Sara's Sweet Surprise

(well, as much as it can be in the Pacific Northwest) SUMMER has landed primarily on the weekends, but we'll take any sunshine that's willing to make the trek from Florida, cause face it Justine at... . Stupid Is As Sister Does has it all. She's has expressed how her (cute) face is melting in the Florida sun , so I think she'd be more than happy to share. While most were running their air conditioners this month, we had been running our heaters! The fountain is filled and the water is flowing. B-R-E-W-I-N-G There are many on line recipes for making candied citrus slices or peels. Butter Yum has the most beautifully illustrated detailed instructions. I pour granulated sugar over the candied peels it keeps them crisp and it leaves a sparkly coating. You'll find yourself frequently reaching for these candied gems. For topping your ice cream, cupcakes, drinks or for a treat to nibble on. Candied Slices of... Orange, lemon and lime. The simple syrup that...

Let's get crackin' ! Part Two...Party Favor We'll be using those toilet or paper towel rolls that you've been collecting. Cut the paper towel rolls in half, matching the length of the toilet rolls. You'll need three or four strips of (2 1/2-3 inch wide) patriotic themed (wired) ribbon or scrap booking paper. Starting at the bottom, glue ribbon around roll leaving a smidge of over lap to cover raw edge. Tuck edge in. Wrap and hot glue second strip, tucking in raw edges. Glue last strip leaving a large overlap. Tie a bundle of tinsel trim together. For a spiral effect I wrapped the wire tinsel around a pencil. Slip tinsel bundle into the firecracker opening, tie securely with (patriotic themed) ribbon or bakers twine. Here comes the fun part....turn the bottom over and fill with goodies, candies, confetti, poppers, etc. To close the bottom opening glue a strip of fabric then trim off the excess. The weight of the contents will allow the firecrackers to stand on ...

Lets get crackin'! Part one... Dessert Insert a Pirouline (wafer cookie) into the center of a (mini) cake donette. Melt Nestle white chocolate chips. Immerse the donette into the white chocolate. Sprinkle with (red, white, or blue) sanding sugar . Set aside until the white chocolate becomes firm. I purchased (mini) star shaped cookies, but homemade shortbread stars would work just as well. Dip toothpick into melted chocolate, adhere to the (back side) of the cookie. Brush white chocolate (in sections) over Pirouline (wafer cookie) , sprinkle (liberally) with red, white, and blue sprinkles. Step five Wilton party picks can be used alone to form the shooting sparks, or can be combined with the following... Cut a (single) Twizzler or red licorice in half. Cut each half three quarters of the length, leaving the end uncut Taper the bottom corners. Insert the pick through the fringed Twizzler or licorice Cookie pick gets placed in front and sparks pick sets beh...