Red, White, and Blue Trifle

I of course found this on Martha. It is delish and looks so pretty. The new thing to do is put your treats in a mason jar.  Haha, like I really know what the new thing to do is.  I loved doing it this way.  You can serve it in a bowl but the mason jar is so fun. I love the 4th of July and wanted to make something extra special.  This really was a lot of fun for me. 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice and 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1 store-bought pound cake (12 ounces), cut into 3/4-inch-thick slices
• 1 bar (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 cups fresh blueberries (three 1/2-pint containers), rinsed and dried
• 3 cups fresh raspberries (two 6-ounce containers)

Directions

1. Make lemon syrup: In a small saucepan, bring 1/4 cup sugar, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup water to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Let cool completely, then brush over both sides of cake slices. Quarter each slice.
   
2. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese with remaining 1/3 cup sugar, and lemon zest on high speed until lightened. With mixer on medium speed, gradually add heavy cream in a steady stream; continue beating until mixture is light and airy (mixture will be like a very soft whipped cream).
   
3. Arrange half the cake pieces in the bottom of a 2-quart serving dish or in a small mason jar. Spoon half the cream-cheese mixture over cake in dollops; spread to sides of dish. Scatter half the blueberries and raspberries on top. Repeat layering with remaining cake, cream-cheese mixture, and berries, piling berries in the center.  If you are using a mason jar cut a 2 in square to put in the bottom and layer just like above only in smaller amounts. 
   
4. Cover, and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour and up to overnight.  

I hope you have a fabulous 4th of July and remember to ENJOY!

German Berry Pancakes

My family loves German Pancakes. I have decided if we are going to have these delicious but not good for you meals I need to at least start adding something good. It is the exact same recipe as the other German pancakes with the addition of berries. My kids LOVED them. They are getting antioxidants and I can't complain about that.

1/4 cup butter
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
4-6 eggs
2 cups frozen berry mix

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the butter in a 9x13 pan and place in the oven to melt while the oven is preheating. While the butter is melting mix all of the ingredients together until well mixed. I use a hand mixer, my mom uses a blender. Either works well. Once the mix is mixed together, stir in the berries, get the pan out of the oven with a hot pad and roll the melted butter all over the inside of the pan. Then pour in the mixture. Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Place a toothpick in the middle and it should come out clean. Sprinkle with powdered sugar right away.

We used coconut syrup. It is delish. Mmmm Enjoy.

Watermelon Lemonade

This is a new recipe for me. I made it with my kids and I recommend that you make it with older kids, cause my little ladies made a mess of my kitchen while making this. It was fun for them though. This may be an acquired taste. The mint leaves was not my kids favorite. Maybe eliminate the mint for kids. Then again my 5 year old had 3 glasses. My hubby was not a fan, but I liked it. I maybe would add less mint for my taste bubs

It is actually fairly easy to make and I think it is delicious. It is out of Everyday Food by Martha Stewart Issue 54. I LOVE her Everyday Food Cookbooks. They have some of my most favorite recipes in them. The cookbooks are coordinated by month so it usually uses ingredients that are good in that season. This issue is for July/August so of course she had a Watermelon recipe. I just happened to get lucky at Sam's Club. They were taste testing the yummiest watermelon. It is extremely early for here...so like I said LUCKY us.

2 Lemons, quartered
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 medium seedless watermelon flesh cut into chunks.

Squeeze lemons into a large pitcher; add squeezed lemon quarters. Add mint and sugar; mash with a wooden spoon until mint is bruised and sugar is dissolved

In a blender, puree watermelon in batches until smooth: pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a pitcher (you should have about 8 cups juice). Stir to combine. Serve over ice. Refiderate covered for up to 3 days. Enjoy!