By Andrea Meyers of Andrea’s Recipes

Ever since I was a little girl, the Fourth of July has always been one of my favorite U.S. holidays, and my memories of July 4th include playing outdoors all day, gatherings with family and friends, picnics and cookouts, and sparklers and fireworks. For me the big event has always been the fireworks, watching the colors explode in the night sky, but the food runs a close second. Now I get to share the fun of Fourth of July celebrations with our sons, taking them to see fireworks and parades and making good picnic and cookout foods for them to enjoy. To help plan your Fourth of July celebration, I’ve put together some menu ideas from some of my favorite bloggers.

Cool Beverages

Nothing beats a cold refreshing glass of lemonade or iced tea on a hot summer day. Layla shows how to create a limonada by running whole lemons or limes through the blender and straining out the rind. If you like flavored lemonades, try the basil lemonade from Trini Gourmet. For the iced tea lovers, Appetite for China shows how to make a fruity black cherry iced tea and Savory Sweet Life makes a jasmine mint green tea. If you want to nip a cocktail while watching the fireworks, you’ll find Alanna reminiscing about small town Fourth of July celebrations over gin & tonic with cucumber stirs.

The Barbecue

For many, Fourth of July cookouts and picnics are all about the barbecue, and pork ribs are a perennial favorite. If you like to use soft drinks in barbecue sauce, Kim of A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen made some luscious sticky Coca-Cola glazed baby back ribs and Lisa of Homesick Texan shared her recipe for Dr. Pepper ribs. For ribs with a variety of flavors, try the addictive Korean cut short ribs (kalbi) from White on Rice Couple, the Argentian short ribs with chimmichurri from Rebecca at From Argentina Wth Love, or the spicy sweet Aleppo Chili Pork Ribs with Peach and Lime at The Hungry Mouse. If you crave chicken on the grill, there’s the harissa-marinated grilled chicken from Alice Q. Foodie or some beer and garlic marinated chicken and sausage kebabs from Cafe Lynnylu. For seafood lovers serve Kalyn’s Herb-Encrusted Grilled Salmon or Canary’s Girl’s garlic and cayenne marinated shrimp skewers.

Salads

A picnic or cookout wouldn’t be the same without a variety of salads to go along with the barbecue. Potato salad is one of my favorites for ribs, and you can make any number of variations with vinegar based dressings or a more traditional creamy dressing, use sweet potatoes, or add spices and other savory flavors. Alanna’s Warm Sweet Potato Salad is flavored with a chile garlic vinaigrette and Deb adds horseradish to a colorful potato salad. Slaws are also a favorite salad for barbecues, and there is a plethora to choose from. Hugging the Coast has a trio of gourmet slaws, including a spicy pineapple ginger leek slaw, South Carolina mustard bbq slaw, and a tarragon buffalo wing slaw. Susan’s Mexican Jumping Bean Slaw with a mix of two kinds of cabbage with beans, corn, peppers and a creamy tomato dressing will also keep your tastebuds happy. For another summer favorite, have some fresh corn in Sunday Nite Dinner’s colorful Spicy Fresh Corn Salad.

Sides

Baked beans are a classic side dish for a picnic or cookout, and you can use a variety of beans and spices to flavor them. Sara created an Italian version of her favorite barbecued baked beans with borlotti, cannellini, and butter beans, and Gretchen used white panamito beans and panela in her Peruvian inspired Fourth of July Baked Beans. Cathy combined Asian and Mexican flavors in her Hoisin Chipotle Baked Beans. For other flavorful sides, try Kelly’s firecrackers (spicy pickled carrots), Lydia’s deviled eggs, and Elise’s grilled corn on the cob.

Desserts

Red, white, and blue desserts remain popular year after year, whether it’s a flag cake or any other dessert calling for red and blue fruits. Maki of Just Hungry made a pretty Red, White and Blue dessert based on an English dessert known as Eton mess, with balsamic marinated strawberries, meringues, and mailander cookies. For more red, white, and blue desserts, take a look at Jen’s pavlovas, Susan’s Fruit Terrine, Stef’s All American BBQ Cupcakes (yes, with liquid smoke in the chocolate cupcakes), and Cathy’s Firecracker Cupcakes.

If you need help planning your menu for a Fourth of July celebration, Natanya at The Everyday Foodie shows you how it’s done with her meal plan for ribs, corn, fruit crisp, and fresh bread, even sharing her detailed timetable for completing each step of the menu. Now that’s what I call organized!

Looking for more ideas for your Fourth of July picnic or cookout? You can find plenty with the FoodieView Recipe Search or in FoodieView’s Fourth of July category.

Andrea Meyers writes about cooking, gardening, and her four hungry guys at Andrea’s Recipes. She’ll be visiting family on the Fourth of July and will probably have barbecued ribs, salt potatoes, and rhubarb pie.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 11:59 am and is filed under Recipe Roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.