Recipes and Cooking Ideas for Homemakers and Amateur Cooks
 

It’s Independence Day!

Posted on July 3, 2008
Filed Under For special occassions, Grilling, Holiday cooking

4th-banner.jpg

How are you spending the holiday? …Going out on the lake? …Firing up the grill? …Getting together with family and friends? …Going out to watch fireworks? I don’t specifically remember not watching fireworks any year, but I’m sure there was a year or two missed in there somewhere. When we lived in town, we could see them from our house. Fireworks is what I think of first when I think ‘4th of July’, then I think of my oldest brother (Happy Birthday, Tom!), then I think of grilling and burgers and brats. I know, with having a cooking blog, you’d think grilling and all would be first on my list.

Speaking of grilling, I’m sure we’ll be doing some. Here are some of our favorites:

Hot dogs, our favorites are Ball Park beef franks…
4th-ball-park-franks.jpg

Brats, it’s gotta be Johnsonville…
4th-brat.jpg

Cheeseburger, this has got to go on the menu this weekend! I’ll have to talk to the guy in charge of grilling around here…
4th-burger.jpg

New York Strip Steak, and please don’t forget the sauteed mushrooms! Mmmmm…4th-new-york-strip.jpg

Rib-Eye Steak done medium, this was melt-in-your-mouth tender, didn’t even need A1 sauce…4th-rib-eye-medium.jpg

Shrimp and mushrooms grilled on skewers, a great appetizer…
4th-shrimp-mushroom-kabobs.jpg

Pork chop sandwich, last but definitely not least! This is the thing out of this whole list that we grill the most. Yup, even more than throwing hot dogs and brats on the grill. Maybe next time we make them, I can remember to get a better picture! They’re easy, at least for me, because all I do is set the table…
4th-pork-chop.jpg

And then I couldn’t let the holiday go by without playing around with my beloved for-any-occassion layered finger jello! It’s a nice side benefit that it tastes good, too.
4th-stars.jpg
Instead of using a 9×13 pan for a batch, I used a large cookie sheet with sides so it wouldn’t get so thick. The red and blue layers each have 2 batches of jello in them and the white layer is all of the white mixture (as opposed to dividing it in thirds). When I cut it into little shapes, it looks better if it’s not so thick.

4th-stars-flipped.jpg And then you can play around with it a little more and makes squares and cut a star out of the middle, flip it over, and put it back into the hole.

4th-red-white-blue.jpg

And then you can play around with it a little more and make the United States of America…
4th-usa.jpg

And, being in the spirit of things, this is what I was snacking on just now as I wrote this post…
4th-fruit.jpg
Red strawberries, white sugar, and blue blueberries.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Comments

10 Responses to “It’s Independence Day!”

  1. Shannon on July 4th, 2008 7:11 am

    Oh the food looks good. But then it always does here. :) I love that jello, looks too cool in the stars and the states.

  2. Jo on July 4th, 2008 8:46 am

    Did you SERIOUSLY do that map of the U.S. in jello????? I am in complete awe. May I have your autograph? ;-)
    I was going to do layered jello like that to send w/ my husband to OH for their big doin’s tonight…but changed my mind & did a layered jello cake instead. Red on the bottom, blue on the top, iced w/ the old stand-by Cool Whip. So simple…just hope it tastes good! (since I won’t be there to check) Happy 4th!

  3. Marilyn on July 4th, 2008 3:11 pm

    love the finger jello, esp the stars, those are so cool! my kids would love them. Happy 4th of July to you too! :-)

  4. Mary Faith on July 4th, 2008 3:32 pm

    I decided to google “red, white,and blue finger jello” to find a recipe and guess what? The very first site that came up was this one. LOL It took me back to the recipe you had on here. I had forgotten you had the recipe before. So cool. :)

  5. Kay on July 4th, 2008 5:01 pm

    Mary Faith, sorry I didn’t get here to answer your question! Glad you found the answer in the meantime! :) Hope it turns out good for you!

    To get to the recipe from this post, the words “layered finger jello” in bold red up there between the pork chop and the finger jello pictures is a link to the recipe. Also, the names of some of those grilling pictures are in red… those are also links to their respective recipes.

  6. stephanie on July 5th, 2008 7:04 am

    Whoa lady! The United States? How in the world did you do that?
    Love the stars and the whole Ble, Red and White theme who were the lucky recipients of the gourmet atmosphere?

  7. Jan on July 5th, 2008 7:42 am

    Map of the US???I’m in awe. I’m not artistic so I’m always wowed by those who are. The stars are cute, too.
    I also love the photos of the little cooks in the cherry pie post. For some reason, Tiffany just cracks me up! And Lexi looks so grown up in the apron.

  8. Berneice on July 5th, 2008 8:46 pm

    Like the rest. I stand (sorry,I sit) amazed! Did you really do that map? How in the world?? Happy belated 4th

  9. Katie Mast on July 6th, 2008 7:38 am

    Happy July 4th to you. That Map is incrediable. I have a mold for that as well, but never did it like that. How did you do that? I love the star shape idea and the sq. how cool is that! I am making your meat loaf recipe for lunch today, it has become one of our favorites as well.

  10. Mary Faith on July 7th, 2008 12:34 pm

    I did the star shaped finger jello for the weekend. Took it to Cheyenne on Sat. and then again to the carry in yesterday. (I made how many batches on Fri. to make it enough!) It was definitely a big hit both places. I took some of the “scraps” along to Cheyenne and the children ate those quite freely. :) All that’s left here is a few more “scraps”.