Independence Day is my favorite holiday. I’ve thrown a party for most of my adult Fourths. This year’s party was pretty easy because almost everyone brought a (delicious) dish! I decided not to struggle with grilling hamburgers for a crowd this year, so to compensate for having only hot dogs as a main dish, I assembled a hot dog bar with fancy-ish toppings.
As I lay down to sleep that night, I realized I never set out the shredded cheese. Oops. I didn’t take a picture of it, but the Blueberry Lavender Lemonade was delicious and fairly easy to make. I still have a pitcher left over and have been adding it to my iced tea!
I’ve baked a flag cake every Fourth since I was sixteen. The “recipe” has been altered many times. Last year I started making it in a half-sheet pan instead of a 9×13, to feed more people. This year, after using one box of white cake mix per pan, I started to suspect that I’d previously used one and a half. So to be safe, I made a third layer. Daring greatly!! I was thrilled that all layers came out of the pans cleanly. However, most people preferred the other desserts that were brought, so now I have a ton of leftover cake, and only one me. Lesson learned.
After seeing this outdoor summer centerpiece idea on Pinterest, I had to make some for the party! It’s sliced lemons and limes, and sprigs of rosemary and mint, in a mason jar filled with water and a few drops of Bug Off essential oil. Then you add a floating tea light. These made me so happy! I’m not sure how effective they were at actually repelling bugs, but they looked pretty and smelled good.
Most people left around 8:00 to see fireworks (or put their kids to bed), but a few friends stayed and joined me in playing with sparklers in the backyard!
I hung lights across the backyard for the party. I enjoyed them so much, I’ll probably leave them up for a while. (Gandalf likes them too.)
My parents and I went to the Bartlett fireworks on the night of the 3rd, but they were delayed until almost 10:45 because the control board didn’t work and had to be replaced. Then something else went wrong and there was no finale… the fireworks just sort of stopped. It was a bummer (although I was glad to see them at all). I’m thinking next year I’ll have the party the day after the Fourth, so I can go to the downtown fireworks with everyone else!
How was your holiday?
That sounds like fun! We were at the beach and the fireworks were pretty good, but super crowded. It was fun, but didn’t feel super celebratory.
We also went to see a boat parade, but most of the participants missed the make your boat fun to look at, don’t just drive it in the parade while you sit there, memo.
Well that’s a bummer! I do always enjoy fireworks at the beach though. :)