Cupcake Giveaway and Cake

So, my big announcement today is another Cupcake Giveaway for U.S. contestants!
You need to enter at the sponsor's site...NO ENTRIES on this blog, please. The giveaway is being sponsored by the PurplePinkAndOrange site and the prize is ANY pair of Cupcake Earrings that you can keep for yourself or give to a special someone as a gift.

You have 3 possible methods of entry and
Giveaway ends on Saturday, July 18th at midnight CST.
I hope you enter!

And now for some post 4th of July stories. I love this holiday because rather than fighting crowds and driving to a fireworks show, I simply step outside and watch the illegal fireworks all around my neighborhood. I warm at the muffled sound of a faraway launch, the pop, crackle & sizzle of the burst and then the misty cloud of sulphur smoke that floats swiftly past my home...from a good quarter mile away. I just love it!

We are located smack dab in the middle of what I call the "siren" corridor...the 2 fire stations are at either end of a very long road that passes by our home...at least we are set way back on a court and not on the main road. Usually I hear the sirens going to AND from their locations, but this time I counted SEVEN separate vehicles heading in ONE direction...about 30 seconds apart. As soon as one passed, here came another.

Sheesh! As my mother used to say "sounds like the whole TOWN is burning down". I can identify a firetruck from an ambulance...police sirens and ambulances sound almost the same, but ambulances have a sharper tone. Anyway, couldn't see flames or smoke in the sky, so who knows WHAT was going on!


Okay, second story is about my traditional 4th of July flag cake. I'm sure many of you make one as well, but for those of you who don't, it is soooo simple & yummy, I thought I'd share my "recipe". I buy any white cake mix that advertises it's moisture "value" whether it's pudding or whatever. I bake it in a 13 x 9 inch pan and let it cool until it is still warm on the bottom. Then I pierce the top with a fork and spread smashed fresh berries all over it. I prefer strawberries & blueberries...some people use raspberries as well but to me it then tastes like a wedding cake.


While the cake bakes, I select 50, yes 50 similarly sized blueberries to represent all 50 stars of our spectacular American flag and I slice strawberries by hand. I love my strawberry slicer but it produces a slightly thinner slice that is a little too floppy and I want a firm slice so I don't mess up the whipped cream "icing". I just slice until I think I have enough and then being my anal self, I organize them by size so I can make rows of similarly sized strawberries...looks a little "gollywumpus" to mix sizes....yeah, yeah, I know.

For some reason I just couldn't get good light for this final "ta-da" photo, but here she is... I always present the cake to my family so they can see it before we each dig into whenever we are ready to munch on it. I put the cake in the fridge so it's deliciously chilled which makes a big difference in texture and flavor. It helps to firm up the cake portion. I just love this cake.

Since there are only 3 of us in my household, I always hope my son will attend a party so he can take most of it with him...and sure enough he came through once again, saying "thanks Mom!!!" on his way out the door. Of course, this happiness followed a bbq here at home with the BEST ever tri-tip I've cooked so far!

I used to marinade the darned things for hours and still didn't get flavor running all the way through as I'd hoped. But I have now created a marinade so perfect that only ONE hour on each side is enough!

And here it is...no measurements, just dumped it in a pan as I saw fit:

Soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, worchestshire sauce, liquid smoke (mesquite flavor) and sesame seed oil

As Rachael Ray would say....Yum-OH!

Hope I entertained you today...now go enter my giveaway!!!!