Happy 4th of July!

***Happy 4th of July***Happy 4th of July***Happy 4th of July***Happy 4th of July***Happy 4th of July***

Happy 4th of July all of you loyal readers!  We had actually decided not to do a 4th of July post since both of us had family events to host.  However, that was before stumbling across an amazing post by Lady Behind the Curtain! Who is that you ask?  Well, a fellow blogger that I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with through social media.  She creates unbelievable food and gives great entertaining tips.

One of her latest creations was a stars and stripes pie that was just calling to me!  Anyone that knows me, knows that I am the least Pinterest-y person around.  I never decorate for holidays (minimally for Christmas-and really only because I have kids), I’ve never made cute little kids projects (even though I have 2 kids), and I’m not at all crafty!    A patriotic pie? With stars and stripes?  Laugh if you will, but just you wait-I think I actually pulled this one off!

Dessert was my task for this week’s monthly dinner with great friends.  What better recipe to try than this one? Turns out that was one great decision.  I found some beautiful cherry pie filling (chock full of cherries), organic strawberries and blueberries on sale at Trader Joe’s.  My daughter made the pie crusts while I was at the gym (have a mentioned how great it can be to have a teenager?).  She whipped up some up beautiful homemade pie crusts using this recipe by Alana Chernilla, which I have been using since I started cooking 10 years ago.  The only other modification I made from the original recipe was instead of buying blueberry preserves, I used the Blueberry Lime Jam I had canned last summer.  It worked perfectly!

Assembling the pies with my teenager was a blast.  We may not be that great at art.  I had to free hand the stars because I did not have the appropriate sized cookie cutter and the stripes may be a bit wavy, so don’t look too closely.  Artistic challenges aside, we really enjoyed creating this particular 4th of July pie!  The pie received rave reviews by our friends and their kids.  This pie is definitely one we will make again (My 5 year old has already asked for it again. Repeatedly).

Now I bet you want to make this too!  How you ask?  Head right over to Lady Behind the Curtain.  You can find the recipe here!

(The trick…)

(All photos by With Two Spoons, recipe by Lady Behind the Curtain)