I love celebrating the Fourth of July. Growing up, my dad used to take the whole week off from work and my family would stay in the Blue Ridge mountains in North Georgia. We would boat and swim around the lake, go on hikes, and eat as many meals outside as possible. Today I'm sharing a simple menu for the perfect Fourth of July cookout. The cake, slaw, and burger patties can be made ahead, giving you more free time to enjoy your holiday.
If you don't feel like squeezing lemons for lemonade, I recommend picking up a gallon from Chick-fil-A. Their lemonade is deliciously tart, always a crowd pleaser, and will be one less thing you have to worry about.
Ina Garten's vegetable coleslaw is so crunchy and satisfying. The dressing is a traditional mayonnaise base with apple cider vinegar, celery salt, and celery seeds. You can shred the veggies the day before and store them in a paper towel lined bowl covered with plastic wrap. The vegetables will stay crisp, and all you have to do before dinner is toss them in the dressing.
Get the Recipe: The Barefoot Contessa's Vegetable Coleslaw
For the other sides, keep things simple with Cape Cod potato chips and watermelon slices. Cape Cod chips are salty and crunchy, perfect to snack on while you grill the burgers.
The burger patties can be made ahead, and stored between sheets of wax paper. I kept things simple and seasoned the ground beef with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I served an option of either Cheddar or Pepper Jack cheese, as well as lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard, ketchup, and pickles. I found the flag toothpicks on Amazon. For 10 burgers, I used approx. 3 lbs. of ground chuck. I picked up some brioche buns from the bakery and toasted them on a buttered griddle while the burgers were on the grill.
No Fourth of July meal would be complete without some sort of American flag-shaped dessert. Ina Garten's flag cake is a vanilla sheet cake with cream cheese frosting. You can make the cake the night before and store it in the fridge once cooled. I would recommend frosting and decorating it close to an hour before serving, so the fruit doesn't "bleed" too much. This cake serves 20-24 so it's perfect for a party. I used a Wilton star 4B tip for the stripes, and a Wilton star 32 tip for the stars.
Get the Recipe: The Barefoot Contessa's Flag Cake
Get the Look:
Red, white, and blue is my favorite color combination, so I love any holiday that incorporates that. I found these plaid napkins at Pottery Barn and love how they paired with simple white china and woven water hyacinth chargers. I added some white hydrangeas and two glass hurricanes to complete this table setting.
Thanks for reading!
- Sam
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