Oh, Say Can You See??

The fourth of July rates right up there as one of my favorite holidays! I love the symbolism, the festivities, the fireworks, and the great goodies. .BBQ, delicious sides and salads, fruity drinks, and lots of desserts!

Often, we host a get together at our house. .

but this year, I just wasn't in the mood to organize. .

so. .

We enjoyed a small family BBQ at Jeremy's grandma's house. We feasted on smoked, glazed ribs, dijon grilled fresh veggies (enter yellow, green, & red peppers, mushrooms, yellow and patty pan squash, onion, and cherry tomatoes), baked beans, homemade mac and cheese, pasta salad, and plenty of dessert! Grandma moved to a great location last fall, at the very edge of town. .so we had no trouble sitting in her yard and viewing the firework display over the lake.

I took a lot of photos. .fireworks are a little tricky to catch!! Gotta love technology though. .all of our cameras have a "firework" setting. .and the camera does all the work. I was able to sit in my lawn chair, camera in hand, point and shoot.

Because we were under a burn ban last year, they had a double display of fireworks.

The displays never last long enough!!

It has been exceptionally windy day and night around here for over a week. So we haven't really shot many of our personal fire crackers, since we live in a spot surrounded by pasture, which is now consisting of dry, dead grass. We are planning a double birthday party for Tristan and Jeremy's brother Joe tomorrow night. .and are hoping to get a wind-free evening to light off the family display at Granny's. .a safer locale!!

Devin's pumped up to work on his firework photos!!

Cami and I made some from-scratch vanilla cupcakes to contribute for dessert. .after I couldn't resist the really pretty Americana sprinkles I found at the cake shop I stopped at in Wichita last weekend. .I had been looking for a light, airy frosting recipe. .like one that I had tasted from a gourmet cookie shop in Oklahoma. I found several, but this one sounded like the easiest to make. .so I started. .and ended. .there. This frosting was lighter than air, not too sweet, and piped onto the cupcakes in a way that the hideous (or ideous-as Cami would say) looking-crazy topped cupcakes looked almost professional. .almost! Cami was the sprinkle queen, and Devin thought there were entirely too many sprinkles. .

but we're saying. .

Can there EVER be TOO many sprinkles on a cupcake??

Hope you all had a great holiday. .with no burnt fingers and full tummies!!

Whipped Buttercream Frosting

(I'll never use another can of store bought frosting again!!)

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp milk or light cream

In electric mixer cream the butter until smooth. Add vanilla. With mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 5 minutes) Tint the frosting with desired food color. I used an open star tip on my pampered chef easy decorator and piped around the outside in a circle until peaking it in the center of the cupcake. This frosting can hide a LOT of ugly cupcake abnormalities. .and all the cupcakes looked good!! 

Recipe taken from joyofbaking.com The vanilla cupcake recipe was on there too.