Celebrating Independence Day

This cute and creative idea is originally from a blog called Mint & Clandy Create, though I found it at Be Different Act Normal.   It was so absolutely adorable that I knew we’d be celebrating the 4th of July eating hot dogs and star-shaped potato chips.  I never knew you could make potato chips in the microwave and that they’d be so darn good.  We absolutely loved them and will definitely be making more and trying out different spice combinations.  This time, we kept it kind of traditional with a little sea salt and black pepper.

The kids and I also made pretzel rods coated in candy coating and sprinkled with lots of festive decorations.  Those are actually headed to our church picnic, but were so easy to do with the kids that I wanted to share them in case you wanted a fun dessert today.

But back to those chips.  They were seriously good, and would have been a snap to make if I had a mandoline, which I don’t.  Instead, I did my best to cut potato slices as thinly as I could.  I used two different sized star cookie cutters to cut the potato slices, so I ended up with some star-shaped chips and some star silhouettes.  I am hoping you all get the flag layout here.  See?  How cool is that anyway?  I wish I’d have thought of it!

Whatever you do today, hope it’s a safe and happy celebration!

Recipe:  Microwave Potato Chips

(process adapted from Mint & Clandy Create, original recipe from Recipezaar)

russet potatoes, as many as you’d like, scrubbed

kosher or sea salt

spices of choice – black pepper, dill, lime zest, garlic powder, onion powder, etc.

vegetable spray

Slice potatoes as thinly as you can.  Place them in a bowl of ice water for 10 minutes.  Spread a piece of parchment paper on a microwave-safe plate or casserole dish.  Spray parchment paper with vegetable spray, set aside.

Working in batches, pat potato slices dry with a paper towel, then sprinkle with seasonings of choice.  Place slices in a single layer on top of the parchment-covered plate.  Spray another piece of parchment paper with vegetable spray and cover the slices, sprayed side down.  Microwave for 5 minutes.  If chips are thick, they may need to cook for 6 minutes.  Remove chips to serving bowl and reuse parchment for next batch of potato slices.  You don’t need to spray more vegetable spray after the first time.

*I would suggest changing the parchment paper after the second or third batch and beginning with freshly-sprayed paper.  My parchment paper began to smell burned after 3 batches.