Parade, Pie Recipe and Fireworks!

Saturday was filled with lots of fun for us.

I grew up in a very small town that has a little 4th of July celebration. The festivities start early in the morning with a flag ceremony and then breakfast served by the Boy Scouts. After breakfast there is the parade that goes around TWICE, so we get double the candy, YES! I try to make it every year for at least some of the party.

After getting back from the park I made a pie..........

This pie starts out with the easiest crust on earth(no rolling out required)! And then filled with a yummy cream cheese filling.

You then could top this pie with a topping of choice. I choose strawberries and blueberries for a patriotic color scheme. With some leftover pie dough you cut and bake little stars to add some sparkle.

Berry Cheesecake Pie

yield: 1 pie

8 oz Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 eggs
2 cups Strawberries, sliced
1 cup Blueberries
1 TBS Light colored Jam (any flavor such as orange, apricot, peach, etc)
Pie Dough Stars, pie dough star cut outs, baked 15 minutes

preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Press pie dough into a 9 inch pie pan. Reserve a small piece of pie dough, about 1/4 cup full and set aside for pie dough stars if using. Press dough up the side of the pie pan, and use your finger to press indentions to create a border. Place unbaked pie crust in the fridge.

2. Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until creamy and fluffy. Add vanilla. With mixer (or hand mixer) on low speed, add eggs one at a time fully incorporating before adding the second egg.

3. Remove crust from the fridge and pour cheesecake batter into crust. Bake for 25- 30 minutes until firm and set in the center, and the crust is lightly tanned. Sprinkle cinnamon over the cake and crust immediately after removing from oven. Sprinkle over the stars (if using). Let cheesecake pie cool completely.

4. Rinse and pat dry the berries. Remove the stems from the strawberries and cut in quarters. Gently place the berries on top on the cheesecake.

5. Boil some water (in the microwave is easiest) and pour over the jam a tablespoon at a time until it has melted and is thick and syrupy. Use a pastry brush to brush the glaze over the berries. This will create the shiny, glossy look.

6. Place the stars on the pie up to three hours in advance to avoid them getting soft or stained. The pie can be made 24 hours in advance.

Grammy’s Perfect Pie Dough

1/3 cup Milk
2/3 cup Vegetable Oil
2 1/4 cup Flour
1 tsp Salt

1. Measure the milk and vegetable and combine.

2. In a large bowl add the flour and salt. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and mix with a spoon.

3. Use this pie dough for any sweet or savory pie! Simply press in the pie pan rather than having to roll.

Recipe adapted from Natalie's Killer Cuisine

Perfect night for Fireworks.
This was Audrey's first time for fireworks. Audrey was more patient that Aria, but I don't think Audrey really knew what she was waiting for.

It was a great day! Happy 4th of July!