Yesterday was the Fourth of July, and of course, it was jam packed with loads of good food and a flag or two. It was so jam packed that, today, on July 5th, I find myself writing my July 4th post. I kinda went over board with the 'Merica love, and it took a bit of time. So please forgive me, while I share all my love (in the form of food) for our beautiful country on the Fifth of July. Actually, scratch that. The real reason why this is coming on the 5th is because I wanted to give you a full year to prepare for next year's celebration! I hope your celebration this year was so wonderful that you're already planning next year's!!

This year we were invited to a bbq with some of San Francisco's food industry bests (think Liholiho Yacht Club and a Top Chef Alum). So what do you bring to a bbq filled with people who know and love food? I say you go big or stay home, and as I really didn't want to stay home, I went big! Margarita American Flag Jello Shots and Red Velvet, White and Blue Velvet Flag Cake were my contributions for the day. And yes, that's a lot of flags for one day but we only celebrate once every year, right?

While perusing my favorite blogs, earlier this week, I stumbled upon an awesome how-to post from Stephanie at i am a food blog on How to Make American Flag Jello, and thought, "Yes, I'm definitely making these but I am absolutely adding tequila to them and making them into Jello shots".  I actually haven't had a Jello shot since I was in college but thought, "American Flag Jello Shots? YES--no brainer." Stephanie put together an extremely easy to follow how-to and after a few minor tweaks, I had American Flag Jello Shots! See below for the boozed up recipe. 

I also found Food 52's amazing Flag Cake while blog reading and decided two flags are better than one. Funny enough, up until the other night, I had never actually attempted to make a layer cake. In hindsight, it may have been a somewhat ambitious layer cake to start with, especially at five o'clock on the eve of the Fourth. It was even more ambitious because I wanted to bake up layers of red and blue velvet versus dying layers of white cake (which is what Food 52's recipe called for).

I made this white cake and this red velvet cake and then halved that recipe and to make the blue velvet cake. The white cake recipe make three 9" rounds, so feel free to make some cupcakes with the third cake's batter or cut out some smaller rounds and make yourself some mini layer cakes to enjoy later! Please note that if you're making blue velvet, you'll have to mix blue and violet food coloring or you're gonna get a teal velvet not a blue velvet. Also note that I doubled the cocoa powder in the red/blue velvet recipes. Finally, while Food 52's cake was AWESOME, I thought it was necessary to add an additional red stripe, because the flag starts and ends with red stripes (and those are the small details that bother me). 

P.S. I love .gifs. And gifts (in case you were wondering)! Also, my awesome boyfriend made these lovely .gifs for me (thanks for the awesome .gif gifts Moses). 

Margarita American Flag Jello Shots

Adapted from i am a food blog

Makes 4 mini loaf pans, 36 flag slices

INGREDIENTS

• 1 3 oz. package blue Jello
• 1 6 oz. package red jello
• 5 Tbsp. unflavored gelatin (5 packages)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 4 oz. + 8 oz. silver or repasado tequila
• 2 oz. + 4 oz. Cointreau
• Water
• Ice

TOOLS

• 4 mini loaf pans
• Measuring spoons and cups
• Glass measuring cup
• Mixing bowls
• Silicone spatula
• Cocktail shaker
• Cutting board
• Chef's knife

FIX

1. In a liquid measuring cup, mix the blue jello with 1 Tbsp. (1 envelope) of gelatin. Add 3/4 c. of boiling water and stir with silicone spatula to dissolve.
2. In a cocktail shaker, add 4 oz. tequila and 2 oz. Cointreau to ice and shake. Strain into 1/4 c. cold water and add to blue jello mixture.
3. Distribute evenly into all four mini loaf pans and set inside the freezer to set.
4. While the blue layer is setting, make your white and red jello. This will allow both mixtures to cool slowly at room temperature and help the layers set more quickly.
5. In mixing bowl, sprinkle 2 Tbsp. gelatin (2 envelopes) over 1/2 cup of cold water. Let bloom for a few minutes, then add 1/2 c. of boiling water and stir to dissolve completely. Mix in can of sweetened condensed milk with 1 c. of boiling water. Stir well, add to the gelatin mixture and mix thoroughly.
6. In a different mixing bowl, mix red jello with 2 Tbsp. gelatin (2 envelopes). Add 1 1/2 c. of boiling water and stir until dissolved completely.
7. Add 8 oz. tequila and 4 oz. Cointreau to shaker with ice and shake. Strain into 1/2 c. cold water and add to red jello mixture.
8. The red and white jello won’t set on your countertop (unless you leave it for very long time). However, give them a stir after each layer pour just in case.
9. Once the blue jello is set and firm to touch, cut it in half lengthwise and remove one half. Eat it or set it aside in a different container.
10. Pour in 2 Tbsp. of red jello mixture into the empty part of the loaf pan and let set in freezer.
11. When firm, pour in 2 Tbsp. of white gelatin mixture on top of the red. Only fill till the height of the blue and be careful not to get any above the blue. Let set.
12. Pour on 1/4 c. of red over everything and let set.
13. When the red is firm to touch, pour 1/4 c. of white and let set.
14. Pour on another 1/4 c. of red and let set. Pour on another layer of white and let set.
15. Pour on your last layer of red and let set.
16. You should have some red left over so go ahead and set that in whatever container you like (maybe the same one you saved your blue in, if you saved it).
17. Cover all pans with plastic wrap and set overnight.
18. On the next day, unmold and slice each loaf pan into 9 slices.
19. Serve and enjoy. Tequila!