A Sweet and Simple Fourth

I know, I know, the Fourth of July was a week and a half ago, but moving at the end of June and beginning my summer job this past week have kept me so busy, it's ridiculous. And add to that an unplanned (and yet hopeful, in terms of job-seeking!) overnight trip to Ohio this weekend. Whew. But anyway, back to the Fourth. I just wanted to share a quick (and VERY easy) dessert treat that we made, along with our decorations from this year and last (some of which we recycled for this year!). The dessert comes courtesy of my friend Beth, who gave me the idea the week before. Ready?

Step One: Follow the instructions on a cookie mix for sugar cookies (or you can whip the dough up from scratch, if you're that sort of person).

Step Two: Take your dough and spread it on a pizza pan like a crust. We lined our pan with parchment paper for easy non-stick serving. Bake your super-huge cookie until it's that lovely shade of golden-brown. We just eyed ours until we could tell it was ready, but I bet you could find a more specific time limit online.

Step Three: Once your cookie crust is cool, layer on the Cool Whip! We didn't use entire tub, if I remember correctly - just spread it on until you have a nice thick covering.

Step Four: Select and arrange your fruit! My friend's version had blueberries, strawberries, kiwis, and possibly more - we stuck to the red, white, and blue holiday colors, so we used blueberries and strawberries. Starting with the strawberries, I just laid out a circular pattern, eventually adding blueberries in the open spaces.

Step Five: Cut and serve! It's so simple, but it's really delicious and versatile. And it has fresh fruit on it, so it can't be THAT bad for you, right? ;)

Mmmmmmmmm.....

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As for decorations, we had a pretty simple spread, since our Fourth was a low-key affair (I think we were still recuperating from my move!). We did use paper straws, which are an easy way to festivize any meal. My mom also does this cup-layering trick to dress up plain plastic cups (which she prefers since they are larger than typical paper cups), so that helped as well. We also pulled out some past decorations, like the balloon-weight-turned-centerpiece from Memorial Day and the paper burlap banner from last year.

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Something we did last year, but not this time around, was use a decorating method that eventually became the basis for my Testudo treat-toppers from this past May. We ran old book pages through our home printer to digitally "stamp" images and text on them. We used clip art and text in Microsoft Word to create our designs (both are mashups, actually). Check them out!

Spinner decoration (with the same design on both sides)

Silverware/napkin adornment

I'd like to note that I traced the words "happy fourth!" on the spinner with a Sharpie marker so they would stand out more sharply. We also made a few festive pinwheels, which we tucked into an embellished Mason jar to sit on the table - we didn't save them, since they are so easy to whip up, and less easy to store without crushing. You can find an easy tutorial here.

Hope everyone had a Happy Fourth!