My ears are still buzzing from the barrage of firework-sounds they were just exposed to at our friend's fourth of July shindig. At half-past-midnight on the 5th, it's now officially not Independence Day for the US, but I thought I'd share what I made in honor of the day.
I made a batch of vegan brownies with peanut-butter frosting for the vegan-ese that would be in attendance, and vanilla cupcakes with cream-cheese/orange frosting for everyone else. I had done my baking last night, and just needed frost them today...and wouldn't you know it? We had a really bad afternoon thunderstorm which left me frosting my cupcakes by the light of candles.
Eventually, though our power was still out, the natural light returned and helped me with my decorating. The Fourth is always a hard holiday for me to get into aesthetically...I'm not really a huge fan of the red/white/blue, stars & stripes motif decorations, so I schemed up another way to celebrate my country. I printed out little flags from the nation's inception (the only US flag that I love) and made some little cupcake-toppers out of those as well as some notable presidents and/or founding fathers:
I topped the cupcakes with people that I'm really happy + proud are/were American:
Tom Waits, William Faulkner, John Coltrane, Joey Ramone, Johnny Cash, Dorothy Parker, Ronnie Spector, Amelia Earhart, Edgar Allan Poe, David Lynch, etc.
They were such a hit! Lots of people kept theirs, which I think is really sweet and made me happy that I figured out a personal way to celebrate the country I'm from.
wow. very creative and such a personal touch. what a nice thing to bring to a party. love that flag, btw.
Posted by: tifanie | July 14, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Awesome - I *need* to do this next year
Posted by: Jenna | July 13, 2008 at 03:10 PM
those cupcakes are THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: lisa Johnston | July 11, 2008 at 11:24 AM
What a lovely idea for cake decorations! And I like your not-predictable choices for your favourite Americans.
Posted by: De Muze | July 08, 2008 at 02:05 PM
LOVE the cupcake toppers! I'm happy to know that someone else loves that flag as much as I do!
Posted by: Fuji Mama | July 08, 2008 at 12:33 AM
I love the abounding patriotism! Cheers!
Posted by: Cherry Tree Lane | July 08, 2008 at 12:21 AM
I love this idea - picking fav. Americans. What a great way to celebrate!
Posted by: Elizabeth | July 07, 2008 at 10:25 PM
Oooh...didn't know you were a John Coltrane fan. As if you couldn't get any cooler. :o)
Posted by: Jenny Rebecca | July 07, 2008 at 08:57 PM
A Johnny Cash CUPCAKE?! Oh...I'm absolutely in love!
Posted by: tammy | July 07, 2008 at 04:55 PM
What an awesome idea! Thanks for sharing with us!
Posted by: Modern Crush | July 07, 2008 at 04:25 PM
ahh those are so funny and cute! I love them!
Posted by: Marissa | July 06, 2008 at 11:08 PM
those cupcakes toppers are amazing
great idea!
Posted by: Nancy Cook | July 06, 2008 at 08:23 PM
Oh, what a great idea! I, too, never really liked the color/pattern themes of the 4th (not to mention the fact that they're AWFUL colors for clothes in my opinion--I've never shown up to a 4th of July gathering wearing any of them!), sooo...I LOVE your idea of using the snake flag. The Colonial look is MUCH prettier!
Posted by: Alice | July 06, 2008 at 07:54 PM
wow, you throw down a cool and yummy looking party!
Posted by: Susan | July 06, 2008 at 02:55 PM
They're wonderful. Happy {late} 4th of July!
Posted by: Marta | July 06, 2008 at 09:19 AM
So cute and creative! We've been having crazy "lights out" storms too and I discovered that I kind of like the candle light :) mmmm those look yummy!
Posted by: Molly Kate | July 06, 2008 at 02:29 AM
this is also a way to make it educational for the kids. how did you get to be so smart?
Posted by: dawn | July 06, 2008 at 12:37 AM
What a lovely idea! And thank you for not bending over backwards to apologize for being proud of your country and wanting to celebrate that. There are so many Americans I am proud of and/or honored to be connected to in some slight way (by the luck of being born here), I think it would take me a week of baking nonstop to make enough cupcakes..... But I'll be using this idea next year for sure! Thanks for sharing, as always.
Posted by: Robin | July 06, 2008 at 12:26 AM
Yesterday I saw an older couple wearing red white and blue t-shirts (I mean OVER THE TOP) and felt compelled to look down at my green fitted button down top. I said to my husband, "I don't have a 4th of July-ish shirt... Yeah. I don't want one." Like you, I really don't like the red, white and blue colors and until reading your post, felt a little guilty about it. No more! Wow. How liberating. :)
Posted by: Christina | July 05, 2008 at 11:35 PM
I love how you got around the red, white and blue while still celebrating the United States' birthday!
Posted by: Courtney Quiet City | July 05, 2008 at 08:31 PM
As a Canadian living in America your idea really represents to me what great about this country—the really cool People! A flag is just flag and a kind of busy one at that. Happy 4th to you.
Cheers!
Posted by: debdeb | July 05, 2008 at 07:44 PM
I love the Join or Die snake so much I've considered getting it tattooed on my arm. Speaking of which have you taken the time to partake in the wonderfulness of the John Adams mini series? (Paul Giamanti is brilliant in it!)
Posted by: katie | July 05, 2008 at 06:39 PM
LOVE your idea for the cupcake toppers!! I will be stealing this for certain next 4th of July! You are just too darn clever and creative....
Posted by: Jennifer | July 05, 2008 at 06:29 PM
Edgar Allen Poe! Yipee for America!
Posted by: Jeannie | July 05, 2008 at 04:42 PM
that is brilliance, I may have to steal your idea if I ever host a July 4th party, cause all my friends are from other countries and really just come to America's birthday party to drink
; )
Posted by: blair | July 05, 2008 at 04:27 PM
Every time I visit, I see the most amazing food. I so have to make cupcakes tonight!
Posted by: Edie | July 05, 2008 at 04:08 PM
gonns steal this for next year...thanks!
Posted by: theologyzine | July 05, 2008 at 03:48 PM
Yeah....just when we all thought you couldn't get any more awesomer!!
Posted by: rebekka at the sugar bar | July 05, 2008 at 03:37 PM
I LOVE IT!
Posted by: oh amanda | July 05, 2008 at 02:35 PM
that is pure genius! what a great way to be patriot without getting into all the red/white/blue stuff.
btw, congrats on the sublime stitching deal!
Posted by: jennifer | July 05, 2008 at 01:59 PM
omg! yesterday on the fourth of july, WE had an afternoon thunderstorm too! we didn't lose power though, but it got really dark, and i had to decorate my sugar cookies by the terrible lighting in my house. needless to say, i fondly nicknamed them my 'botched cookies'.
btw, the cupcakes are really cute!
Posted by: amy | July 05, 2008 at 01:47 PM
What a wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing. :)
Posted by: Amanda | July 05, 2008 at 01:33 PM
Carmina is absolutely right, and I would never refute the right of central and south Americans to call themselves such. I'm sorry if you felt my use of the word was exclusive, I try to make a habit of referring to it as the "United States".
Posted by: Emily | July 05, 2008 at 01:29 PM
Carmina is absolutely right, and I would never refute the right of central and south Americans to call themselves such. I'm sorry if you felt my use of the word was exclusive, I try to make a habit of referring to it as the "United States".
Posted by: Emily | July 05, 2008 at 01:28 PM
Hello,
I would like to ask all the people out there that live in the EUA why they call themselves Americans. I live in Mexico and was just wondering aren’t all the inhabitants of America call it South, Central or North; Americans. This definitely comes from the Monroe doctrine were they state “America for the Americans”. The problem with this is that Americans are only the people living in EUA ground. This is why your government thinks it has the right to come to other American countries and take over them. I say all this because the day-to-day speech helps legitimate or overthrow destructive ideologies like the Monroe Doctrine. Which hurts Latin America and so many other countries like Iraq and in the near future Iran. If you would like to read more about this try Noam Chomsky. And remember I am American, Chilean is American, Cuban is American all the people in this continent ARE American.
Besos,
Carmina
Posted by: Carmina | July 05, 2008 at 01:04 PM
Very, very cool. What a great idea!
Posted by: Prudence | July 05, 2008 at 12:40 PM
I too love the "divided we fail" flag - do you knbow there was a whole bunch of others that were not red/white and stripey at the beginning of our country? The US flags' history is really fun to look at - but that is just me. :)
But that was an amazing idea! Being the history nerd that I am - that rocks! *hugs*
Posted by: Nan | July 05, 2008 at 12:33 PM
The cupcakes look delicious, and the toppers are fantastic. What an eclectic bunch!
Posted by: Cecilia | July 05, 2008 at 12:16 PM
Oh my gosh I adore your Join or Die brownies! I wish we had them for our John Adams marathon.
Posted by: Amber | July 05, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Awuh what a sweet and fantastic idea!
xox,
dayna desastre
www.daynadesastre.com
Posted by: Dayna | July 05, 2008 at 11:34 AM
You amaze me, my dear. Who else would think of such things? Love it!!!!!
Posted by: Shauneil | July 05, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Super cool. I'm glad _you're_ an American!
Posted by: melissa Crowe | July 05, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Waaay cute toppers! Gotta keep those in mind for our next cupcake-fest! Even by candlelight, the pics are beautiful! Cheers
Posted by: Christina | July 05, 2008 at 10:40 AM
Love the cupcake toppers - so clever & lovely. Were you a fan of the HBO series John Adams? It was an amazing series. Happy (belated) 4th to you!
Posted by: Jenny | July 05, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Happy (late) 4th of July! I love seeing the cupcake liners again. So cute!
Posted by: Jamy | July 05, 2008 at 09:53 AM
So very cute! I will have to Google that flag...never saw it before, but my wee daughter has an unnatural obsession with snakes and everything creepy-crawly right now...so she might enjoy it!
Posted by: GirlieGirl | July 05, 2008 at 09:31 AM
I really love this! I might have to snag this idea from you next year... That flag is one of my favorites too, because it's so similar to New Hampshire's state motto "Live Free or Die". The cupcake toppers...brilliant! Am I gushing? I think I'm gushing...
P.S. I loooooved Scuppernong and Muscadine. It made a big grin pop up on my face!
Posted by: geek+nerd | July 05, 2008 at 09:29 AM
These are so cute and clever! I have to do this some time. I'm not a big fan of red, white and blue, etc., either. Your idea is way better!
Posted by: Billie | July 05, 2008 at 09:07 AM
Oh you are too sweet :) so cute, great idea!
Posted by: Shiny Black Shoes | July 05, 2008 at 07:42 AM
You're adorable!
And a semi-off-topic question: Since you love Tom Waits so much, I was wondering what you thought of Scarlett Johansson's new album of Waits covers?
Posted by: Christy | July 05, 2008 at 07:32 AM