comes from the NESTLÉ® website. I substitue homemade whipped cream for the whipped topping.

1 cup water
1 cup instant mashed potato flakes
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
4 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels
1 container (8 oz.) frozen lite whipped topping, thawed
2 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan; line with wax paper.
HEAT water to boiling in small saucepan; remove from heat. Stir in potato flakes until moistened. Cool to room temperature. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in medium bowl.
BEAT sugar and butter until crumbly. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; beat in potatoes. Gradually beat in flour mixture alternately with milk. Stir in morsels. Spoon into prepared baking pan.
BAKE for 45 to 55 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Invert onto wire rack; remove wax paper. Cool completely. Transfer to serving platter.
FROST sides and top of cake with whipped topping. Just prior to serving, arrange strawberry slices and blueberries on top of cake to represent the American Flag.

Star Cookies for the 4th of July

This recipe comes from the NESTLÉ® website. There they suggest you use 1 pkg. NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar Dough but I prefer to use my own sugar cookie recipe. I also leave out the chocolate mini morsels.

Your favorite sugar cookie recipe.

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
24 fresh, medium strawberries, sliced
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
(optional) 2 tablespoons NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels

PREHEAT oven according to the recipe of your choice.

ROLL your cookie dough to 1/4-inch thickness and cut cookie dough into stars with 3-inch star cookie cutter. Transfer cookies to ungreased baking sheet.

BAKE cookies as it suggest in your recipe. If necessary, while hot, reshape and pat edges of each star back into shape with knife. Cool on baking sheet(s) for 2 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

BEAT cream cheese and sugar in small mixer bowl until fluffy. Spread onto cooled cookies. Place strawberry slices onto each cookie pointing outward. Place 5 to 6 blueberries in center of each cookie. IF desired you can top each cookie with morsels.

Flag Surprise Cake

(Photo from 17 and baking.)

I found this fabulous cake here at 17 and baking and it has to be the coolest cake I have ever seen. Here are the instructions for making it:

1. You'll have 3 cakes - red, white and blue. Using a serrated knife or cake leveler (best bet to getting even layers!) cut both the white and the red cakes horizontally so that you now have two layers of each. Set aside one layer of both the red and the white - these will be the two bottom stripes of your flag.

2. Stack the remaining red and white layers and place the blue cake on top.

3. Place a bowl or any circular guide (approximately 3 or 4 inches in diameter depending on how big you want your blue square to be in each slice) in the center of the stacked cakes. Cut around your guide through all three cakes.

4. Discard (read: eat) the inner circle of blue and the outter rings of the red and white. You will then have an outter ring of blue cake along with two small, round red and white layers. Looks like this: (Photo and explaination from delectable delicousness.)

5. Frost your bottom two layers of cake (red and white) then place your blue ring on top of that; spread a thin layer of frosting on the inner circle of the blue ring. This will help stick the blue and the top two red and white layers together.

6. Frost the middle of the two small red and white layers; being careful to pay attention to the way you've already stacked/frosted the bottom two red/white layers, place the small red/white layers into the center of the blue ring.

7. Frost the outside of the cake. (You may want to use a crumb coat first, to keep your frosting white and crumb free).

(Photo by 17 and baking.)

Here is the recipe for the frosting:
Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes enough to frost a 4th of July Flag CakeFrom The Joy of Cooking

16 oz cream cheese

10 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

4 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Beat the cream cheese, butter, and extract together until combined. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until the desired consistency is reached.

And, lastly a video that shows step-by-step how this cake is made can be found here andeven better is this video in which Elissa, who designed this cake shows how to make it here.

Jello Salad

This recipe comes from my mother-in-law and was served at holidays in my husband's childhood. The tradition was passed down and now we make it for our family's holidays. It is versatile and can use any type of Jello and any fruit. We usually choose whatever color Jello that seems appropriate for the holiday at hand and then whatever fruit would go well with that flavor Jello. Use whatever size packages of Jello and sour cream that fill the bowl you are going to use. This picture shows about twice as much sour cream as we usually use, but it is up to personal taste.

2 package jello, different colors (For example-cherry and blueberry for the 4th of July)

1 carton of sour cream

Compatible fruit (For example- Fresh or Frozen Blueberries for the Blueberry Jello and frozen Cherries for cherry Jello)

Prepare one package of Jello in a clear serving dish. Refrigerate until firm enough to add fruit. Add fruit and refrigerate until solid. Spread sour cream on top as a neat layer. Use a paper towel to wipe away any sour cream that is on the side not in the layer. Refrigerate. Meanwhile make a second package of Jello in another bowl. Refrigerate this Jello until ready for fruit. Add fruit and pour slowly into the other bowl on top of the sour cream. Refrigerate until firm.

Red, White and Blue Cake

from Unusual 2 Tasty

Nonstick cooking spray

3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1-1/2 tsps. baking powder
1-1/2 tsps. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1-1/4 cups buttermilk
1-1/4 cups shortening
5 large egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tbl. red food coloring
1 tbl. blue food coloring
Fresh blueberries and strawberries, optional for garnish

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat three 8-inch round pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper, cut to fit. Coat paper with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl. Add buttermilk and shortening. Beat with electric mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes. Add egg whites, vanilla and almond extracts. Beat an additional 2 minutes, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Pour ont-third (about 2 cups) of batter into prepared pan. Divide remaining batter into 2 medium bowls. Stir in food coloring to make one red and one blue batter. Pour batter into remaining pans. Tap pans on counter several times to remove air bubbles.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes before removing from pan. Remove cake and cool completely on wire rack.
Place blue cake layer on cake plate and generously frost top. Stack white layer and generously frost top. Add red layer, frosting top and sides of entire cake. Garnish with fresh blueberries and strawberries, if desired.
Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting
2 cups butter, softened
2-1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. almond extract
1 (13-oz.) jar marshmallow cream

Beat butter in a large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Gradually beat in sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until fluffy. Beat in almond extract. Stir in marshmallow cream until well blended.