The 4th of July is this weekend, so I wanted to share some fun and easy drinks and snacks that fit the theme! Whether you’re having a small get together with friends or just staying home, these are the perfect way to get in the spirit of red, white, and blue. If you try any of these recipes out, please send them to me because I’d love to see your recreations!
Snacking + Drinking
1. Charcuterie board
These have been the craze lately, so I wanted to put a fun, patriotic twist to it! It’s really hard to come up with many “blue” foods, but we made up for it with so many other delicious reds and whites. This is something you can get creative with! And if you’re looking for a way to get that star shape, I’ll link what I used to cut out the cheese here. These are the foods I used on the board:
Red — red grapes, raspberries, peppered salami, salami with cream cheese, pepperoni
“White” — yogurt covered pretzels, crackers, walnuts, peanuts, cheese
Blue — blueberries, blackberries
2. Firecracker margarita
What a freaking bomb drink! I’m already obsessed with margs, they’re literally my favorite alcoholic beverage, but this one is so dang good. And it’s pretty easy to make! You can totally use tequila and lime juice if you’d rather it be completely homemade, but I opted to use a pre-made margarita mix.
Here’s what I did:
Red Pop Rocks to rim
3 oz of Jose Cuervo Margarita Mix
2 oz Blue Curacao
Light corn syrup *optional*
3. Sparkling lemonade
There’s nothing more refreshing than lemonade after a hot summer day! What’s cool about this drink is that it can easily be made into a non-alcoholic beverage for kids. And honestly, I might leave the maraschino cherries out next time because it tastes better without. But, that’s how we get the red color, so I wanted to include them this time!
To start, I rubbed a lemon wedge along the rim and then added blue sanding sugar to coat the top of the mason jar. Then I added a few maraschino cherries to the bottom. I filled the glass with ice and proceeded to pour 1 oz of Red, White, and Berry Smirnoff Vodka in. This can totally be eliminated if you’re not wanting alcohol! Lastly, I filled the rest of the mason jar with sparkling lemon water and added a lemon slice to the rim! For anyone not in the mood for a sparkling drink, feel free to replace with either regular lemonade or plain lemon water.
Real food
1. Breakfast waffles
I made these for my family one morning, and they loved them! I totally used frozen waffles, but we’re not going to talk about it. Toast and pancakes are also really great breakfast foods that can easily be made to be red, white, and blue.
Red — strawberries
White — whipped cream, confectionery sugar
Blue — blueberries
2. Sweet summer salad
I know there’s some non-vegetable lovers out there, but I absolutely love salads! They’re such a refreshing meal after a long day in the sun. One of the best things about them is that you can pretty much put anything you want into a salad and it be tasty. I’m a person that will throw random foods into my salad to see what my favorite mixture is!
Of course, for the purpose of keeping the patriotic theme, I decided to put the following in my salad:
Spinach
Baby tomatoes
Blueberries
Cheese crumbles
Dried cranberries
Walnuts
Dessert
1. Cake pops
So these have become my new favorite thing. I love getting cake pops from Starbucks, so I really wanted to learn how to create my own! They turned out amazing and were so delicious! Everything I’ve listed out so far has been pretty straight forward, but these cake pops have specific instructions.
Ingredients:
Cake mix of your choice
Additional ingredients for cake — mine needed 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 cup water, and 3 eggs
Frosting of your choice (preferably one that compliments the cake mix)
Wilton candy melts
Sucker sticks
Sprinkles
Instructions:
First, you combine your cake mix and additional ingredients into a bowl. Use a mixer to blend all ingredients together. Next, you’re going to pour the mixture into 2 separate pans and bake at the recommended heat. Bake for however long is suggested — my trick is to stick a toothpick in the center, and if it comes out clean, it’s done! Afterwards, let the cakes cool for about 10-15 minutes.
Take a mixing bowl and crumble the cakes up into small pieces. You’ll then add in about 3 heaping spoonfuls of frosting to the crumbled cake and mix it all together. Once it’s all mixed, you can begin rolling the cake and frosting mixture into 2 inch balls. Place them on a cookie sheet (you can put parchment paper on too, that’s optional!).
Then we’re going to start making the coating! Melt the Wilton candy melts into 3 different bowls according to color. Next, you’re going to microwave each for 30 seconds and stir — we did this twice, and then they were good to go! Dip the sucker sticks into the melted candy and place into the cake balls. Once you’ve done this to all, place the cookie sheet into the freezer for 30 minutes, or until firm. You’ll most likely need to melt different candies now because when they sit for too long, the melted candies become hard. Take the cookie sheet out of the freezer and begin “icing” the cake pops. From there, you can decorate with sprinkles as you like! But move quickly, because once the melted candy gets onto the cake pop, it hardens and dries almost instantly.
2. Fruit parfait
Strawberries on strawberries on even more strawberries! This dessert isn’t only super cute to look at, but it’s also delicious! Here’s what you need in order to make:
1 packet of strawberry jello
1 cup of boiling water
1 cup of cold water
1 cup of cool whip
1 1/2 cup of cut strawberries
1 can of whipped cream
Instructions:
First, you’re going to boil your cup of water and set the other cup of cold water off to the side. Pour out your strawberry jello packet into a mixing bowl. Next, add the boiling water and mix contents until the jello powder dissolves. Then continue stirring and add the cold water in. After you’ve mixed everything together, add in your cut strawberries. Use a spoon to pour into your glass — and yes, a spoon will make it much easier! Make sure you save about 1/3 cup of the mixture because you’re going to use it later. I used champagne flutes for my glasses, but you can use whatever you’d like! In order to get the slanted look, I poured my mixture into the glasses and then set them in a meatloaf pan! Let this set overnight if you make it in the evening.
Now you’re going to mix together your cup of cool whip and the 1/3 cup you saved for later! It’ll turn a pink color! Let that sit in the fridge. When your jello has solidified, you can take your pink mixture and spoon it on top of the jello. After you’ve filled your glass, top with whipped cream and a strawberry piece!
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