Bites from other Blogs

The Fourth of July is a colorful holiday – and it’s fun to bring some of that color into the foods you’re serving, as well as into your holiday decorations.

• Sprinkled with Jules baked up an American Flag Pie that is made with fresh blackberries and strawberries. The fruits in the filling are arranged so that the blackberries take up just one corner of the pie – the corner that is meant to represent the blue corner of the American flag – while the strawberries stand in for the red stripes. The top pie crust is cut with stars and stripes – representing the white portions of the flag – and laid over top of the fruit for a really festive effect. The pie is almost too cute to eat, but I have a feeling that you’ll get over that once the pie has cooled and is ready to serve!
• The Berry Yogurt Pops from Fearless Homemaker are creamy, layered popsicles with bold stripes of red, white and blue. The colors come from fresh fruits that are pureed and incorporated into a yogurt base. These particular pops use sweet, dark cherries for their red layer and fresh blueberries for their blue component. Other red fruits, such as strawberries and raspberries, could also make a nice addition to your pops, however the cherries bring in an intense color that makes the pops look stunning.
• Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks Mojito Berry Salsa is a colorful snack that will definitely fit in at your 4th of July table. The salsa is made with bold red and blue berries. The fruit is jazzed up with a squeeze of lime, a dash of sugar and some fresh mint, pulling in flavors from mojitos, refreshing cocktails that are always favorites during hot summer weather.
• My Sequined Life baked up some Patriotic Rainbow Cookies that are sure to be a hit if you are entertaining this weekend. The brightly colored cookies are made in layers, that are stacked together to form the finished treats. The tender cookies have a rich almond flavor and the layered are held together with raspberry jam, which adds just the right touch of fruitiness to contrast with nutty almonds.
• Barman’s Journal‘s Kentucky Strawberry Lemonade may not look red, white and blue, but it certainly is a cocktail that is worth adding to your summer party menu. The easy to make drink starts with a homemade strawberry syrup, made with fresh strawberries, water and sugar. The intensely flavored syrup combines with lemon juice and bourbon for a very adult twist on strawberry lemonade – a drink that was always a summer favorite of mine! For the kids, you can simply omit the bourbon and combine the strawberry syrup with soda water (for strawberry sodas) or with lemon juice for homemade strawberry lemonade with no artificial coloring.