When You Think Of Flag Paintings...

Jasper Johns

Jasper Johns, Three Flags, 1958, Encaustic on canvas. Whitney Museum, New York

Jasper Johns, Map, 1961, Oil on canvas. Museum of Modern Art, New York

Jasper Johns, Flag, Encaustic, oil and collage on fabric mounted on plywood,1954-55

July 4th Food

One of my favorite food memories from July 4th is Blueberry Buckle.  Growing up, my best friend Emily's mom was a great cook and I loved being at their lake house in the summer for many reasons but partially because of the yummy homemade food.  I remember coming back from a swim in the lake excited to sneak into the kitchen to see what Mrs. Taylor had been cooking.  Sometimes there were homemade chocolate chip cookies and usually around the 4th there was Blueberry Buckle.  Being from a primarily frozen-food household, I had never heard of Blueberry Buckle and loved the name almost as much as the taste.  I have fond memories of the dessert and this year I'm going to try my hand at it.   Mrs. Taylor was nice enough to email me her recipe:

Blueberry Buckle

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. Crisco (or oil)

1 egg

Combine sugar, crisco and egg; beat until smooth.  

Combine dry ingredients as follows:

2 c. flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Then, after mixing the dry ingredients thoroughly (so baking powder blends well),  

add these to the creamed sugar mixture. 

Then stir in 1/2 cup milk and

fold gently in 2 c. blueberries (washed & drained).

Spoon into a 9" square pan -- Sprinkle with topping.

Topping:  

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. flour

1/4 c. soft butter (cut butter in with pastry blender until topping looks somewhat like cornmeal.

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

Enjoy!!!      

My Regards To The 4th Of July

The timing of this painting couldn't be better.  Just in time for July 4th, I am brushing up on my flag painting skills!

July 4th is one of my favorite holidays because it ignites the spirit of summer and brings together family, good food and fun!  Not to mention fireworks!  Woo hoo!  All this week until the 4th of July I'll be posting items related to July 4th.

My favorite memories of July 4th include Adirondack chairs lined up on the shores of The St. Lawrence River, pot-luck dinner parties on the docks, drinks that include tonic water, Carole Taylor's Blueberry Buckle, and of course sparklers!!

What are some of your favorite 4th of July memories?