4th of July ideas

Over the weekend I noticed that my neighbors were putting up some decorations for the Independence Day celebration. I think it is always a good thing to at least put up Old Glory to show a spirit of patriotism on this holiday. I usually don't do more than that but it is a very good idea to at least fly the red, white and blue.

In our family it was tradition to have a birthday celebration since my dad was born on the fourth of July. We always joked that he was a Yankee Doodle Dandy but that was about all we had time for because our celebration took up most of our time in the week proceeding the fourth. There was always grass to cut and things to clean and food to prepare.

We didn't have fireworks but we did have a big party with tons of family. There was usually grilled chicken and potato salad, green beans, watermelon, metal buckets of lemonade and our favorite--blackberry cobbler.

We don't have that giant celebration anymore because my dad is no longer with us but every year I think about it and I always look for new ideas to make traditions of my own. I usually look through magazines and now I search Pinterest to see what people are doing to celebrate.

I don't think I would like to have the large celebrations of my childhood but I would like to mark the day with a few special things.

This year I may try these cheesecake bites. They look kind of easy and I love this idea above from cooking classy.com.

I have never been a big S'mores maker but I like the way this looks above. I think it would be fun to roast the marshmallows over an open fire. This is from lovethispie.com.

I'm not sure I like the red, white and blue drinks I have seen lately but I think adding blue food coloring to some lemonade with watermelon star stirrers would be perfect. Of course I think you can't beat iced tea with mint leaves. It might not be the right colors but sure is refreshing!

The photo above is from july4thdrink.com but it looks like it may be from the decorated cookie blog.

I LOVE this trifle which looks like it is made in a spring form pan. I will try this. See more on lovethisspice.com

This cupcake must have tons of food color! I love it anyway because one of them would be fun to eat. See it at oneordinaryday.wordpress.com.

My favorite idea is from theyarecrafty.blogspot.com. I think this is a winner. I am not a hot dog fan but this hot dog recipe makes me want to get out some biscuit or crescent roll dough and try it. Look simple and looks like something kids would love. The cheese cones on the top of the "bottle rockets" are perfect.

I love these ideas. They fit into my "keep it simple" July 4th philosophy and with only two days to prepare, I think I could manage a couple of these ideas.