Fourth of July, or the anatomy of a great time

We had a fabulous fourth of July. Amidst fears of torrential downpours (it sprinkled on and off all day), we hosted our annual 4th of July party, complete with yummy food, the Independence Day movie, beautiful fireworks and great company. We initially wanted a small group because we can't fit that many people in the apartment, should it be really yucky outside. Then Tom met up with his soccer buddies on Tuesday, and suddenly we were expecting 16 people. In the end, we had a few no shows, but still a great time. I think this turned out to be our best 4th of July Party.
I woke up relatively early for a holiday, 8 am and started cooking at 8:30 am. First, the corn were shucked and put in the Crock Pot for 4 hours on low. I love our big Crock Pot.

The buffalo chicken dip went in the smaller Crock Pot (this one is a huge hit at parties), on low until all melted and combined. Then on warm until people get here.

Then I prepped the coleslaw. Publix had a sale, buy the dressing, get the bagged cabbage/coleslaw mix for free.

Finally I started to work on the cake. I had baked an Angel Food cake the night before but instead of using a tube pan, I used three round pans. I didn't expect the cake to be that much smaller than my trifle stand, but I think it still worked. I made a cheesecake dip to use as frosting (heavy whipping cream, sour cream, Neufchatel cheese (1/3 fat free cream cheese), sugar and vanilla. 
I brushed the cake with a mixture of pineapple juice and coconut rum. Layer cake, frosting, and berries. At the end of the night, there was less than half of the cake left.

I got to use this heavy baby, a wedding present from my former labmate Paula, to make the frosting.

I also had some of the cheesecake dip and made these strawberries as a gluten free dessert.

I was done in the kitchen by 10:30 and started to clean the house. Tom woke up and helped too. We were done by 2, with plenty of time for showers and relaxing before our friends came over at 4 pm. Tom grilled brats and his friend Chris brought ribs. Our friends also brought baked beans, potato salad, and Touchdown Taco dip.
One tip that I took to heart this time was to start the party with an empty dishwasher. And it made such a difference. Throughout the night I would just put dishes in the washer, and at the end of the night, I was done with clean up in less than 30 minutes. We also used disposable cups left over from the wedding, which also helped. Now for firework pictures.
Tom's:

Vulcan's: