Independence Day

This past Friday we celebrated our first Fourth of July as a married couple. James had to work most of the day, so it was up to me to find someplace to go. We had a nice offer to go to Conner's Prairie again with my older brother and sister-in-law, but that unfortunately didn't work out for our schedule. Luckily, I did find out that the Minnetrista Center has a free fireworks display and outdoor concert (sort of like a mini-Conner's Prairie). We ended up attending that event and enjoyed it quite a bit even though we were sitting a ways from the band. We took along some yummy pizza popcorn (recipe at the bottom), fresh strawberries, and we ended up buying a BaskinRobbins ice cream cone to finish off our snacks while we waited for the display to begin. The crowd was just the right size, the people were friendly, and the fireworks were timed very well with music from a local radio station. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was certainly worth the trip! Hopefully you all had a wonderful Fourth of July as well.

Pizza Popcorn
Ingredients:

• approx. 2 1/2 quarts popped popcorn (with no added salt, butter, or flavoring)
• 1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil (or melted butter/margarine)
  
• 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese (finely grated - just use the kind you get from the grocery to shake over spaghetti)
  
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. basil (dried from the garden is the best!)
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
  
• salt to taste

Place the popped popcorn in an ungreased 13 x 9 pan. Mix the olive oil and remaining ingredients and drizzle over the top of the popcorn. Mix well. Bake uncovered at 350 for 15 min. and enjoy!

According to the Taste of Home cookbook: 1 cup euqals 118 calories with 10 g. fat (5 g. saturated fat), and 18 mg. of cholesterol (But that's using butter...so hopefully the olive oil cuts down on that a bit!)