Happy 4th of July!

I just love Independence Day! Jay and I are always so lucky to be able to celebrate with such fabulous family and friends, and this year was no different.

Unfortunately, I was a bad blogger and barely ever pulled out the camera today. Our first party, up in Saratoga with family was very fun and relaxing, sitting out by the lake, chatting & enjoying everyone’s company. We ended up leaving that party before the main food was served, but I did snack on a bunch of carrots & celery + some top notch spinach dip (sorry, no photo!) BUT, before we left, I did of course have to snag a piece of my fun flag cookie cake! I mean, really, I’ve been eyeballing it for 2 days and hadn’t been able to dig in – so Jay and I each took a piece for the road. It was scrumptious.

Party #2 was fun as always, with some close family friends/old neighbors from when I still lived at my parents’ house. They’re all such a blast! I did manage to yank out the camera for a quick photo of my dinner plate:

Pulled pork (which I can never pass up on, ever.) on a whole wheat roll, linguine salad, macaroni salad, and potato salad. I didn’t end up eating the potato salad, but everything else was totally delish.

Eventually, the desserts got brought out, and Courtney went a little crazy. Pictures were not taken of all things consumed, but to give you an idea, here’s one of the unbelievable desserts – “Mud Mousse” – HOLY YUM!!

Party #2 also had a great little fireworks display, which everyone really enjoyed. I just love watching fireworks…there’s something about them that makes me feel like a kid all over again!

Me & The Hubby waiting for the fireworks

Overall, we had a wonderful day filled with lots of fun, friends, & family. Honestly, we are so lucky to have such great people in our lives, but it’s a good thing we don’t have parties like this all the time. I’m actually feeling pretty disgusting at the moment, with the amount of sweets that were consumed this evening. I definitely let the “celebration” mode get the best of me, and overdid it a little to the point of uncomfortable. I’m a little disappointed in myself, but tomorrow is a new day, so I’ll just make sure to get back on track then.

So hopefully you’ll forgive my lackluster blogging today, BUT perhaps I can win back all of your affection by ending tonight’s post with the recipe for my fun & fabulous cookie cake!

Patriotic Stars & Stripes Cookie Cake

Cookie Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1-1/2 tsp clear vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

2-3/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Frosting/Topping Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp lemon zest

50 blueberries

1 pint strawberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 10x15x1 baking pan with foil.
2. Combine butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and extracts until thoroughly combined.
3. In separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture, 1 cup at a time to wet ingredients.
4. Press dough mixture into pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely.
5. Once cookie mixture is cooled, mix together softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, & lemon zest with electric mixer until smooth. Spread evenly over cooled cookie.
6. Arrange berries on cream cheese mixture to resemble the flag. (*If you use raspberries instead of strawberries, you’ll be more likely to be able to fit all 13 “stripes” on the flag – the strawberries were too big to fit the proper number)
7. ENJOY!!

I hope you all had a fabulous, festive 4th!!

Tagged as: dinner, patriotic stars and stripes cookie cake, recipes