Happy 4th of July

4th of July is another wonderful holiday to celebrate!

Our house is ready, my recipes are picked out and we have some cute patriotic clothes to wear. WE ARE READY!!

This delicious dessert is a must for us on the 4^th of July. I can’t find another dessert I like better then Paula Deene’s Strawberry Shortcake. It screams summer, it is light, cool, and refreshing. I add a few blueberries to the top to bring it 4^th of July approved. I have also made this in individual flutes for a first communion celebration. I promise you, you will not be disappointed…from your first bite, you will be in love.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

Ingredients
* 1 large angel food cake
For the custard:
* 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
* 1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
For the glaze:
* 1 cup sugar
* 3 tablespoons cornstarch
* 3 tablespoons strawberry gelatin (recommended: Jell-O)
* 1 cup water
* 2 cups fresh strawberries, cut in 1/2 (if berries are extra large, they can be cut into quarters)
* Whole fresh strawberries and mint leaves, for garnish
(Hand full of blueberries for the 4^th of July)

Directions
Slice cake, using a serrated knife, horizontally into 3 equal layers.
For the custard:

Mix together cream cheese, condensed milk, and whipped topping in a bowl; set aside.
For the glaze:

In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar, cornstarch, and gelatin; add water. Cook stirring over medium heat until thick. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Fold in strawberries.
For assembly:

Place 1 layer of cake in a large clear bowl. Top with a layer of glaze, followed by a layer of custard mixture. Repeat layering in this order for remaining cake, glaze and custard. Top cake with 3 whole fresh strawberries and fresh mint leaves and a handful of blueberries.

THE HOUSE IS READY

Most of my 4^th of July décor comes from First Monday Canton trade days. If you live in Texas, I know you have been or at least heard of it.  It is such a fun way to look at clothing, furniture, and decorations. You can find just about anything you want from brand new items to flea market finds. I put up our patriotic decorations starting in May for Memorial Day and keep most of them up through Labor Day.

I love decorating the backyard as well. In Texas we spend most of our free time by the pool!

4TH OF JULY OUTFITS

I snuck away a week ago and headed for my therapy….shopping.

I found this adorable top for $9.99 at Ross Dress for Less.

I couldn’t resist. You can wear it with blue Jeans, white jeans, shorts, and I think a mini skirt would be adorable too.

I decided to wear the top for the 4^th of July with white jeans from Target and a red wedge from Payless Shoe Source .

Eric got another great T-shirt from the  Dive Bar T-shirt Club. This shirt arrived in June which is perfect for him to wear on the 4^th of July!

I hope your 4th of July is filled with good food, great friends and a peaceful reminder of how blessed we all are to live in such a beautiful country!

xoxo,
Molly

A celebration for one of our favorites

July 3^rd is such a special day to our family. It is my father’s birthday. He would have been 69 years old this year. We are still celebrating this amazing man even though he left this earth almost 5 years ago.

This picture is on his last birthday. He turned 64. He was so sick and so fragile, but we did it…we all got together to celebrate our dad, our grandfather, our rock, our hero.

One of the best joys in life is seeing each of my children carry on his beautiful soul. The way they look, the way they love, and how they are protective of our family. I feel honored to have had him as my father, I am blessed my children got to know him as their papa and I love that he is still in our daily conversations and prayers.

On his special day we are meeting at Covino’s (his favorite restaurant) and talking and remembering the man we all miss so much.

In honor of my dad’s birthday I wanted to share his favorite dessert. He requested it for most of his birthdays.

ICE CREAM PIE

Ingredients
2 cups crisped rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
⅓ cup creamy peanut butter
⅓ cup white Karo syrup
1½ quarts softened ice cream

Hot fudge sauce
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup heavy cream (evaporated milk works!)
4 T. butter
1 t. vanilla

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, stir the peanut butter and Karo syrup together until well combined. Add the rice cereal and mix with buttered hands, folding the cereal into the peanut butter mixture until well combined. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9″ pie pan and gently press the mixture into the pan and up the sides. prepare the fudge sauce.  In a 2 qt. saucepan over medium heat, cook sugar, cocoa, heavy cream & butter until mixture is smooth & boils, stirring constantly.  Remove the saucepan from the heat; stir in the vanilla.  Cool fudge sauce slightly. Fill the crust with ½ of the softened ice cream and then pour ½ of the fudge sauce over ice cream and freeze for 20 minutes. Remove from freezer and add remaining ice cream and finish off the top with the fudge sauce. Freeze for 3 hours or overnight. Remove from the freezer and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving.

 

Happy Birthday Dad! I hope your watching down on us with a smile so big you light up heaven.

Xoxo, Molly