It's that time of year again! The Fourth of July is almost here and time to get ready for some fun and entertaining. My intern, Susan, has been busy at work finding some fun food and drink to make your next evening "out"side explode with fun! Happy Fourth, Happy Summer!
photo courtesy of Cloth World
Things you’ll need for a successful & decorative July 4th celebration:
• Colorful side dishes
• Tables cloths in varying designs
• Cups and utensils in red, white and blue
• Patriotic napkins
• Red, white and blue potted plants
• Star confetti
(From Ehow.com)
Be festive with your Fourth of July essentials. Use red, white, and blue drinks to entertain your guests. For a snack, skip the flour tortilla chips and salsa for blue corn tortilla chips, salsa and sour cream. You can also make homemade potato salad. Simply, use red potatoes, white potatoes, and blue (purple) potatoes
Be creative with your tablecloth. You can use a red picnic table cloth. To make a more creative look, layer a red table cloth with a blue and a white table cloth.
For plastic essentials use the patriotic colors. You can purchase plates and cups with star designs. To save money, use variations of red, white, and blue for plastic utensils, plates, and cups.
For centerpieces, use flowers that are festive for the event. Potted plants that are red, white, and blue will help celebrate the patriotic occasion. For an extra touch, you can add matching pinwheels or sparklers.
Fun Fourth of July Drink Ideas:
Watermelon-Lemonade Cooler (From SouthernLiving.com)
Ingredients
15 cups seeded and cubed watermelon
2 (12-ounce) cans frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
2 mint sprigs
Ice
Garnishes: watermelon wedges, mint springs
Preparation
Process watermelon, in batches, in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Combine concentrate and 2 mint sprigs, and cook in a saucepan over medium-high heat 10 minutes. Stir together watermelon puree and lemonade mixture; cover and chill 8 hours. Remove and discard mint. Stir and serve over ice. Garnish, if desired.
Makes about 14 cups
Directions
Blend watermelon, lime juice, sugar, ice and water in a blender until smooth.
Blackberry Iced Tea (From SouthernLiving.com)
Ingredients
3 cups fresh or frozen blackberries, thawed
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
Pinch of baking soda
4 cups boiling water
2 family-size tea bags
2 1/2 cups cold water
Garnishes: fresh blackberries, fresh mint sprigs
Preparation
Combine blackberries and sugar in large container. Crush blackberries with wooden spoon. Add mint and baking soda. Set aside.
Pour 4 cups boiling water over tea bags; cover and let stand 3 minutes. Discard tea bags.
Pour tea over blackberry mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Pour tea through a wire-mesh strainer into a large pitcher, discarding solids. Add 2 1/2 cups cold water, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Garnish, if desired.
Makes about 7 ½ cups
For a colorful dessert try a homemade ice cream cake seen on the Today Show and can be found at www.today.msnbc.msn.com:
INGREDIENTS
• One recipe Simply Strawberry Sorbet
• 4 cups of cookie crumbs (process 7 Newman's Own Organic O's — creamy fillings and all — in the food processor until finely ground) or finely chopped candied ginger
• One recipe Lemon Ice Cream with Candied Lemon Peel
• One recipe Simply Blueberry Sorbet
• Freshly whipped cream, fresh berries, and sprigs of mint, for serving
DIRECTIONS
Place a 9-inch springform pan in the freezer until very cold, at least 1 hour.
Make the strawberry sorbet (or beat premade, frozen sorbet until smooth in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). Remove the springform pan from the freezer and immediately scoop in the sorbet. Working quickly, use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula to smooth the sorbet into an even layer, approximately 1-inch high. Sprinkle evenly with 1/4 cup cookie crumbs or candied ginger, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and freeze until firm, at least 1 hour.
Repeat the process with the lemon ice cream and another 1/4 cup of crumbs or candied ginger, freezing 1 hour. Finish with the blueberry sorbet, topping with the last 1/4 cup of crumbs or candied ginger. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until set, at least two hours or overnight.
Chill a serving plate or cake stand in the freezer.
Just before serving, unmold the cake: Warm the blade of an offset spatula or knife in hot tap water, then wipe it dry. Run the blade around the inside edge of the pan, then unlock and remove the sides. Place the chilled plate or cake stand upside-down on top of the cake pan and flip everything over so the cake is resting on the plate. Rewarm the knife and gently edge it between the bottom of the pan and the cake to remove the bottom of the pan. Garnish with a mint sprig and serve with whipped cream and fresh berries.
If the entire cake is not eaten in one sitting, immediately after slicing, wrap it well with plastic wrap and put it back in the freezer. This will help prevent melting and refreezing, which can ruin the texture.
Makes a 9 inch cake.
