Freedom Eggs and ‘Merica Strawberries

Happy Fourth of July! Today just so happens to be my fourth favorite holiday, after Christmas, my birthday, and Halloween. The main reason I love this holiday is because of the fireworks. But this year there’s a burn ban because of the rain strike that the cloud workers organized a few months ago, which means there probably won’t be too many fireworks tonight. So for this blog entry, I’m reverting to my second reason for loving the Fourth of July: the food. I could eat watermelon, grilled corn on the cob, and potato salad all day long. And this year, my friends J and Nan are hosting a blowout of a partay in hono(u)r of our favorite British friend, Victoria, and it’s going to have all the best Fourth of July food a girl could ask for. AND MORE! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s report on the festivities.

No fireworks for you, law-abiding citizens!

For now, let me talk about the food I’m bringing to the shindig. First up: Freedom Eggs. Growing up, my family served devilled eggs at every major family gathering. Christmas, Thanksgiving, even the occasional bird day partay. It didn’t matter. In America, we’re free to boil the heck out of eggs and then mix their yolks with pickles and stuff. So we do. It’s a free country.

The problem with devilled eggs is that it’s sometimes hard to get the shell off the eggs once they’re boiled. Thankfully, I looked up this website and figured out some tips for boiling eggs, the most important one being that older eggs are better to use for boiling. I also remembered a trick my mom taught me about running the eggs under cold water while gently shaking the eggs around in the bowl to crack their shells, and then peeling them under the water. Mom was right: the cold water apparently does help loosen the egg from the shell!

The other food I’m making is ‘Merica Strawberries. Everyone and their cousin has been pinning these suckers on Pinterest, but I’d like the record to state that this recipe was one of the first I pinned when I joined Pinterest last year. I also made them for the Fourth last year. And let me tell you, they are pure dessert crack. Like, good luck with not eating the whole batch before you serve them. Seriously, good luck.

Not my best work, but taste doesn’t always care about looks. Not in this case, for sure.

Here’s the recipe:

You’ll need:

• two packs of strawberries
• half a slab of white almond bark (approximately 12 oz.)
• blue sprinkles or sugar dyed with blue food coloring

Prep the food first. Put the almond bark in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it in the microwave according to the package’s instructions. While the bark’s melting, rinse off the strawberries and de-calyx them (apparently the leafy part of the strawberry’s called a calyx, according to this picture).

Once the bark has melted, let it sit for about five minutes. Then take a strawberry and dip it bottom-first into the bark. The almond bark should stick to the strawberry but not drip off. If it does drip, let it sit a bit longer (unless you’re completely impatient like me, then press onward towards ugly but delicious ‘Merica Strawberries). After the strawberry goes for a swim in the almond bark, it’s ready to dip its toe in the sprinkles/sugar. Then just put it on a plate or cookie sheet and repeat with the rest of the strawberries. Finally, let those lovelies dry (and cool in the refrigerator for you patientfolk). Take them to your party or eat them all yourself. Either way, someone is going to nom on these and say, “Mmm ‘Merica!”. And that’s really your goal.

What are your go-to Fourth of July recipes?