First of all, let me get some of the vacation details out of the way. Our vacation was really nice, minus all the bonding time we had in the car. I love my family, but 40 hours in the car reverses the love we developed for each other from the first 20 hours of bonding. I do not need to do a road trip like this anytime soon! With that being said, if you want to check out some of the highlights from our trip, visit my family blog and you will get a short blurb along with a cute little slideshow of photos. I did have an insane impulse while we were gone and had my back length hair cut off to my ears. I love the change and it was a fun, impulsive thing to do while we were gone.
As far as the food highlights, because you know I am all about the food, there were many. In Chicago – my sister-in-law’s enchiladas, some wonderful cinnamon sugar bakery bread, Bacon Bit pizza from Monical’s and ice cream from Oberweis Dairy. In Pennsylvania… the Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches from Southside Steaks and the most delicious custard/Italian Ice creation from Rita’s Ice Cones top the list. I’d love to get my hands on that recipe. In Iowa, the adorable food my sister-in-law made for the summer birthday parties were a hit as well!
Now…on to the fourth of July.
When you think of July 4th in America, what kind of desserts do you think of? Desserts featuring red, white and blue most likely is the first thing that pops into your head. First you have your tasty red, white, and blue flag shaped jello mold. You also have your delicious flag cakes. Oh – and don’t forget the red, white and blue beverages. Raspberries, strawberries and blueberries have their hay day on July 4th as they are typically the feature ingredient in the 4th of July desserts.
Yesterday we hosted our first annual “BBQ in the Bubble” party at our house. My husband and the husband of my friend Sara both smoked some delicious pork shoulder all day for our block to enjoy at our party. Everyone attending was asked to bring a side dish or a dessert. As the flood of responses came in, I was surprised to have only one person say they were bringing a dessert…and it was not going to be something red, white, and blue. How could we have a 4th of July party without bringing out some kind of patriotic dessert? The fact is, we couldn’t. We could not let July 4th pass without eating some kind of red, white and blue concoction. To solve this problem, I turned to my favorite recipe site…Recipezaar. I remember seeing a trifle last year that would be a perfect 4th of July treat. The Red, White and Blue Trifle is a beautiful dessert that showcases the colors of our American flag. It looks like slop once it is dished out… you just can’t make a trifle look as pretty on a plate as it looks in the trifle bowl. That is neither here nor there because slop or not, this trifle is delicious!
I hope you all had a great July 4th. I would like to take a moment to thank those brave men and women who are serving our country and who make the greatest sacrifice everyday to allow us the freedom we have. Thank you all. God Bless America!
4th of July Trifle
Ingredients
- 16 oz cream cheese
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar I used half this amount
- 8 ounces sour cream
- 1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 pint whipping cream
- 1 angel food cake store bought is fine
- 1 quart strawberries
- 1 quart blueberries
- 3/4 cup sugar I used half this amount
- 3 tablespoons almond flavoring
Instructions
- Cream together cream cheese and confectioners sugar.
- Add sour cream, vanilla and 1/4 tsp almond flavoring.
- Set this mixture aside.
- In separate bowl whip the whipping cream and add to cream cheese mixture.
- Tear up angel food cake and mix in.
- In separate bowl (s) place strawberries and blueberries 3/4 C sugar and 3 Tbsp almond flavoring.
- (You can mix the berries together or keep separate, for a pretty red, white and blue look,if separate divide sugar and almond flavoring between the two bowls).
- In a clear glass bowl alternate layers of the cream cheese mixtures and the berries.
- Garnish the top with berries.
- Refrigerate for a couple of hours.
Wow! Is that gorgeous or what! I could eat the whole thing – or have a wonderful time trying.
I love berries, sigh…..
Between the trifle and the shake what’s a girl to do but have both please!!
Wooo that looks lovely even if it gets messy on my plate!
First off–40 hours in a car. And no murders? You are a saint. A real saint! :):)
Second, that trifle is absolutely gorgeous! I just love it! And I bet everyone else did too, who got to eat it! Lucky devils.
How beautiful!!
Kris, I wish now that I had read my e-mail before going 40 miles to grocery shop today. That red, white and blue dish looks so good and we are having our neighborhood get together tonight for the 5th of July celebration. We all were to busy with parades, and City activities yesterday that we all wanted to have our group tonight. I guess I’ll have to save this one for another time. Love the new hairdo. Looks so easy. Love to you, Aunt Y
I saw this dessert at recipezaar and thought how perfect for 4th too! Looks delicious.
I agree about bonding and driving! We drove 7hrs almost non-stop stopping only for food and rest rooms!!:D
Phew! Glad that’s over for this summer even though it was fun.
I love trifles…this one is perfect for summer! Your hair is cute. When I first saw the picture, I thought it was just pulled back into a pony tail…I bet it’s easy to fix right now!
Okay…now I’m hungry again. You’ve got to stop tempting me! LOL! I’m going to head over to your family blog now to maybe get my mind off that trifle.
Hugs!
Kat
Kristen, this is so pretty! Glancing over the ingredient list, it is definitely something up my alley!
I love your new haircut! Very posh! The trifle …of course looks incredibly delicious.
Curses! No blueberries in southern Italy to be found! This looks so, so, so, so good. I hope you enjoyed your fair share for me as well 🙂
Oh God! A 40hours trip, I am not sure I would have been able to do it! At least you had some great fn with your family and that’s what’s important. Lovely and huge fourht of july triffle! By the way, you look good with your new hair cut! You go hot mama!
That is so pretty. I like it a lot better than the red, white and blue flag cakes. Happy 4th to you too! 🙂
Love the new do! Impulses are great!
It looks FANTASTIC, Kristen – I absolute love berries and this is a dessert that would make me smile forever!
Kristen – I’ve tagged you for a meme!! Check out my blog for more info.
I so wanted to make the trifle for the 4th but payday was the next day so we had no moula! Your red, white and blue trifle looks DELICIOUS! 🙂
40 hours…you’re a strong woman! I can’t be sure that, if it was me, everyone would have made it…ha! Your trifle looks delightful. You’re invited to Atlanta next July 4th!
40 hours… and I was thinking about the 3 hour trip tomorrow 🙂 Will check out the pictures and your links when I get back. It’s a holiday here on Monday, so off we go to the farm! Recipezaar is one of my favorites too. Take care!
I bet this trifle was a hit! The little ones seem to have had a good time on the trip.
Regarding the trip: you are a brave woman…so many hours in the car…gahhh.
Regarding the trifle, it is gorgeous and I’ll bet it tasted great even if not as pretty in the bowl.
Glad to hear that you survived the road trip – you deserve a medal of some sort 😉 And this triffle looks great. I’m not a triffle fan but this one I know I will like.
it looks soooooooooooooooo pretty!!!!
Trifles just tickle me. I love how you can make them look! Yours is lovely.
My favorite pick-your-own blueberry farm is now open and I am off this week to pick myself massive boxes of those gorgeous orbs. I simply can’t wait to gobble them by the handful as I pick too…the best part of the day!
great blog…i love your desserts….thx for sharing
A lovely tribute to America! Now I wish it’d be as easy to re-create the Estonian flag (blue/black/white)