Flag Cake - Letter "F"

Ingredients:
1 box of festive patriotic funfetti cake mix
1 container of white fluffy icing
1 small container of strawberries (sliced up for the stripes)
2 heaping handfuls of blueberries (for the 50 stars)

Directions:
Bake the cake mix as directed in a rectangle cake pan. Let cool completely. Either turn upside down on a cake plate or leave in pan. Add the icing. Lastly add the fruit. Perfect for July 4th! Enjoy!

"Ta-da!"

Ice Cream - Letter "I"

Here are two delicious ice cream recipes that we have used lately. Sorry, but I will not be putting measurements beside the ingredients because honestly I did not do measuring. I have the Sunbeam Electric Half Pint Gel Canister Ice Cream Maker. It is just so easy to use and the kids love it! I just found myself adding the ingredients to the maker without measuring them.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Ingredients:
Sugar
Milk
Heavy Whipping Cream
Strawberries

Coffee Amaretto Ice Cream

Ingredients:
Amaretto liquid Coffee Creamer
Instant Coffee (I prefer Decaf)
Heavy Whipping Cream
Milk
Sugar
Vanilla extract

Watermelon Baby Carriage

I got this idea from my dear friends, Summer and Erin. They made one of these watermelon baby carriages for my baby shower in Macedonia. Last week I was able to make this one for my friend Jamie's baby shower.




Watermelon Baby Carriage

You Will Need:

1 large watermelon
Assorted fruit such as berries, kiwi, melons, and grapes
flowers (for garnish, if desired)
1 grapefruit or orange for wheels
1 kiwi for hubcaps
decorative bow
toothpicks
sharp knife

Instructions:

1. Cut a thin slice from the bottom of the watermelon to provide a stable base.

2. Using a sharpie marker, make an outline of a carriage. Use a sharp knife to make the cuts.

3. Hollow out the bottom of the watermelon and reserve the fruit for the fruit salad.

4. Cut out the handle from an unused piece of watermelon (scrape away any excess fruit.)

5. Attach the handle with toothpicks.

6. Using toothpicks, attach wheels made from orange slices and hubcaps made from kiwis.

7. Fill the carriage with approx. 4 cups of fruit salad.

8. Attach a bow to the top and arrange flowers around the base.




*There are YouTube videos that are helpful to watch before carving a baby carriage. Simply go to www.youtube.com and in the search window type "watermelon baby carriage". Several videos will appear that will assist you in making your watermelon baby carriage.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Layer 1: pretzels, butter & sugar


Layer 2: cream cheese, sugar & whipped topping


Layer 3: jello and strawberries &... wa-lah! SOOOOO yummy!

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

by: Jackie Pierce

2 cups crushed pretzels
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed
2 (3 oz.) packages strawberry flavored gelatin
2 cups boiling water
2 (10 oz.) or 1 (16 oz.) packages frozen strawberries

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Stir together crushed pretzels, melted butter and 3 tablespoons sugar; mix well and press mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until set. Set aside to cool.
4. In a large mixing bowl cream together cream cheese and 1 cup sugar. Fold in whipped topping. Spread mixture onto cooled crust.
5. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in still frozen strawberries and allow to set briefly. When mixture is about the consistency of egg whites, pour and spread over cream cheese layer. Lastly refrigerate until set.