Fourth of July Party

This was originally posted/featured in Everyday Party Magazine. I would like to share it here with you as well.

Celebrating Fourth of July as Independence Day has been something that I had to adjust to when I came to the United States seventeen years ago.  Almost eleven years ago I met my husband during Fourth of July weekend and that’s how the holiday became a little more special to us.

It seems that every year Independence day is a low key celebration for my family. We usually spend the day swimming, visiting  the local fair and later going see the fireworks. When it came to this styled shot I decided to do something that we would usually do: a last minute get together with things that we have around the home. As much as we love homemade food, when it comes to putting parties together at the very last minute my husband and I believe in the 70/30 rule: 70% store bought or made by someone else ; 30% homemade by us. In this instance everything in the dessert table was store bought and everything for the main course was homemade.

I decided to arrange the dessert table on a outside bench that my husband made for me. I love simple design and being able to bring items from inside the home. In this instance my big piece was the American flag that we painted and used for the focal point of the table. I have been told that there is noting more American than pies, popcorn, caramel apples and Coca Cola. I used apple, cherry and salted caramel apple pie along the traditional ice cream that I think should be part of any event during the summer.

For the main course we had pork ribs done by non other than my husband, orzo salad, corn on the cob, corn bread, fresh strawberries and chips and salsa. What I loved about the food is that everything was done in less than three hours. The table was dressed with fresh flowers placed in mason jars.

            

Fourth of July means to me to celebrating our freedom, spending time with family and friends and the official start of summer. Hope you have a great celebration this year!