Local Blueberry Cheesecake!

One of my closest friends came up to visit me for what was a perfect Vermont summer weekend.  Blue skies and blue berries were the theme on Saturday, and what a delicious theme it was!  We celebrated the fruits of our berry-picking labor with a cheesecake (my first ever!) covered in sweet blueberry topping and garnished with freshly picked pineapple mint from my garden!  Most of the ingredients in the cheesecake were even from Vermont. We could hardly wait for it to finish setting...

A Sweet Watermelon Treat!

The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays.  It is a time to celebrate our country and the things that are the most meaningful to us: friends, family, and of course, fireworks.  The days are long and warm and carefree as you can make them!  It is a time to remember those who have made this country a great one, politics aside, from soldiers to farmers to teachers to... bakers.  :)

I was so happy to get to come home for the Amherst 4th of July parade!  "It never rains on the Amherst 4th of July parade!"  I was even more excited to get to go to my good friend's house for an Independence Day Extravaganza!!  It was a great start to my marathon of fireworks, not to mention all of the delicious food they had!  I thought I'd contribute a little something festive myself, and decided upon these, what I must admit are, quite adorable cookies!

Shortbread Watermelon Cookies! Complete with chocolate chip "seeds" and a white chocolate and green sprinkles "rind"!

Adding a little American flare!

Good enough to take a bite out of!  (Though I promise I didn't!)