It's almost the Fourth!

In honor of the 4th of July, I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite recipes, decorations, past times, etc. Below is one of the easiest, tastiest, and cutest things you could do if you need to take something to a party, want to make something patriotic for the kids, or simply want a sweet treat.

Simply cut up angel food cake and layer the bottom of your baking dish (rectangle). Then, spread a layer of whipped cream and put another layer of angel food cake on top. Now you're ready for your top layer of whipped cream. Spread it on and get your strawberries ready to make your stripes. I cut the strawberries in half and line the up. Some people like to use raspberries! Now, use your blueberries as the stars part of the flag and you have the tastiest flag there is! So easy and no baking!!!!

Here's another favorite food idea for the Fourth that is sooooo easy and fun! Patriotic Pancakes! Yum..

All you have to do is separate your pancake batter and add red food coloring to one batch! Super easy and cheap!

Now for a little entertainment! This is a great game for kids and adults! This game has been a tradition for a long time on the Fourth for some of us and is still so exciting and fun. It's called Steal the Bacon and here's how to play. Be careful, it can get competitive :)

Steal the Bacon is a very simple game but takes a little explaining. It is worth learning, a lot of fun! You need a Caller (who runs the game and doesn't play), and two even teams. Each team assigns numbers to their players starting with #1. We usually start with the smallest (or youngest first). Player #1 on team A will be playing against player #1 on team B. You also need the "bacon" which can be any object (a small ball, stick, etc). The players line up with their team facing the player they will be competing against, with the "bacon" in the middle (teams about 5 -10 feet from the bacon) (See Diagram)

Team A	CALLER	Team B
1,2		1,2
3,4	Bacon	3,4
5,6		5,6

The caller calls out a number. If he calls our #3 then both #3 players come and try to get the bacon and take it back to their side without getting tagged. So if team "A" #3 grabs the "bacon" and gets back to his/her spot (you can use a hose line in front of the team that they have to get past, or markers, whatever) before getting tagged by Team "B" #3 then team A gets TWO points. If Team B #3 tags him/her then team B gets ONE point. Sometimes a player will run up fast and grab it, and sometimes both players will walk around it waiting for the other person to grab it. If someone fakes grabbing and touches it, then they CAN be tagged and lose a point. Also, the caller can call out more than one number at a time (Even all the umbers) This is good if one set of numbers is taking to long. The caller continues calling out numbers until a team reaches the agreed amount and that team wins.

Oh so much fun! Maybe we'll play at the office sometime! Hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July and spend it with family and friends! Happy 235th Birthday America!