Happy July Fourth

Despite the current turmoil we pause to celebrate us, the United States of America.  A time to reflect on what this holiday means to each of us.  For me, this country offered a way out of chaos, opportunity and hope for my father and I am the direct recipient of his escape and struggles.  I am forever grateful and cognizant of that fact and if not for this country my family’s trajectory would have been far different.

And yet it is painfully obvious we have much work to do in order to create a more perfect union where all men and women are created equal.  How do we ensure that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is along the same road for each and everyone of us.

Proud to be an American

Since Election Day November 2016 I have felt a sense of obligation to my family, my kids and my country.  I marched, attended rallies, canvassed, I needed to be more invested in our political process to effect change.  When you are comfortable living your life it is easy to become complacent about what is happening around you.  You wake up one morning and realize the crap has hit the fan while you were living your life.  If you dislike politics or no matter what side of the political divide you fall on-human decency, kindness, and compassion knows no party and we can all work towards a kinder, more inclusive nation.  Above all I would like the definition of being American to include compassion, empathy, decency, equality.

I Still Want to Celebrate

COVID-19 and the state of our nation means a much more subdued celebration of July 4th in our house.  We are grilling hot dogs and making a delicious white bean stew  (my twist on Frank and Beans) to mark the holiday.  Dessert will be colorful Vanilla Sprinkle Cookies, also known as Sugar Saucers.  I found the recipe on Serious Eats, a favorite go-to site for me.  Reminiscent of the cookies found in Italian-American bakeries, they are light, with a cakey center and crisp edges laced with vanilla flavor.  The sprinkles provide a nice crunch to the cookies.  I think of the sprinkles as edible sparklers and fireworks-yummy, safe ones.  I should have used red, white and blue sprinkles, but could not find any, maybe next year.

The dough includes oil and butter creamed with a combination of sugar and powdered sugar.  The recipe states to beat until light and fluffy but it is pretty soft almost liquid in consistency, don’t worry too much about fluffy.  The dough will still be soft after adding the flour mixture. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

I used my handy dandy ice cream scoop to portion out the dough which I then shaped into balls.  Use a 2 tablespoon scoop for smaller cookies and drop the balls into the sprinkles.  The baking time was about 12 minutes for smaller cookies.

The hot dogs are ready as is the white bean stew.  As we enjoy our 4th of July dinner we’ll be watching Hamilton.  A good way to celebrate our country and reflect on what it means to be an American.