Fourth of July!!

Happy birthday America (a few days late but celebrations were had on that day)!! I wonder what it was like celebrating Independence Day a hundred years ago. Now we have barbeques and traditional American desserts, games, and beer. And fireworks, of course fireworks. But at what point did we start making pies and Jello and making a party of it? Was it ever just a day of reflection? History buffs, go!

AMERICA!!!!

Well, in the meantime, we can reflect on some desserts. Growing up, we always had a barbeque and invited families over and set off fireworks. Everyone in the family was expected to get the house and food ready however I was deemed only capable of shucking corn or making jello. Not very exciting so I got creative with the jello to the point that I actually got a jello cookbook for Christmas one year. Nowadays, I have Pinterest to supplement my jello knowledge so of course made a jello pie. 

Such shiny jello squares

This requires a day to prep the colored jello so make sure to plan ahead. I ran a little experiment this time around. I usually have trouble getting molds out without breaking them so I sprayed one pan with nonstick cooking spray and one I left alone. Definitely spray the pan, it doesn't change the jello but makes it is infinitely easier to remove from the mild (even in a nonstick pan). This also required a spring form pan so I guess I'll just have to make cheesecake one day. 

The final product, it didn't fall apart!!

 And as my friends put it, what's more American than apple pie? So I made miniature apple pies using a cupcake pan and prepared pie crust and filling. This clearly made it easy to assemble but the point of the pin was easy potluck items so mission accomplished! I didn't have a star cookie cutter handy so I used a Darth Vader one instead--that's still pretty American after all.

Perfectly sized apple pies

I hope everyone had a great holiday and is enjoying the fact that we're in the midst of summer! Before you know it, we'll be bundling up with apple cider and scarves and pumpkin coffee. Okay, now I really want it to be fall already. And until then, contemplate this rolled out dough. It's like that cloud game where you make a shape out of something shapeless. Personally, I see a flying pig (no I didn't add an eye to make it more like a pig...). I'll have a popular blog when...pigs fly. 

See, it's got a snout on the left and a wing on top with little feet...