July 4, 2018 - 18 Facts About Independence Day & 5 Deliciously Sweet Recipes for your 4th of July party!

Elisa's Daily Scoop
Covering Long Island & NYC Boroughs 
NEXT TRIP: : 2  DAYS: RHINEBECK, NEW YORK
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18 Facts About Independence Day

Hey there and Happy Fourth of July!

I'm having a quiet one at home with my two human daughters and my one fur daughter!  I loaded up on veggie burgers, french fries, vegetarian beans and salad and we will most like feast and enjoy some movies, as the weather is not the best for being outdoors - yes, it's rather gray outside and rain is predicted.

But, I am thrilled!  Not only because I love the rain, thunder and lightening, but also because the temps were so hot and humid here on Long Island, that we needed something to break it!

I thought it would be a good time to list some lesser known facts about America's Independence Day.  How many did you already know?

18 Facts About Independence Day

(credit: istockphoto.com)

1. On June 11, 1776, Congress appointed a "Committee of Five", consisting of John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut, to draft a declaration.

2.  Thomas Jefferson was upset that slavery was edited out of his draught of the Declaration of Independence, as it became a huge debate among delegates in the summer of 1776.  It was replaced with more ambiguous passage about King George's incitement of "domestic insurrections among us."  The removal of the passage was at the request of the delegates from South Carolina and Georgia.

3. The average age of those who signed the Declaration of Independence was 45. The youngest at age 27, was Thomas Lynch, Jr of South Carolina. The oldest delegate was Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania at age 70. Thomas Jefferson was 33.

4. Thomas Jefferson changed the wording of the Declaration of Independence from "the pursuit of property" to "the pursuit of happiness."

5. According to author Kenneth C. Davis, July 2nd is the real day of Independence, but it's celebrated on the fourth because that's when congress accepted Jefferson's declaration.

6. The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 men from 13 colonies.

7. America's 30th President, Calvin Coolidge, was born on July 4, 1872.

8. Three U.S. presidents have died on July 4th including, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe.

9. The "Star Spangled Banner" was written by Francis Scott Key and decreed the official national anthem in 1931. It was originally a poem about his observations in 1814 of the British attack on Baltimore's Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. It would later be put to music.

THOMAS JEFFERSON

10. Did you know...
The popular American patriotic song, ​"Yankee Doodle," was actually a mockery of the unorganized and buckskin-wearing "Yankees", originally sung prior to the Revolution by British military officers?

11. July 4th was declared an official holiday by Congress in 1870 as part of a bill to officially recognize other holidays, with Christmas being one of them.

​12. The printed version of the Declaration was called the Dunlap Broadside; 200 were made but only 27 are accounted for.

​13. the first public readings of the Declaration were held in Philadelphia's Independence Square to the ringing of bells and band music. One year later, on July 4, 1777, Philadelphia marked Independence Day by adjourning Congress and celebrating with bonfires, bells and fireworks.

14. Original Rough Draft of the Declaration written in June 1776 by Thomas Jefferson included eighty-six changes made later by John Adams,  Benjamin Franklin and other members of the committee appointed to draft the document, and by Congress.

15. George Washington issued double rations of rum to all his soldiers to mark the anniversary of independence in 1778, and in 1781, several months before the key American victory at Yorktown

16. The White House held its first 4th July party in 1801.

17. Benjamin Franklin proposed the turkey as the national bird but was overruled by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who recommended the bald eagle.

18. The youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence was Edward Rutledge of Southern Carolina, who was 26. The oldest signer was Benjamin Franklin, 70 years old. At the signing, Franklin famously said "We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."

WOW!  Tanya has posted some totally dee-lish, sweet recipes for celebrating The Fourth!! Do check them out!!!

Only two days left to go before me and my girlies head upstate New York to the Hudson Valley Hot Air Balloon Festival.  I'm all packed (not that there was much to pack!) and our cooler of goodies and snacks is ready to go!!

Here's to a spectacular day!!!

-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop 
Covering the West Coast & the World
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 7 DAYS:
WASHINGTON DC/VIRGINIA

5 Deliciously Sweet Recipes for your 4th of July party!

Good Day Everyone! Happy 4th of July!

Finally a (sort of) non-busy day. Whew.

But of course the pace will pick up again tomorrow and pretty much every day until we leave the West Coast and head back to the East Coast in precisely 1 week!!! 

Today will be a family fun filled day of food and festivities over here on the home front.

We will start off with a nice fairly simple breakfast at home. We were trying to figure out what a good all-american breakfast was...

• French Toast was out of the picture (being from France), as were Pancakes (being from ancient times and eaten by the Greeks and Romans long before what we know as America). THE INTERESTING HISTORY OF PANCAKES

 

• The classic American breakfast seems to be two eggs with bacon, sausage or ham, potatoes (hash brown or home fries), with toast and coffee.

So in addition to our fresh squeeze citrus juices that we have every morning, we decided to have
Egg, Sausage and Cheese (all vegan of course) Breakfast Sandwiches with Hash Browns on the side.

Our main meal of the day will consist of:

• Burgers (home-made Beet Burgers) with all the fixins.
• Corn Dogs (home-made of course)
• My "Why can't we Eat this Everyday" Potato Salad
• My Spinach and Rainbow Dijon Pasta Salad
• Dave's Devilishly Delicious Deviled "Eggs"
• Buffalo Cauliflower
• Organic White Corn on the Cob 

FACT IS: Almost all of the corn raised in the US is genetically modified.

SKIP THE GMO CORN (why you should ONLY eat organic)

Do it for your health...
It might cost more but try to only buy Organic.
                    That's what we do!

Now let's talk dessert...

Our menu of sweets consists of:

• Old Fashioned American Apple Pie (that Cosette will make)
• Funnel Cake
• Chocolate Drizzled Coconut Macaroons
• Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods

Check out these fun and festive desserts to share:

​5 Deliciously Sweet Recipes for your 4th of July party!

PATRIOTIC FIRECRACKER DIPPED PRETZEL RODS

3-INGREDIENT COTTON CANDY STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM (Made With Aquafaba!) 

RED, WHITE & BLUE GINGER LEMONADE

RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE BARS

​NO-BAKE VEGAN STRAWBERRY PIE

Well I'm off to the kitchen!

And then we'll be going to the local Independence Day Parade - which I plan to VLOG from (check it out on our social media pages or on the Daily Scoop tomorrow).  
We'll then feast and cap off the night with a BANG by going to see the local Spectacular Fireworks Display.

Hope you have a great one and keep it safe out there!
-Travelin' Tanya

And please be sure to keep your pets safe: