Independence Day!
Yes folks, it is a little cheesy, but true, I love July Fourth. I hail from the great Northeast and we New Englanders are very proud of our Independence. I mean hello? The shot heard around the world? The Boston POPS July fourth concert televised all over the U.S.? We do it right...
Growing up, every year I would march in the Chatham Fourth of July parade. I would dress up in some crazy costume in 90 degree weather, eat hoodsie cups - yummers - and dance around like a crazy lady. The years that my sister and I organized the float we won that bright shiny blue ribbon! I think the theme my year was Independence. The theme of my float was "fairytale characters who were once captive and now free." What?!?! Not only was I an odd little monkey, but I was also 16 - give a girl some credit for creativity...
July fourth always marked the true start of summer fun and theatre galore. As I got older and started working over the summer - the busiest time of year for an actor - I was less and less able to be home for the amazing BBQ my parents and their friends always have with the ridic 3 bean salad, my mother's off the hook mayo-free potato salad, and all those store bought desserts. You know what I am talking about; the mini cupcakes with the red, white, and blue super sweet frosting, the millions of cookies with the red, white, and blue sugar and the occasional frosted brownie with a commemorative ring. It got me thinking about what I would make for the quintessential Yankee July Fourth gathering, Nantucket Reds and all.
Growing up, every year I would march in the Chatham Fourth of July parade. I would dress up in some crazy costume in 90 degree weather, eat hoodsie cups - yummers - and dance around like a crazy lady. The years that my sister and I organized the float we won that bright shiny blue ribbon! I think the theme my year was Independence. The theme of my float was "fairytale characters who were once captive and now free." What?!?! Not only was I an odd little monkey, but I was also 16 - give a girl some credit for creativity...
July fourth always marked the true start of summer fun and theatre galore. As I got older and started working over the summer - the busiest time of year for an actor - I was less and less able to be home for the amazing BBQ my parents and their friends always have with the ridic 3 bean salad, my mother's off the hook mayo-free potato salad, and all those store bought desserts. You know what I am talking about; the mini cupcakes with the red, white, and blue super sweet frosting, the millions of cookies with the red, white, and blue sugar and the occasional frosted brownie with a commemorative ring. It got me thinking about what I would make for the quintessential Yankee July Fourth gathering, Nantucket Reds and all.
Being as excited as I am to visit good friends and family, I went a little wacko on the baking. I made a couple hybrid recipes yesterday and I think they are going to be pretty darn delicioso. Usually when I try new recipes out I do them straight ahead the first couple of times and then I start spicing it up - if you will. This time I threw caution to the wind and just went for it. If these recipes prove to be as successful as I think they will be, I will post them. That is how proud of them I am. There are A LOT of pictures so hold on to your hat.
The first experiment was my lemon squares. As I told you before, my sister is vegan and often times it is really difficult to find truly delicious treats. They are always good, but I am talking DELISH. I made the shortbread with margarine which can be dicey. I put that in the oven to bake for 20 min and turned my attention to the curd. I had to use agar agar which I have to admit I am NOT a fan of. It is a natural vegan gelatin or if you want me to tell you the truth - seaweed. It gives things a funny taste and a tapioca kind of consistency. But time was limited and who I am to question a vegan recipe I have never done? You know, for lemon bars there is a considerably small amount of lemon juice used. They came out really well, but I had some problems getting the damn squares out of the pan. Note to self, next time grease AND flour the pan.
The Lemon Bars heading into theoven to become delicious citrus goodness
Vegan Lemon Bars. Look at this lemony grogeousness! I wanted to start eating them the
second they came out of the oven. Vegan = Fat-free/Calorie-free right?
second they came out of the oven. Vegan = Fat-free/Calorie-free right?
The second was a Raspberry oat bar. This one was going to be a bit easier. I am not sure why I thought raspberry bars would be perfect for a July Fourth bash with friends and family, but it felt right so I went with it. Honestly, one of my favorite things in the world is to put vegan treats on a table and have everyone eat them and say how off the hook they are and then break the news that they are vegan. If you tell them before they automatically go in with a negative attitude. Vegan can be good! For this recipe, I made the shortbread with margarine again - it seemed successful the first time... Then I loaded on the raspberry preserves. I used low sugar Polaner all fruit. I thought it would be sweet enough without all the added sugar of a cheaper jam. Then I got to the crumble. This is where the experimenting got into full force. I wanted a specific crumble consistency so I started adding oats to the shortbread and some vanilla and a little of this and a little of that. When it looked gorgeous I put it on top of the preserves and popped that puppy in the oven.
Please pass the Jelly. Oh I am sorry just remembering the Polaner All Fruit commercial.
This is pre-bake and I have to tell you I was VERY skeptical of these suckers turning out well.
This is pre-bake and I have to tell you I was VERY skeptical of these suckers turning out well.
Vegan Raspberry Bars. Post-bake I still was not sure. There doesn't seem to be enough fruit and a lot of shortbread and topping.
The jury is out in this one. Jenna - my sister - will give the verdict.
The jury is out in this one. Jenna - my sister - will give the verdict.
I think I told you before that I don't do sugar, gluten, or yeast. Sometimes I will stray, but when I do, I pay the price royally. I get all loopy and forgetful. This odd little haze comes over me and I am useless. I knew that I would be tempted to eat everything I made and everything on the dessert table at the MANY BBQs I am attending, so I decided I should make myself some gfyfsf cookies. My last attempt at the carob chip cookies left me a little gun shy so what to make? Ah...what about a variation on the vegan oatmeal crasin cookies I made last year. The only flours I had to work with were white bean - we remember what happened the last time I used that in cookies - and brown rice flour - which has a mealy consistency. In this particular recipe there is very little flour so I thought I will do half and half and pray for a miracle. Here is the result.
Gluten-free, yeast-free, sugar-free Oatmeal Crasin Cookies. Yummers!They look good and not a whiff of bean. Let's hope they taste delicious too.
I will report back to you upon my return about all of my baked goodness and perhaps a recipe or two. Stay tuned...
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