Red, White and Blue Rice Krispie Cake Batter Pops

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It is Day 11 of our "15 Days of Red, White and Blue" series, and today we made Cake Batter Rice Krispies, and then rolled them into balls, and stuck them on a stick! Simple? Yes! Time consuming? Slightly! But delicious, and oh, so cute!

Rice Krispie Cake Batter Pops

(adapted from How Sweet Eats via Gimme Some Oven)
3 tablespoon Butter
1 10 oz. bag mini Marshmallows
1/4 cup Yellow Cake Mix
6 cups crispy Rice Cereal
1 (1.75 oz) container of Sprinkles
Red, White, and Blue Candy Melts
Sticks for Pops

Melt the butter over low heat in a large pan.
Add marshmallows.
Stir until they begin to melt.

Add in dry cake mix 1 spoonful at a time until combined.

Stir in cereal until it is completely covered with marshmallow.

Add sprinkles and mix in.

Start rolling the rice krispies into balls.
You can make them any size you want, but they look the best
when they are all a consistent size.
I wear gloves to do this, and I spray the gloves with
cooking spray to prevent sticking.

Melt  some white candy melts in a double boiler.

Dip the bottom of the sticks into the candy melts,
and then insert them into the rice krispie balls.
Let them setup.

Dip each ball into the white candy melt.

Melt some of the red candy melt.
Using a fork, dip it in the candy melt, and then swing it
side to side in the pan, over the rice krispie balls.
Let dry.

Melt blue candy melt.
Using a fork, use the same motion with the blue melt as you
did with the red melts, putting the blue over the red in spots.
Let dry.

Happy 4th of July!

Thanks for joining me today.

Stop by tomorrow to see what we are making
for Day 12~a 4th of July breakfast treat!

  We are partying at the following fun spots:
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday

Freedom Nachos!

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Today is Day 10 of our 15 Days of Red, White and Blue and we are celebrating day 10, Friday, summer, and anything else you want to "woo~hoo" about with one of my favorite things to munch on~Nachos! I even went a little upscale with this dish, adding some additional ingredients I think you will be happy to see and taste!

Freedom Nachos

Red, White, and Blue Nacho Chips

Muenster Cheese

          Salsa(recipe)

         Cowboy Beans(recipe)

Avocado

Sour Cream

Filet Mignon Chunks

Sauteed Red and Green Peppers with Onions

Make your beans first. They take a while to make.

You will want to start the day before you need them.

But they are so worth it. Delicious!

Just follow the link to the recipe above.

The same goes for the salsa. 

I didn't take any pictures of it, but you might want to

make it the day before also.

I bought a nice piece of filet. Because it was so big,

the remainder can be used for another meal, making it a much 

better price! I sliced some very thin pieces of beef,

and then chopped them to small chunks.

Cook the beef in a small frying pan.

Saute your peppers and onions at the same time.

Now lets put everything together!

Cover the nachos with the muenster cheese and microwave to melt it.

Place beans, beef, avocado, sauteed veggies and sour cream

in separate bowls for easy access for everyone.

Set out spoons and forks for easy serving, and dig in!

Happy 4th of July!

Thanks for joining me today.

I hope you stop by tomorrow for Day 11 of

15 Days of Red, White and Blue!!

Red, White and Blue Star Cookies!

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For this weeks Cookie Journey Thursday, we are making star cookies! Red, White and Blue ones! These cookies are simple, don't take all that much time, and oh, so pretty.They will make any table look festive and happy!

Red, White and Blue Star Cookies

I used the No Fail Sugar Cookies recipe, and 

Antonia74 for the icing. You can find both
of the recipes here.

Americolor Holiday Red

Americolor Royal Blue

I made 1 small, 1 medium, and 1 large star cookie

for each person attending the party I made these for.

Some will eat more, some less!

Outline your blue cookies.....

and fill in.

Do the same....

for the red cookies....

and once more....

for the white ones.

Let them dry completely.

I let these dry overnight.

Pipe small dots on the star. Use contrasting colors so that

you get the Red, White and Blue effect throughout your

cookies. Pipe the dots in the same place on each cookie.

Use blue dots on the white cookie at each angle.

Then place the red dots on the white cookie in 

between the blue dots.

Do the same dot design on the blue cookies, using

red and white icing.

Do the design one more time on the red cookies,

using blue and white icing.

Happy 4th of July!

Stay tuned for Day 10
of
15 Days of Red White and Blue!

Thanks for stopping by!

We are stopping by the following parties:
Crazy Sweet Tuesday 

Last Minute Marshmallow Fruit Sticks

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Today is Day 8 of our "15 Days of Red, White and Blue"! The big day is 1 week away!
Can you believe it? Today I put together a simple, super easy, it even works at the last minute,
type of party food for your 4th of July party!

 Marshmallow Fruit Sticks

This is all you need to make a quick, festive party food.

Blueberries

Strawberries

StarMallows

Sticks

Arrange them however you wish.

I cut off the top of the strawberries so everything could be eaten,

but the stick.

So, you have a quick, festive food to take to a party, 

and you probably have everything you need in your pantry.

(Maybe not the starmallows, but you could use regular marshmallows)

Thanks for joining me!

See you tomorrow for Day 9 of

15 Days of Red, White, and Blue!

4th of July Cupcakes!

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We are smack in the middle of our "15 Days of Red, White and Blue" series, and I just couldn't wait any longer to post some really festive 4th of July cupcakes! I mean, what's a celebration without cupcakes? These cupcakes are not only perfect for the 4th of July, but they would fit right into an Olympic Celebration!!

4th of July Cupcakes

 Cupcakes

1 box Duncan Hines White Cake Mix

1 cup Sour Cream

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

3 large Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Americolor Holiday Red

Americolor Royal Blue

Antonia74 Frosting

6 oz warm Water

5 tablespoons Meringue Powder

1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

2.25 pounds Confectioners Sugar

Marshmallow Fondant

1 cup of Mini Marshmallows

1 tablespoons Water

1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cup Confectioners Sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place the cake mix, sour cream, vegetable oil and eggs

in a mixing bowl. Mix for 1 minute on low, then turn the 

speed to medium and mix for 2 additional minutes.

This recipe is from the Cake Doctor, white cake mix.

Divide your batter into thirds. I used three bowls, and tried

to distribute it evenly. Take the first bowl, and drop a few drops 

of Holiday Red into the batter. Stir until it is combined and

you are happy with the color.

Take your second bowl, and mix in a few drops of the 

Royal Blue. Mix well.

Use a small scoop or a tablespoon to place 1 scoop

of each color in your cupcake papers.

 Bake until done, about 20-25 minutes.

Let cool.

Let's make frosting!

I have used this frosting recipe a lot. I just love it!

It is called Antonia74 Royal Icing. I found it several years

ago on the cakecentral.com recipe page. It was developed by Antonia74.

Thank you Antonia!

In a mixing bowl, pour in the warm water and the meringue 

powder. Mix it with a whisk by hand until it is frothy

and thickened, about 30 seconds.

Add the cream of tartar and mix for 30 more seconds.

Pour in all the confectioners sugar at one time.

Using your paddle attachment, and on the lowest speed,

mix slowly for a full 10 minutes.

You will not need all the icing this recipe makes for the

cupcakes. Scoop some into a bowl for the red, 

some for the blue, and then the white. Using a Wilton

#2A tip decorate the cupcakes with the icing like above.

As you can see,

I tried 3 different ways to put the icing on the cupcakes.

The middle one was my favorite, so I made

 the rest of the cupcakes just like it.

Let's make fondant!

Place the marshmallows in a 1 cup measuring cup 

and push down to pack them in.

Microwave for 20 seconds. Just long enough for

them to soften and puff up. Stir with a spoon

until well combined. It should look soupy at this point. 

Add the sugar and mix until it is not sticky. 

Now take it out of the bowl and knead

with your hands. Knead for about 5-7 minutes. 

You only need a small amount for these cupcake

toppers. Pull three equal size pieces from your

piece of fondant. Flatten each piece out. 

Use gloves if you have them. Curve the flattened

piece a little, and drop a few drops of holiday red onto the small

fondant piece. Kneed the fondant piece until it is the color you want.

Do it again with the royal blue color. 

Once you have colored the fondant, 

take a small piece off of each color.

Place then together like above.

Start to knead the three colors together.

You want to create a piece of fondant that shows all the

colors clearly. Over kneading will make the 

colors meld together too much.

Once you have the colors looking pretty, 

roll the fondant with a rolling pun.

Cut out the letters USA from your piece of fondant.

The letters at the top were cut first.

Each time you knead the colors together,

they get a little more distorted.

They still look great, just darker.

Place the letters on top of the cupcake.

Happy 4th of July!

Thanks for joining me today!

We are starting the party early for the 4th!
Here's where we are linking up:
Cupcake Tuesday

Crazy Sweet Tuesday

Works For Me Wednesday

Patriotic Project Parade Linky Party

Holiday Bark!

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This is Day 6 of our "15 Days of Red, White, and Blue! Today we made a simple holiday bark. We used red, white, and blue M and M's, tiny twist pretzels, holiday marshmallow stars, and sprinkles. We did make this bark just slightly different, however. We made the bark 3 layers with each layer a different color! Very festive!

Red, White and Blue Holiday Bark

2-3 packages Almond Bark

Red, white and blue M and M's

Tiny twist Pretzels

Red, white and blue marshmallow stars

Sprinkles

Americolor Holiday Red

Americolor Royal Blue

Set up a double boiler, and melt 6 whole pieces

of Almond Bark.

Layer your pan with parchment paper. I used

a 12 1/2" X 9 1/2" pan.

Once the bark is melted, tint the bark with 

a couple drops of royal blue, more or less, 

depending on your desired finished color.

Spread it our over the pan and refrigerate

for 15 minutes.

Melt 6 more pieces of bark, and tint the melted bark with

the holiday red. I had a problem with the bark

getting a little thick this time, so I added a 

tablespoon of solid vegetable oil and it was nice and smooth.

Pull your pan out of the fridge, and cover the blue layer 

with the red melted bark. Put back in the fridge for 

another 15 minutes.

Melt 6 more pieces of bark, and leave it white.

Cover the red and blue bark with a white layer.

Place your pretzels, marshmallow stars, M and M's,

and sprinkles on the white layer.

Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

After they are refrigerated, pull the bark from the pan 

by lifting the parchment paper out. 

Start cracking or cutting  the bark pieces.

I think the layers look fun and festive!

Although, I could have done a better job of

making them level! :)

I think bark is always a great little extra for a 

party or get together. It is really the chameleon

of the candy world! It is appropriate at just about

any event, it lends itself to the event because you can 

change it's color to match event colors and the

ingredients you top it with are only 

limited by imagination!

Thanks for joining me today! 

We are partying at the following fun events:
Tutorial Tuesday 

Patriotic Project Parade Linky Party