Celebrating Food

I like to celebrate holidays by making food. This might not be the same view of others, but I can't imagine a better way to enjoy a day off from responsibility than by making a ton of food.

This certain summer holiday that is coming up is absolutely no exception. Yes there will be fireworks and probably some time in the pool, but there is no better time than the 4th of July to pull out all the patriotic recipes I have been saving up all year. 

Last year I made a smaller spread, with a quick and easy black bean dip and a delicious peach and blueberry shortbread bars. This year I plan to step it up and really embrace the holiday, my love for cooking and those three colors we were so proudly on July 4th.

Red. White. Blue.

All day.

I'll start by making pancakes or waffles in the morning and adorning them with heaping amounts of strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream.

Then there is the flag cake. A 4th of July has not been celebrated at my house in the last two decades without this patriotic staple. 

And to drink.

My favorite sangria with additional blueberries thrown in to keep with the theme of the day.

Then there are certain foods that just simply cannot be red, white, and blue, but we eat them anyway on this day because they are delicious. 

Green chile and avocado burger

Grilled corn with chipotle lime butter and cilantro

And just in case a flag case isn't enough for you sweet tooth, there are always more options for dessert.

Blueberry Cookies

And my favorite cookies, with red and blue M&M's for the occasion. 

Can we start the celebration today?

Double Trouble

Fireworks. Fruit Stands. Family and Friends. Food.

That was about all I did on this 4th of July weekend. I was in a quite quandary about what to cook on Monday so after browsing a few of my favorite sites I came across a sweet and a not-so-sweet recipe that was perfect for the hot day.

First up I decided on a simple black bean dip that is easy to whip up with any vegetables that one might have in their refrigerator at the time. At my own house I always have peppers on hand, but at my parent's home that wasn't the case so I had to go without. 

• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup diced orange bell pepper
• 3/4 cup diced fresh tomato
• 1/2 cup corn kernels
• 1/3 cup diced English cucumber
• 3 green onions, sliced thin
• 1 jalapeno, deseeded and minced
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
• the juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 teaspoon canola or grapeseed oil
• 2 – 3 dashes cumin
• 2 – 3 dashes coriander
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix together all of the vegetables, black beans, and cilantro in a medium sized bowl. Mix together the final ingredients that form a sauce to pour over the vegetables and there you go!

We first didn't have an jalapeno and we thought we could get by without it, but you CANNOT. So if you are going to skip out on anything, don't let it be the jalapeno.

You didn't think that I was going to let a holiday go by without making something completely sweet and wonderful, right?

I weighed my options and with help from the little sis we decided that since neither of us could stop thinking about the Peach Blueberry Shortbread Bars in Matchbook Mag (page 110) this month that our decision should be easy. 

Off to the fresh produce stand where we bought a carton of peaches, blueberries, and jalapenos because I guess you can't just buy one jalapeno, meaning we have a years worth supply at my parents house.

These Shortbread bars are delicious and combine two of my favorite summer fruits.

If you can't find the recipe on Matchbook, there is also an almost identical recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

I am sorry that my posting has been very lacking over the last couple of days. With all the stress from school and then a slight computer malfunction I got a little behind but I am back!

Until next time. 

4 day week.