Fourth of July Festivities

Last year on the 4th of July weekend we were:

- in a car driving from Arizona to California
- with all our pets (a parrot, a crab and and cat)
- several weeks worth of clothes
- all our important documents
- and a whole bunch of cleaning and painting supplies

We arrived on July 4th and went straight to the new house to get started on all the work that needed to be done before the moving trucks arrived.

Not much celebrating done last year, so this year we were sure to participate in at least a few Independence Day Festivities.

We were invited to a neighborhood get together and I made mini cheesecake cups to share.



My Aunt Pat used to always make these and I remember thinking how magical they were. Cheesecake in a bite size form - how fantastic is that! I used to devour these by the dozens.

I've never made them before, but I know they were made with Nilla Wafer cookies in the bottom. I did a quick recipe search and found this one. I'm sorry to say - I don't recommend it.

Since the recipe is pretty straight forward, I didn't think there would be many versions, so I just went with the first one I found (I got sucked in by her pretty picture).



The batter was very loose. The cakes browned too quickly and they seemed still gooey inside.
Don't get me wrong - we still ate them - and they weren't bad, just not what I remembered.

I should have searched farther and used the official Cherry Cheesecake Recipe from Nabisco. Next time.



I used plain white and red polka dot paper liners, and topped them with both cherry and blueberry pie filling.



These cute 4th of July toppers were made from a free printable download courtesy of Paper and Pigtails that I found here.

Since I wasn't sure how the Cheesecake Cups would go over - I decided to bake up some mini pies as well (plus I had a little leftover pie filling)



Cherry and Blueberry pies - each with a different crust design.



Cherry is still my favorite.



I found these adorable cupcake boxes that were the perfect size to hold one mini pie.



Tied them up with a ribbon and bow, and another one of the 4th of July layered tags.



....and off to the neighborhood party we went.



We saw an amazing display of Fireworks.



Put off a few of our own (only the legal ones of course).



Got creative with the sparklers.



And when the sparklers ran out (or wouldn't stay lit) we continued the creativity with a flashlight.

Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Weekend.