Archives for June 2013

Fourth of July is just around the corner, and if you’re a regular reader of my blog you know that I have been sharing all sorts of fun red, white, and blue recipes over the last few weeks.  Today’s post is a roundup of fun patriotic recipes that are perfect for your holiday get together!

Red, White and Blue Patriotic Party Foods

1.  Pigs in a blanket – These are pretty simple.  Just make them like usual, then brush with a little bit of food coloring before baking.  We used blue, but you could do red as well.

2.  Two step cupcakes – Cute and tasty, these cupcakes can be made by little ones in just a matter of minutes!

3.  Dipped strawberries – Another really easy treat, these strawberries are just dipped in white chocolate and blue sprinkles.

4.  American flag pizza – Sometimes it’s nice to have something more filling than finger foods, and this pizza makes a great centerpiece for your holiday party table too!

5.  Fruit salad – Blueberries, raspberries, and star shaped cheese make a cute salad that’s good for you too!

6.  Patriotic pinwheels – Yummy and adorable, these pinwheels are made with cream cheese, provolone, peppers and tortillas.

7.  Layered party punch – A science experiment and refreshing drink, your kids are sure to love this tri-colored beverage.

8.  Caprese salad – Mozzarella pearls, grape tomatoes, basil and olive oil make a simple, beautiful salad that is super delicious.

9.  Twizzlers – No preparation needed here!  Red and blue twizzlers make a sweet addition to your party foods.

10.  Parent punch – Grown up cocktails with a patriotic twist, the same 3 ingredients make two tasty drinks for Mom and Dad!

Did you know that June 27th is National Bomb Pop Day?  Bomb Pops are one of my all time favorite childhood treats, and we still buy them on a regular basis today.  So you can probably imagine how tickled I was when they asked me to share some pops with my kids along with some other neat holiday party food ideas!  The folks over at Bomb Pop and Publix sent us a whole party pack to celebrate with, along with 2 boxes of popsicles, and that’s where the inspiration for all of my recipes came from!  Check out all of our fun party pictures below!

Last week I shared a recipe for a cute red, white, and blue layered party punch for kids, and it was so popular that today I’m sharing another drink that’s just for grown ups!  It fits right in with the patriotic party theme for the upcoming 4th of July holiday, and I’ve got two versions for you: one for a casual cookout and another for a more formal get together.  They both have the same exact ingredients, they are just prepared a little differently.  Check out the recipe below!

Red, White and Blue Parent Party Punch and Martinis

Ingredients:

2 oz vodka

6 oz mandarin orange sparkling water (I used Clear American)

1 Tbsp grenadine

Ice

Fresh blueberries on a skewer for garnish

Parent Party Punch Directions:

1.  Mix vodka, sparkling water, and grenadine in a 16 oz glass.

2.  Fill with ice to the top.

3.  Garnish with blueberry skewer and a cute straw (if desired)

Red, White and Blue Martini Directions:

1.  Fill a shaker with ice.

2.  Pour in vodka and sparkling water, shake well to mix.

3.  Strain into a chilled martini glass.

4.  Slowly pour grenadine down the side of the glass so it settles in the bottom.

5.  Garnish with blueberry skewer.

***Tip – If you pour the grenadine into the martini glass too quickly, it will just mix with the vodka.  You MUST pour it slowly down the side of the glass for it to layer properly.

This drink is just as delicious with rum or a silver tequila, I’m just a vodka kind of gal. 😉  You could also you a different flavor of sparkling water if you like, but trust me, the mandarin orange is really tasty!

Having lots of people over?  Make a whole pitcher!  You can premix all of it without ice for the punch, or just premix the vodka and sparkling water to prep for the martinis.  Blueberry skewers can be made in advance as well.  Just remember to keep it out of the reach of kiddos, it’s colorful and fun, and they’ll be tempted to take a sip!

Have you checked out my other red, white, and blue recipes? 

This red, white, and blue pinwheel recipe is the perfect addition to your 4th of July get together!  It’s simple and quick, and looks adorable when it’s all finished and cut up for serving.  Don’t worry, it doesn’t taste “blue” either, there’s ranch mixed in there!

Red White and Blue Pinwheels

Ingredients:
3 large flour tortillas
8 oz tub of whipped cream cheese
Blue food coloring
1 packet ranch dip/dressing mix
1 pack sliced provolone (or any other white cheese)
1 small sweet red pepper
Plastic wrap

This recipe does have blue food coloring in it, so if you try to stay away from food dyes you’ll want to check out an alternative like India Tree Natural Decorating Colours.

Directions:
1.  Pour the ranch packet into the cream cheese, mix well.
2.  Squeeze blue food coloring into cream cheese, stir until desired color.
3.  Spread cream cheese across tortillas.
4.  Cover each tortilla with 4 pieces of cheese.
5.  Cut pepper into thin strips and lay out across the top of the cheese.
6.  Tightly roll up each tortilla.
7.  Wrap each tortilla in plastic wrap and chill for at least 3o minutes.
8.  Remove plastic wrap from chilled tortillas and slice before serving.

Red, White & Blue Pinwheels printer friendly recipe

Spread the cream cheese across the tortillas

Top the cream cheese with provolone

Top the cheese with sliced peppers

Tightly roll the tortillas

Wrap each rolled tortilla with plastic wrap

Chill wrapped tortillas for 30 minutes then unwrap and slice

***FRUIT VERSION – If you want more of a dessert pinwheel, you can trade out the ranch mix for a half teaspoon of clear vanilla extract, and use sliced strawberries instead of the peppers.  Yummy!
These pinwheels can be a tiny bit difficult to roll, as you want to make sure they are REALLY tight, so that they stay together when you slice them.  Other than that, it’s a cute finger food that’s perfect for holiday get togethers.  You could even change up the colors, doing green instead of blue for Christmas, or orange peppers and black coloring for Halloween!

Don’t forget to pin this patriotic pinwheel recipe for later, and be sure to share your pictures with me when you make it!

I’ve been sharing some of our favorite red, white, and blue recipes this month, and today’s post is a fun multi-colored punch that is perfect for the upcoming 4th of July holiday. It’s easy to make, yummy to drink, and sure to delight your littles.  You can even use it as a mini science lesson while you’re at it!

Red, White and Blue Punch

Ingredients:

Cranberry Juice Cocktail

Blueberry Pomegranate G2 Gatorade

Mandarin Orange Clear American Zero

Directions:

1.  Pour about an inch of cranberry into the bottom of a clear glass.

2.  Fill with ice to the top.

3.  Slowly pour in the Gatorade until the glass is 2/3 full.

4.  Top off with clear soda.

5.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes before serving to make sure the different drinks have time to fully separate.

6.  Blow your kids away with your magic drink skills!

How it works:

Liquids will separate based on their sugar content.  Those with the highest concentration of sugar will sink to the bottom, whereas those with no sugar (or a sugar alternative like Splenda or Stevia) will end up on top.  You really don’t have to use the specific drinks I mentioned above in the ingredients, you just need to make sure that you have one with a high sugar content, one with low sugar, and one with little to no sugar.  But if you don’t want to run around the store comparing nutrition labels, just use the ones I listed above.  We typically don’t do any sort of high sugar drinks at all in our house (or those with fake sugars) but I made an exception for these because they are so cool looking.

Want to make these drinks even more spectacular?  Top them off with a cherry and a skewer of blueberries and a cute straw!  Be sure you use a clear cup or glass, otherwise you won’t be able to see the colors, lol!

These cute red, white, and blue cupcakes are perfect for patriotic holidays like the 4th of July. Not only are they adorable and delicious, but they are also really easy to make!  Keep reading to find the secret behind these tasty treats!

Did y’all know just a few years ago I was big into baking?  I mean, I baked ALL KINDS of stuff.  Cupcakes, cakes, cake balls (before they got popular, dangit!), the list just goes on and on.  See, I’m good at that sort of thing but I don’t have the heart and passion for it.  It takes a lot of work, and tons of patience, and I’m just not up for doing that every day any more.  But the kiddos still want treats somedays, we still have get togethers to attend, which means I had to come up with something awesome but easy.  So today I’m sharing my super secret, 2 step recipe for red, white, and blue cupcakes that are the perfect dessert for your upcoming 4th of July parties.  Are you ready?  Let’s get started!

Red, White & Blue Cupcakes

Step 1: Buy premade cupcakes with white icing, raspberries, and blueberries.

Step 2: Arrange the berries on top of the cupcakes.

Ta-dah!  That’s it!  I know, it’s super lazy easy right?  Look how cute they are, and they literally take seconds to put together.  My 4yo daughter actually made the ones for our party, and she was so proud of herself when she was finished.  She had just as much fun as if we had made them from scratch, but this was faster and a lot less messy!  Just don’t tell on me now, ya hear? 😉

A few tips:

-You can switch out any red berry for the raspberries, it really doesn’t matter.  You could do strawberries or even cherries!

-Check for discount cupcakes, I know they mark them down the next day at Kroger and Walmart.  I paid about $6.00 for the dozen, but didn’t have to bake or pipe icing on, woohoo!

-Make sure all your blueberries are facing the same way, or they won’t look nearly as cutesy.

Be sure to check out my American Flag Pizza recipe, it’s kid friendly and fits in perfectly with the patriotic party food theme!