Juneteenth Was Just the Start — Now it’s “Uhuru Season with 17 Days of Freedom” to Reflect On & Celebrate with Diff Recipes for Each! Up 1st…
This year instead of celebrating Juneteenth on just one busy day (a hump day at that!) and in support of my colleague and friend, Grey Jones’ “Uhuru Season: 17 Days of Freedom” Poster Series currently on exhibit at Prospect Park until July 5th, I decided to digitally pair one or more TFG-curated Juneteenth recipes to each of the 17 Freedoms Grey identified and showcases each day at 17:17 (aka 5:17pm) for the next two + weeks (June 19th - July 5th)…
I’ll blogpost the recipes here on the TFG website for each of those 17 days between Juneteenth and July 5th — complete with my “Tiny Bites and/or Big Sips” of historical and cultural context PLUS the option for you to secure your own digital download of each recipe. I’ll also share posts about the pairings on social media (IG, FB, LI , etc.) [For more info on Uhuru Season and/or the 17 Days of Summer Poster Series, check out my Juneteenth Calendar Day post]
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And without further ado:
Day 1. Wednesday June 19th 2024’s Freedom is:
“The Freedom to Keep and Raise One's Own Children”
TODAY’S FREEDOM RECIPE: “Beet Red Velvet Cupcakes” (with Cream Cheese Frosting)
The caption above conveys some of the historical & cultural context I’d researched and written for this all natural beet red velvet cake / cupcake recipe…
Kids of all kinds love cupcakes. Baking together can be a beautiful bonding moment across the generations for families big or small. Early (enslaved and later emancipated) American Black women throughout the South were the great bakers. Over time their skills, techniques and recipes came to define a uniquely American style of baking (award-winning biscuits, pies, cakes, etc.) in homes and establishments over the centuries. Wealthy Northerners were often eating the same types of of food as Southern slave holders, as the migration north (particularly of skilled Negro cooks) was happening as early as 1799. As there were generally no freedoms nor resources to bake for one’s own children or family, this seemed like just the right recipe to kick things off for today’s theme focusing on family and (healthy) child rearing.
Most modern day red velvet cake and cupcake recipes (whether commercially made or handmade) use red food dyes like Red #40 or Red 3 also known as erythrosine or FD&C Red 3, a synthetic food dye known carcinogen as identified by the FDA with other toxicologies identified as well. Which makes no sense IMHO when there are delicious and healthy alternatives.
This recipe I chose and curated for the Food.com Juneteenth Recipes assignment was submitted by The Sylvia Center, a New York-based non-profit that educates young people and families through culinary programming to promote health and well-being. There teens learn to use only natural ingredients, replacing artificial and harmful substances, like food coloring, with plant-based ingredients. “For these red velvet cupcakes, students made safe, natural food-coloring using beets."
GET YOUR AFFORDABLE yet INFO-RICH RECIPE CARD FOR FREEDOM DAY #1 via the TFG PATREON SHOP
👉🏿 CLICK HERE👇🏾 to SEE 👉🏿 MORE TFG-Curated FREEDOM-themed recipes paired with “17 Days of Freedom”👇🏾 👈🏿