Friday, July 2, 2010

Surrender Dorothy

It's 4th of July weekend! I love holidays that don't have a lot of rules to them. The 4th of July is one of those. You can choose from any number of relaxing and enjoyable things. Have a picnic! Go to a baseball game! Watch fireworks! Do nothing! Enjoy your independence!

There's no pressure, but there are traditions.

One of those traditions in this house - and in hundreds of other houses  - is the flag cake. (note, this picture is not of a cake I made. I couldn't find one and snagged this from the web. Mine is generally more rugged than this.) I make it every year and when it works out I actually have 13 stripes made of strawberries and fifty stars made of blueberries.  (I know on the flag the stars are white on a blue background, but actual flags are rarely edible.) Often times we end up with 11 stripes or 42 stars or some such thing. It is not a statement or disrespectful, it's just spacing errors. The idea is the same and everyone eats it anyway.

Maggie and I generally make it together, but to be perfectly honest she is not that helpful.Like all cooking projects, Maggie empties out the dishtowels and throws them around the kitchen and then reaches in to the pot drawer and flings whatever she can reach. It's a ton of fun for her. She does like to listen to me swear when I realize we are leaving out some of the colonies and she loves to take credit at the end. It doesn't matter. It's tradition for us to do it together.

My son Eddie is coming home for the weekend, which is exciting. We haven't seen him since April. I told him Maggie and I would make the flag cake. He said "great! - but can you leave the fruit off". Me, perplexed, "Leave the fruit off? Those are the stars and stripes." E. "I know, but it's better without it".

 Me - dripping with dryness- so you want me to make a cake that looks like a flag of surrender? 

Ed:  Perfect.

Maggie and I have elected to ignore this request. It is not tradition. He can pick the fruit off like he does every year.

Have a great long weekend everyone!

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