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Not to make a bad pun, but my July is getting off to a bang-up start. I've been on the run for the past couple of days. It's been a long time since I've had so much on my calendar...I'm thinking since I retired ten years ago...but so far, I'm off to a good start. We're celebrating our Fourth of July tomorrow as we usually do, setting up camp on the East Bank of the Willamette River, barbecuing, spending time with the kids, and waiting for the fireworks at dusk. It's among my favorite days of the year.

My contribution this year is a layered taco-style dip and chips that always goes over well. Also, I'm making a Sweet Potato Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing that is to die for. I already had a 7-Layer Salad on the menu when I received the most amusing text from Erik:

Yep...it's his favorite. How could I not make it? Finally, this morning I tried out a new recipe for blueberry hand pies that I saw on the King Arthur website. I wasn't sure how well I would do with the pie crust, but it couldn't have been easier. Still, I made it a day ahead just to be sure.

I was wishing I'd had a small star-shaped cookie cutter but I didn't. I cut these with the blade of my paring knife, which accounts for their "rustic" appearance. Still, I'm pretty happy with these. You can find the recipe right here. I couldn't find the instant ClearJel locally, and so I substituted two teaspoons of cornstarch that was first dissolved in the two teaspoons of lemon juice. It worked out fine. 

Also, I did the whole pie crust in my food processor using the steel blade. I whirled it around to mix the flour, baking powder, and salt, then cut the butter into 1/4-inch cubes and pulsed until the butter was cut in fairly well, but it was still in relatively large chunks. Then I added the sour cream and pulsed until the butter was pea-sized. It was still quite crumbly, but I dumped it out onto the floured surface and then just worked it together with my hands. It was very forgiving, and I had no problems at all with it. You'll want to work fast if you live in a warm climate, however. I happened to be blessed with an overcast and relatively cool day today.

Erik's salad is made, as are the hand pies. Tomorrow I'll do the other two dishes, and then we'll head down to the river early in the afternoon to stake out our claim to some prime fireworks-watching real estate.

As for sewing, I had a little finish yesterday. It's a gift, and so I can't show it yet, but here's a little peek. Who's it for, I wonder? (I'm betting you thought I would know.)

With that finished, I went to work sandwiching my Blooming Sunflower. I'm so happy with how this is turning out, and it's going much faster than I anticipated.

I pebbled in the center of the sunflower.

Then I quilted some veins into the leaves.

Then I quilted some sort of "flaming" petals emanating from the center of the flower with a flourish at the end of each one. I wanted to evoke the appearance of sunshine coming from the sunflower.

And a round of applause for Big Bertha who didn't even hiccup over all those seams. I'm so happy to have her back at work.

I'm hoping to get a little more done on this tomorrow. I just have the border left to do, and I'm going to do a sort of sunflower vine there. It's only 36 x 36 inches, and so it shouldn't take long to get the quilting finished.

So that's about it from me. I'll be very surprised if I find time for blogging tomorrow, and so I'm wishing my fellow Americans a happy and safe Fourth of July celebration. And for the rest of you...well, you have an excellent day too!