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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

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.

Berry Cheesecake Cups

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).

Cherry Cheesecake Cups

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.

Cupcake Papers

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

4th of July Toppers

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)

4th of July Berry Pies

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

Pint Sized Pies

Cherry is still my favorite.

Cherry Stars Pie

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

Pie Boxes

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

Berry Pie

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

Fireworks

We saw an amazing display of Fireworks.

The Spinner

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

Sparkler fun

Got creative with the sparklers.

Flashlight Writing

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.





10 comments:

  1. Oh wow, i love your blog, your photos, the prescriptions. It's verry nice. Thank you for sharing.

    Greetings from germany

    Anja

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  2. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! Love the crafts and the blog. The photos are amazing. You are inspiring me yet again!

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  3. Amazing! Looks like you had a great 4th!!!!

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  4. Ok, your cupcakes and little mini pies are the CUTEST!! I love the little boxes too- just perfect! I bet you were the talk of the neighborhood! :)

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  5. if i was your neighbor would you bring me a mini cherry pie? pleeeeaaase? those are so freakin' cute, i can hardly stand it. and cheesecake? yum, my mom makes one fabulous cheesecake.

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  6. Stunning photos! Love them all. The food looks scrumptious. :)

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  7. What an amazing set of goodies! Those cheesecake cups look so good. I've made cookie and cream cheesecakes like that but your cherry ones look amazing. And I love the stars on your crust. I will have to remember that for next year!!

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  8. Oooh yummy! You are such a clever chicky!

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  9. I realize I am VERY late on commenting on this, but can you let me know where you found those mini boxes?? m_daltorio@yahoo.com ... thanks!!!

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  10. The boxes are designed for cupcakes (I removed the inner portion with holes for the cupcakes). I got them at Michaels. I think they measure about 6 X 6 and I have seen them at other craft/bakewear stores.

    http://www.michaels.com/Celebrate-It%E2%84%A2-Bakeware-Accessories---Red-White-Polka-Dots/bk0777,default,pd.html

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