Recipe #34: TCK trifle...

Well first off, you might wonder what a TCK even is. It is not a food, it's a person, a person like me. TCK stands for Third Culture Kid. Someone who, like me, spent a number of their childhood/developmental years in a country that does not match their passport. If you think about it, teacher friends, many of our ELL students are tcks too. TCKs might be related to business, military, or missionaries, but they are a unique breed. Not knowing quite where they fit in, having trouble sometimes settling, but often able to easily adapt to new situations and willing to try new things, but often the biggest issue, not knowing where they are from. The simple question of "where are you from?" often took me ages to answer because i had to think about it.... "Well, I was born in Illinois, but grew up in Japan but in the states we live in Ohio, but then I lived in Georgia and now South Carolina."
So what does this have to do with July 4th? Good question. I love the United States and the freedoms they provide people, but it took me a long time to feel the need to celebrate the holiday or make a big deal of it because it was a holiday that Americans celebrated, and I didn't feel like I was American.

As I made my dessert for our cook out with family tonight, I felt the need to put my own spin on it. On the outside it is a red, white, and blueberry trifle, but in the inside I got to rebel against myself and show the love of my other country as well. Silly I know, but for some reason, important. American on the outside but Japanese on the inside... You will see how in a bit!

Anyways, for the trifle you need:
(It is a variation on a recipe I found in my Everyday Food  magazine, a similar recipe is found here.)

strawberries, I used three containers
Blueberries
Angel Food cake or pound cake
two containers of cool whip
sugar for the strawberries.

• Make the Angel food cake according to package directions or buy a pound cake at the grocery store. (I have to admit, my angel food cake did not turn out all fluffy, maybe because it is old? anyways, if it had turned out right this would have been a totally different dessert!)
• break the cake apart into pieces.
• slice strawberries up and add some sugar so they get juicy.
• in a springform pan, put some parchment paper around the sides. (or you can use a pretty glass bowl) put down a layer of the cake. kind of pat it down so it is evenly spread out. put a layer of strawberries on top. 
• Next add a tub of cool whip. yes i said tub, because it is delicious! 

Then comes my tribute to Japan!

 See, isn't it nice!

• Then add another layer of cake and top it with rest of strawberries. 
• Put in the fridge to chill for about 3 hours.
• Then add the the other tub (or however much you want) of the cool whip. top with stars* and blueberries.
• If you made it in a springform pan, carefully release it from the pan and tear away parchment paper from the sides. and FYI...we are not martha stewart!! Why do I think it will be as easy as she says? How she gets the cake to cut etc easily I have NO idea. so next time. I am using that pretty glass bowl. 

*stars: before I crumbled up the angel food cake ( actually i had made two in hopes that the second one would turn out better!) i had taken a cookie cutter and cut out some stars. then I took some frozen blueberries, mashed them up and mixed them with the stars to help them turn blueish/purpleish. just a fun addition to the dessert...which you can't even see in the picture. still, it was fun.