July 4th follow-up post…
First off, about the USA jello. I used a jello mold that’s the shape of the US.
The mold has teeny shallow lines between each state, so to get the different colors effect, I mixed up the blue and red jello, then used a medicine dropper to drop it into the different sections. (I don’t keep a medicine dropper around, I took a bottle of infant Tylenol out of the medicine cabinet, took out the dropper, washed it really good with hot water, used it to color the states, washed it good again, and put it back in the bottle.) In some states, there’s a mixture of both blue and pink. That happened when the dropper dropped before I was over the state I wanted or when I got too much in the state and it went over the little ‘walls’ between each state. It was a little tedious, but I thought it would look a little blah with just all one color on top. After I got all the states filled in, I put 1/2 of the white mixture in, then layered red, white, and blue from there.
To cut the jello, I followed the lines and cut it apart into states (except some of the New England states!). It was kinda nice because then you could pick your size. Lexi was declaring that she was gonna get Florida and that she’d get Wisconsin out for Tiffany. But when I finally gave them the go-ahead to dig in, she saw the size of Texas and changed her mind about Florida. Then, Tiffany wanted the biggest one too, so to save a fight, we suggested California and she was happy with that. They each ate about 1/4 of their piece, then said it was too big. Sigh. I was thinking, “So, then WHY did you guys have to get the biggest pieces?!” but instead I said, “Just wrap them up in Saran wrap and put them in the fridge. You can finish them later.”
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We got together with some friends Friday night and grilled burgers and hot dogs before the fireworks. I made a fruit pizza for dessert. It’s this recipe, but I cut back on the amounts because it wasn’t gonna fill up the whole pan since it was shaped into a rectangle, a flag. Oh, it was so good. I didn’t count how many pieces I ate. Fruit pizza is one thing I crave, especially in the summer.
I have a few fireworks pictures, but other than that, nothing. I was lounging in my lawnchair thinking, ‘I should go get my camera and take a picture of Shannon grilling and of the kids playing and of the adults talking and capture the party atmosphere around us’ and then as I kept lounging, I lowered my standards and started thinking, “I should at least get my camera and take 4 pictures because that would make a pageful for when I scrapbook this event’, but I just kept sitting there, living the moment instead of capturing it. I actually don’t like taking pictures at social events. BUT the only thing I hate worse than taking pictures is not having pictures, so that’s what drives me to take them. Except for this time.
And with that I leave you with a little fireworks show…
It’s Independence Day!
How are you spending the holiday? …Going out on the lake? …Firing up the grill? …Getting together with family and friends? …Going out to watch fireworks? I don’t specifically remember not watching fireworks any year, but I’m sure there was a year or two missed in there somewhere. When we lived in town, we could see them from our house. Fireworks is what I think of first when I think ‘4th of July’, then I think of my oldest brother (Happy Birthday, Tom!), then I think of grilling and burgers and brats. I know, with having a cooking blog, you’d think grilling and all would be first on my list.
Speaking of grilling, I’m sure we’ll be doing some. Here are some of our favorites:
Hot dogs, our favorites are Ball Park beef franks…
Brats, it’s gotta be Johnsonville…
Cheeseburger, this has got to go on the menu this weekend! I’ll have to talk to the guy in charge of grilling around here…
New York Strip Steak, and please don’t forget the sauteed mushrooms! Mmmmm…
Rib-Eye Steak done medium, this was melt-in-your-mouth tender, didn’t even need A1 sauce…
Shrimp and mushrooms grilled on skewers, a great appetizer…
Pork chop sandwich, last but definitely not least! This is the thing out of this whole list that we grill the most. Yup, even more than throwing hot dogs and brats on the grill. Maybe next time we make them, I can remember to get a better picture! They’re easy, at least for me, because all I do is set the table…
And then I couldn’t let the holiday go by without playing around with my beloved for-any-occassion layered finger jello! It’s a nice side benefit that it tastes good, too.
Instead of using a 9×13 pan for a batch, I used a large cookie sheet with sides so it wouldn’t get so thick. The red and blue layers each have 2 batches of jello in them and the white layer is all of the white mixture (as opposed to dividing it in thirds). When I cut it into little shapes, it looks better if it’s not so thick.
And then you can play around with it a little more and makes squares and cut a star out of the middle, flip it over, and put it back into the hole.
And then you can play around with it a little more and make the United States of America…
And, being in the spirit of things, this is what I was snacking on just now as I wrote this post…
Red strawberries, white sugar, and blue blueberries.
Have a safe and happy holiday!
It’s Summer in the Northwoods
This is what we call Summer. We are now between the holidays of Memorial Day and Labor Day. Living in a vacation town that is beautifully perfect in the summer and an at-your-own-risk deep freeze in the winter, this is prime time here in the northwoods. The population in our town skyrockets with alot of people coming up to their lake cabins for the summer. For anyone who makes a living here, these next few months will be your best shot. I love going to town in the summer, even if I have to wait 2 light changes to get a green because of backed up traffic… people are in a happy vacation mood and there are people everywhere. I love ‘tourist season’.
And another reason to love summer: Here are just a couple things we pulled off the grill this weekend…
Johnsonville brats (pronounced ‘brot’, in case you’re tempted to make jokes about mis-behaved children). You can’t really see the brat itself because the toppings got a bit out of hand, but it is there.
AND
Rib-eye steaks, grilled to perfection. We like them done medium; pink in the middle, but the juices are brown. They were so tender and juicy that I could cut mine with a fork and they had so much flavor that we didn’t even need the A1 sauce. In case you ask, yes, sometime this summer, we (as in mainly Shannon, but I do help, as in hand him a plate or utensil out the window occassionally), plan to do a “How to Grill the Perfect Steak” post. I just made that title up, I don’t know what it’ll be called, but something to that effect, with directions on how to get the different levels of doneness.
Our weekend was pretty relaxed, not alot going on. How was your weekend?
It’s conversation hearts!
Did you ever have brainstorms hit you while laying in bed at night and can’t go to sleep? …
This is a fun way to spend alot of time not doing much! 
Bake an angel food cake (I used a cake mix) in a jelly roll pan lined with tin foil, not greased. Bake the cake for about 20 min. Flip upside down onto another piece of tin foil. Let cool for at least a half hour. Cut hearts out of the cake with a 1 1/2″ cookie cutter. Don’t go too close to the edge or it won’t cut through well.
I got 65 hearts out of it, but I’m sure I could’ve got more.
Make a glaze… put some powdered sugar in a bowl and add a little vanilla, then add milk little by little and beat with a wire whisk until it seems about the right consistency to glaze, but not too thin that you can see the cake thro’ it.
To glaze the hearts, put them on a wire rack with Saran wrap underneath to catch the drippings. Divide the glaze into however many different colors you want, then add a drop of food coloring to it. I’m out of green and blue food coloring, so I had to make do with yellow and red.
Spoon the glaze over the hearts.
To make sure all the sides get covered, get more glaze on the spoon and pat it around the outside.
It took me about 30 - 45 seconds to do one heart… the sloppier you are, the faster it goes, the funner it is, and the more glaze you waste.
Now they’re all glazed… I wonder how many times I said, “Don’t touch!” this morning…
Now, copy off of the real conversation hearts or think of your own and write on them with red frosting (I mixed up regular buttercream frosting for that, not glaze). I just used a plastic sandwich bag and cut off a tiny part of the corner… my writing tip would’ve been too big.
After the cake was cooled, total time to make these was about 3 hours. If you like the idea, you could do them in a morning. I think they’d look kinda cute to scatter around down the middle of the table for a Valentines meal. They actually look cuter in real life than on the pictures. I’m going to scrapbooking in a few minutes and am taking them along. Should be a hit with the kids!
Happy Valentines Day!
About Me
Hi! Welcome to my kitchen! My name is Kay. I'm from northern WI. I love cooking and baking. Especially baking. It's thereapeudic for me. I'm not a professional or gourmet cook by any means. I'm a Mennonite homemaker who happens to take pictures of some of the food I make. I have 2 little 'helpers'... Lexi (5) and Tiffany (2), who are young cooks in training. I don't do anything on the grill... that's where my husband comes in! He grills quite a bit, especially in the summer. So, sit back and enjoy browsing thro' the recipes. If you try some of them, I'd love to hear feedback on how you liked them!
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