Stars & Stripes Forever

Joe and I had a great fourth of July weekend. Friday was our 6 month wedding anniversary. Joe and I are trying to be really careful with our money and hadn't been on a date in a while. So, we took the opportunity to celebrate on Friday. We had a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant called Square One Bistro, and pulled out all the stops. It was so fun. Toward the end of the evening a local jazz band played at the restaurant, and it was like being in a completely different city. It was great! Saturday, we went and saw Toy Story 3 and relived our childhood. I cried. It was really, really well done. Don't tell him I told you this, but even Joe got choked up. In the car on the way home he went on and on about how special his toys were & how there were some he could never get rid of. It was too cute. I love how sentimental he is. Anyway, onto the main event- The 4th of July. Sunday my aunts family, my parent's and my grandpa came up for dinner. It was really special to have my grandpa in my home. Not to be morbid, but I try and not take these occasions for granted. I know I will really miss them when he's gone. As promised, here is our menu.

Watermelon & a salad with home grown veggies from my aunt and uncle's garden.

Ina Garten's Herb Potato Salad. Recipe here,

and Terry's Ribs. I forgot to take a picture of those. They are one of my absolute favorites.

Terry's Ribs:

Preheat the oven to 325

Meanwhile wash and pat dry pork ribs

Mix:

1/2 a cup of ketchup

2 TB of Brown Sugar

1 tp of Garlic Powder

A dash of Worcestershire

& a dash of of ground cinnamon & cumin.(joe's addition)

Cover ribs with sauce & place on a foiled baking sheet.

Cover ribs with foil and cook in oven for about 2 hours.

& for desert Americana cupcakes. I used this white cake recipe & this icing recipe from another foodie blog:

3 sticks room temp butter

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

7-8 cups sifted powdered sugar (just about 2 lb)

1/4 - 1/2 cup milk

Cream butter/shortening until smooth, approx 3 minutes on medium using paddle attachment.
Slowly add sugar, once all added crank up speed on mixer to med- high and whip it up for approx 1 min.
Add milk, depending on your liking: stiffer~ less milk, creamier ~ more. If you add too much, no worries, just sift in a little more sugar.
I only add vanilla extract if I am coloring the frosting, otherwise, it is just as tasty without and the extract tends to make it a little tan, unless you use clear vanilla.

This will frost 24 cupcakes (piped on)

or cover 9" round cake.

After I made the batter for the cup cakes I divided it into two bowls and used a ton of food coloring. They turned out great!