A Happy 4th of July Menu.

Okay, so it’s not the 4th YET but plans are being made, groceries are getting bought and recipes are being searched for.  To help you in your ‘Best 4th Ever’ quest, I’m sharing my menu and a few tips and tricks.

1. Appetizers – I like to keep the appetizers simple.  There’s enough to do, don’t you think?  A simple veggie tray, chips and salsa,  pretzels and pub cheese.  Done and done.
2. Main Dish(es) – We keep it traditional in this house.  Hot dogs, hamburgers (made with a burger press), brats (boiled in beer first).  The usual. This year, however, I’m going to twist it a little with toppings.  For the burgers, I am going to make spicy mayo (mayo w/a little Tabasco),  saute mushrooms, saute onions, make guacamole and fry up some bacon.  For the hot dogs and brats, I am going to saute peppers and serve with fun cheeses and rolls.  Think of it as the sundae bar for a BBQ. 🙂
3. Sides – Corn on the cob.  Check out this You Tube video on how to shuck corn.   Super easy.   A new pasta salad I found, Spicy Pasta Salad with Smoked Gouda, Tomatoes and Basil.  This recipe is by one of my fave cooks, Ree Drummond (a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman).  I also found a recipe by Robert Irvine called, Bacon-and-Egg Potato Salad.  Need I say more.  The title says it all.  I canNOT wait to try this.   Plus it doesn’t look complicated.  Bonus.   We will serve easy stuff too… chips, fruit salad, etc…
4. Desserts –   By request of my five-year old, I will be making Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries.  I found this recipe on Pinterest and it actually turned out just liked it looked.   I am also going to make traditional chocolate chip cookies.  My favorite choco chip cookie recipe ever is on the back of a package of Trader Joe’s chocolate chips.  Trader Joes’ Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  For some reason this only has three stars.  Wrong. wrong. wrong.  These are amazing.  So says me!  I do sprinkle with a little sea salt before cooking.  Delish!

I think that’s it!  So hungry for this stuff now!  Share with everyone what you will be cooking this 4th.

Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone.

Happy BBQ’ing!!