Whether you are hosting, attending, or just hanging out by yourself, next week and into the weekend most everyone will be grilling and enjoying summer. The 4th of July is always full of festivities in our neck of the woods. My husband’s birthday is on the 2nd so we make a week of good food and fun. There will be kids running everywhere with flags, fireworks, boating, swimming, and lots of food to snack on. While I’ll be mixing some favorites with new recipes, I thought I’d share some great ones here to get your menu planned. I’ve included a little bit of everything to make life just a little easier come this 4th of July. So, get your prep work done so you can sit back and relax!

Let’s start with appetizers. Something easy that you can make ahead and will be cool and refreshing.

Cowboy Caviar is always a hit. It has filling beans and corn so this will tide guests over for quite some time.

Basil Dip is refreshing and different. It has lovely summer flavors rather than a heavy onion dip.

On to BBQ essentials! Why use store bought when you can make your own!

Ranch Dressing is great for veggies and chicken. Making your own yields wonderful results!

Ketchup is a hamburger staple, at least for this girl, and when you’ve worked hard at the grill to make the perfect one, why top it with anything but the best?

Hamburger Buns  We can attest that homemade bread is amazing and hamburger buns are no exception. This year, make your burger or sandwich the best it can be by pairing it with a homemade bun.

Sides are every bit as important to a great BBQ as the main attraction. Whether it be a wonderful pasta or potato salad or a bag of chips, you just have to have them!

Tropical Butternut Squash Salad is perfect if you don’t want a salad that is laden with starch or mayonnaise. It also has such a unique, wonderful flavor everyone will be going for seconds!

Confetti Coleslaw is a fun twist to a classic. Again, no mayonnaise so you wont feel so full, but heavy on flavor and color!

Fried German Potato Salad is definitely not light on the stomach, but it has such great flavor and is always a hit! If you are cooking at home, you’ll want to add this to your menu.

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Zesty Grilled Veggies are a great way to add some health factor into your menu. With great flavor and color, you may find many reaching for this rather than the corn on the cob.

On to the main event! Here are just a few of my favorites that can appeal to all if you are looking for something besides the classic hot dog and burgers.

Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches are so delicious and so easy to make, if you choose these you had better make a lot. They go fast!

Garlic and Soy Pork Chops require a simple marinade, but are full of flavor.

Lobster BLT’s Don’t feel like grilling, but want something special for your summer meal? I promise these wont disappoint!

Herbed Balsamic Grilled Chicken is a great way to turn up the flavor on your chicken. Simply marinade and cook!

Spiedies These are a Binghamton, NY staple and for good reason. You can use a few different kinds of meats, but no matter what the result will be your guests lining up for more!

It wouldn’t be a festive gathering if there weren’t desserts. These are a few of my favorites that just scream summer to me and are easy to bring to any gathering.

Star Spangled Jello are festive, easy and all will love. Leave the flag cake at home and make these instead!

S’more Cupcakes are awesome. Really, that’s it! 🙂

Key Lime Cupcakes are a light, flavorful dessert that has a delicious key lime custard hiding on the inside.

S’mores Everyone knows how to make these, but impress with homemade ingredients. There is nothing better than a homemade marshmallow. You’ll never be able to go back to store bought!

No matter what you end up making, I hope you all have a fun and safe holiday. If you have any great recipes to share, add them to the comments so others can see!

We’ve had an abundance of strawberries passing through my kitchen lately and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Especially when there is rhubarb to go along with it. My husband loves rhubarb. Although his favorites are rhubarb pie and strawberry rhubarb jam, I enjoy coming up with other things that he will enjoy. Little did I know that I have a mini rhubarb lover in the house as well. My daughter has no problem eating it raw, not even dipped in sugar, simply raw right after picking!

This recipe was originally for “bars,” but I feel like it’s too “dessert” like to be in the same realm as a bar, the end result too pretty. You can serve this for breakfast as a wonderful coffee cake, a great snack, or as a lovely dessert to finish off a great summer meal. I’ve added some strawberries to the recipe as well, because while we like rhubarb, why not add strawberries to the party? If decided you want strictly rhubarb, that’s okay though, simply omit the strawberries and bump the rhubarb quantity up to 1/2 pound. I also had a little bit of crumb mixture left over, don’t throw this away! You top other things with it, or just snack on it while these are baking 😉

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Cake

Ingredients

Streusel

• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted, plus room-temperature butter for pan
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt

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Cake

• 1/4 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/4 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1 Tbsp light-brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 350. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the sides. Butter and flour both the pan and parchment pan, shaking out the excess flour.

To make the streusel, whisk together the butter, brown sugar, and salt. Add the flour and mix with a fork until large crumbs form. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To make the cake, combine the rhubarb, strawberries, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup of flour in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk 3/4 cup flour, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs in one at a time. With the mixer on low, beat in the vanilla and then the flour mixture. Spread the batter in the prepared pan.

Sprinkle the rhubarb and strawberries over the top of the batter and then cover the top with the streusel.

Bake until golden an a took pick comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 40 to 50 minutes. Let the cake cool completely in the pan. Using the paper overhang, life the cake from the pan.

Serve as a cake or cut into 16 bars.

Adapted from Everyday Food

*** Winner of the Battle of the Bloggers Recipe Contest. See Smart Balance’s page ***

Ask anyone from across the United States what first comes to mind when they think of Maine, and it’s lobster, but when you arrive in Maine you’ll realize that the beloved way to eat lobster is actually the “Lobster Roll.” It can be served warm with melted butter on a toasted top split hot dog roll or the more favored way of a lobster salad, served cold on a top split roll. If you go to one of the local favorite shacks, you’ll have a roll that is packed with meat from an entire lobster. While I’ve always been a purist and love my lobster steamed with drawn butter, the lobster roll is a great way to enjoy lobster without the mess. Plus, the lobster, roll, bites of celery, and mayonnaise work together in pleasing the palate.

What I’ve done here is make the lobster roll a beautiful appetizer that everyone can enjoy. While the lobster roll is something that is casual, these appetizers will have all of your guests impressed, and with the meat of just two lobsters you can make 24 of these. It’s more bang for your buck!

If you don’t prefer lobster, you can substitute with shrimp or crab meat. Or, if you want something similar but don’t care for seafood at all, go ahead and make these with a chicken salad. By using store bought phyllo cups you can have these whipped up in no time. If you decide to purchase whole lobsters and clean them yourself for meat, please enjoy the small legs for yourself or save them, along with the body, for a fabulous bisque!

Lobster Roll Cups

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked lobster meat, chopped (about 2  1.25 lb lobsters)
• 2 Tbsp Smart Balance mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp finely diced celery
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 24 Phyllo shells
• dash of cayenne pepper, optional for garnish

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In a medium bowl, gently stir the lobster meat, mayonnaise, celery, lemon juice, and zest to combine. *The mixture can be made a few hours ahead of time and refrigerated before placing in phyllo cups.*

Place one heaping teaspoon of the lobster mixture into each phyllo cup. Sprinkle a small amount of cayenne pepper on the top of each cup if desired.

Serve immediately.

Yields about 24 phyllo cups

Source: The Way to His Heart

With it being strawberry season, there are plenty to come by in my house, the problem is they go bad so quickly. No matter what secret trick I try or someone’s tried and true method, they mold very quickly. This makes me so sad. I’m talking a fair amount of pouting going on. One of my favorite ways to eat strawberries has always been simply cut up and tossed with sugar and served with whipped cream. That is until I found this little gem. By adding some sweet Meyer lemon juice, this really brings your simple dessert up a notch without doing anymore work. While you do taste the Meyer lemon, what it really does is bring out the fresh, wonderful flavor of the strawberries.

So, when we are running out of ideas on how to use up all of our strawberries, we turn to this recipe. Not only does it make a lovely snack or dessert, but it can be used to with so many other things. Adorn your morning waffles or pancakes with this and everyone will start the day in a cheery mood. Serve over a pound cake or ice cream and you’ll definitely be thanked come dessert time. Me? I like to sit close to my daughter and share a bowl of these strawberries and whipped cream on our deck. Letting the sun hit our shoulders and our bare-feet dangle. Summer, how we’ve missed you!

Strawberries in Meyer Lemon Syrup

Ingredients

• 4 cups quartered small strawberries
• 1/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup whipping cream

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Place strawberries, lemon juice, and sugar in a large glass bowl. Toss to coat, cover, and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Place cream in a cold, medium bowl and whip with a hand mixer until soft peaks form. Serve whipped cream with strawberries.

Source: Cooking Light, April 2009