Independence Day Celebration

I think we need to make some changes to Independence Day – make it a 2-day Holiday every year. You need to have the 4th off for all those daytime activities such as Parades, Community Barbecues and such. But then you need the next day off if you’ve been out late watching the Fireworks.

Actually, we haven’t been to a professional Fireworks Show ever on the 4th of July. When we lived in Las Vegas, we would go up on the roof of an office building to watch the fireworks all around town. We’ve never been one for crowds. All the other years we’ve either hosted something at our house, with those Safe and Sane Fireworks, or gone to someone’s house for the same thing – barbecue and Fireworks in the street. The last few years, everyone has brought fireworks, and we’ve actually put on a “show” of the legal kind that has lasted until well after midnight.

Not this year. Hello – the 4th of July on a Tuesday. My guys have today off. That’s it. Tomorrow, bright and early, they will be back a work. Since we drive up to my sister’s place to swim, share in a potluck barbecue and shoot off fireworks, we’ve all agreed to tone down the firework portion. It’s an hour drive from door to door, and if we are shooting off fireworks until midnight, by the time we load up, drive home, unload and get to bed, it will be close to 3 in the morning. For me, that’s fine. But not for my guys.

And another thing – all the dishes we’re contributing will need to be done by me. My guys might be able to help with the final touches, but that’s about it. Everything else falls on me since they only have just the one day off – a day that will be spent in part on traveling. Hey, maybe the 4th of July needs to be a 3-day thing. Yeah, that’s it, let’s shut down the country for 3 days to celebrate. One day to get ready, one to party and the last to recover. Sounds good to me.

Some of the recipes for this year’s potluck are tried and true. The bean dip is the same one we did for Flag Day. It’s Tuesday, and I wanted to do something “Patriotic” and Mexican at the same time. The Deviled Eggs – what can I say? You can’t have a party without Deviled Eggs.

Now the Southern Pit Beans are a new recipe. My Dad loves baked beans. I just really needed to change things up a bit. And these beans are a great side for the hot dogs and hamburgers my brother-in-law will be grilling up.

As for the desserts – both new. The inspiration came from a recent event in nearby Santa Clara. I won’t go into much detail except to say we were able to attend a special Mass held at the Mission, followed by cocktails, dinner, a concert.

The real inspiration came in the form of the after-concert dessert buffet. I loved the idea of a dozen bite-size desserts. However; when it’s just me, making that many bite size treats wasn’t very practical. So I settled for chocolate fudge tartlets and a patriotic fruit tart.

Happy 4th of July everyone! Be safe, celebrate and be proud.

4th of July Pot Luck
Appetizers
American Flag Bean Dip
Red-White and Blue Deviled Eggs

Sides to Share
Southern Pit Baked Beans

Dessert Buffet
Red, White and Blue Fruit Tart
Mini Chocolate Fudge Tartlets

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American Flag Bean Dip
2 bunches Green Onions
1 cup crushed Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
4 Roma Tomatoes
1 slice Provolone Cheese
2 (16 oz) cans Refried Beans
3 tablespoons Taco Seasoning
8 oz Sour Cream
8 oz Cream Cheese
2 cups shredded Pepper Jack or Mexican Cheese
8 oz Hot or Medium Tomato Salsa
8 oz Hot or Medium Guacamole Dip
1 bag Red, White and Blue Tortilla Chips for serving

Trim green onions, chop and set aside. Crush Blue Corn tortilla chips, set aside. Seed and dice tomato, set aside. With a small star or round piping tip, cut stars or dots from the Provolone cheese, set aside.

Empty refried beans into a skillet over medium-low heat. Season beans with taco seasoning. Heat until beans are easy to spread.

Spread warm beans in a 9-inch by 13-inch glass casserole dish. Spread a guacamole dip over the top of the beans. Spread a layer of salsa over the top of guacamole dip. Sprinkle green onions over the layer of salsa. Scatter shredded cheese over green onions. This is the bases for the flag dip.

Sprinkle the crushed blue corn tortilla chips in the upper left corner of pan for the blue background of the flag. Place the small circles or stars in neat rows over the crushed blue chips to create stars for the flag.

Mix together sour cream and cream cheese. Place in a zip-lock bag or pastry bag fitted with a wide tip. (If using a zip-lock bag, snip off one corner of the bag to allow piping). Pipe white stripes for the flag, leaving room for the red stripes between. Create red stripes for the flag with the diced tomatoes.

Serve with a bowl or platter of red, white and blue corn chips.

Red, White and Blue Deviled Eggs
16 Eggs
1 tablespoon Baking Soda
5 tablespoons Mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dry Mustard
2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste

To Boil Eggs: Place eggs in a pan and cover with cold water. Add baking soda to the water if desired (to help peel). Bring eggs to a full boil. Remove pan from heat, cover and let steep for 14 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath for the eggs. Drain eggs, crack shells slightly on counter and plunge into the ice-cold water bath to cease the cooking process. Cracking the eggs first allows water to seep between shell and cooked egg, also helpful when peeling.

Let eggs cool completely. Peel, cut in half lengthwise. Remove yolks and place yolks in a food processor fitted with a chopping blade. Place whites aside.

Mix-Chop yolks until fluffy and resembling damp breadcrumbs. Add mayonnaise, mustard and a tablespoon of vinegar. Mix again, taste, adjust with addition vinegar if desired, season with salt and pepper. Transfer yolk filling to a bowl, chill until ready to fill.

Divide egg whites as desired for coloring into three groups. One group will remain uncolored, the remaining two are colored red or blue. Set each group of egg whites aside and mix coloring

Egg White Coloring
2 cups Hot Water, divided
2 tablespoons White Vinegar, divided
Royal Blue Food Coloring as desired
Red Food Coloring as desired

In a glass bowl, mix 1 cup hot water, 1 tablespoon vinegar and Royal Blue food coloring. Mix well, add more coloring as desired. Set aside.

In another glass bowl, mix remaining hot water, vinegar and red food coloring. Mix well, add more coloring as desired, set aside.

When ready to color, place egg whites as desired into each bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes. Check, and continue to dye longer if needed. This can be done in batches so as to not overcrowd the bowls – there is more than enough dye.

Remove colored whites from the dye, invert onto a rack lined with paper towels. Let whites dry completely before filling.

To assemble: Arrange red, white and blue egg whites as desired on serving trays. This can be random, or create a flag or whatever you desire.

Note: Its best to have a design in mind before coloring the egg whites. That way you will color what is needed to make your vision become a reality.

Spoon chilled egg yolk filling into a piping bag fitted with desired tip. (I use a large star for deviled eggs) Pipe filling into the egg whites as desired. Chill before serving.

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Southern Pit Baked Beans
5 cans Bush’s Southern Pit Barbecue Baked Beans
1 medium Yellow Bell Pepper
3/4 small White Onion
1 lb Ground Beef
6 slices Bacon
1 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Ketchup
2-1/2 teaspoons Yellow Mustard

Heat oven to 325-degrees. Empty the cans of beans into a large casserole dish to disposable foil dish, set aside.

Stem, core, seed and dice bell pepper, set aside. Peel and mince onion, set aside. Dice bacon, set aside.

In a cast iron skillet, cook ground beef, breaking into small pieces as it browns. Drain meat well, add to the beans.

In the now empty skillet, cook bacon until lightly crisp and brown. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving behind the grease. Add onions and bell peppers, cook for about 4 minutes to soften. Add the mixture to the beans.

Stir in Worcestershire Sauce, Brown Sugar, Ketchup and Mustard to the bean mixture. Stir well to blend. Scatter the bacon over the top of the beans. Cover and bake for 1 hour.

Uncover, bake for an additional 30 minutes. Keep warm until ready to serve.

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Red, White and Blue Fruit Tart
Crust
1 cup (16 tablespoons) Butter, room temperature
½ cup Powdered Sugar
2 cups Flour
Pinch Kosher Salt

Heat oven to 350-degrees.

Cream the butter and sugar together until completely combined. Add flour and salt to the butter mixture, beat until a dough is formed.

Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of a tart pan. Place in the heated oven, bake for 20 minutes.

While the crust is baking, make the filling.

Filling
1/3 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
8 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature

Combine heaven cream with powdered sugar. Whip until thick but not stiff.

In a separate bowl, whip cream cheese until soft and smooth. Whip heavy cream mixture into the cream cheese until combined. Chill until ready to use.

Finishing Touches
Strawberries as needed, about a cup
Blueberries as needed, about a cup

Rinse berries. Slice strawberries into thin slices uniform in size. Set aside.

Once the tart shell has completely cooled, fill tart with cream cheese filling. Garnish as desired with fruit. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.

Mini Chocolate Fudge Tartlets
1 box Pillsbury Pie Dough
8 oz Semisweet Chocolate Chips
6 tablespoons Butter
2/3 cup Sugar
2 large Eggs, beaten
Pinch Salt
Whipped Cream for garnish

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 24 mini-muffin tins, set aside.

Follow directions on box to unroll dough disks. Cut into 24 rounds with a 3-inch biscuit cutter. Press rounds into the prepared muffin tins. Pierce bottom with a fork to anchor. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes.

Remove shells from oven, but do not remove from tin. Set aside.

Reduce oven temperature to 375-degrees.

Melt the chocolate chips with the butter in a heavy saucepan over very low heat. Remove pan from heat, add sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add eggs, one at a time, whisk well. Season with a pinch of salt.

Pour chocolate filling into a piping bag fitted with a large tip. Pipe chocolate filling into the tartlet shells. Return to the oven, bake for another 10 minutes or until filling is just set.

Remove from oven, let cool to room temperature. Carefully arrange on a platter. Dollop with whipped cream just before serving.

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O Lord, Your mercy is before my eyes.