4th of July

Happy 4th of July! Do you have big plans? We are just hoping it will not rain. My youngest daughter keeps telling me that we can still go to the beach. It doesn't matter if it is raining since we will be getting wet anyways. I guess it is the perfect way to miss the crowd.

When I was growing up, we would visit my relatives in New Hampshire around the 4th of July. 4th of July was my grandmother's birthday. We would go swimming at the pond and visit with our relatives. Plus my uncles would have a fireworks war. 

 Chocolate Cookie Cutouts
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powder sugar, sifted
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
nonparelis, colored sugar, other decorations

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and powder sugar until fluffy.
4. Add the egg to the butter mixture and vanilla.
5. Slowly, add the flour to the butter mixture. Mix until incorporated.
6. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.
7. After the dough is chilled, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness onto a lightly floured surface.
8. Using a cookie cutter, cut out the desired shapes. Transferred the cutout shapes to baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
9. Transfer the baking sheet to the refrigerator and allow to chill for 20 minutes. (I worked in batches so the dough was chilling while some were baking.)
10. Sprinkle the dough with desired edible decorations. 
11. Bake the cookies for about 8 minutes or until crisp.
12. Allow the cookies to cool completely on wire racks.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies.

(If you store these in plastic bags, the cookies will still taste good but will become soft.)

Did you already know...
-According to the weather channel, the weather in Philadelphia was 76 degrees F on July 4th, 1776.
-When the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, there were 2.5 million people living in the newly independent nation.
-This July 4th, 2012, there is an estimated 314 million people living in the United States.

Happy Fourth of July!