July 4th isn’t your average holiday party. It's an outdoor meal, so don't worry about the hot food. Hot dogs and hamburgers are going to be lukewarm by the time they hit the buns and paper plates. Warm drinks are a faux pax. And while there might not be a traditional American cuisine (as we say more on below), July 4th deserves patriotic libations. That includes basically four drinks: rye, malt, wheat, or bourbon whiskey; American-brewed beer; American vintage wines; or hard cider. If you want to skip the terroir there’s always red, white and blue jello shots.
FOOD
Sure there are plenty of things we think of as “American food,” and bringing a grill and piles of hamburgers is a safe choice for any July 4th party. But a stronger choice is to bring food from your family; something that represents your gastronomic contributions the the American melting pot. Got your abuela’s recipe for enchiladas, your nona’s pasta or babushka's goulash? Make a big batch, and share your family story.
If you want to show off your traditional, old-school American cooking skills, one of the best things to cook is a pie. You’ll serve a lot of people and thoroughly impress. Unlike pizza, pies make great leftovers. Apple, cherry... or better yet something savory. Meat pies are a win and despite the Frenchiness of the name, no one’s going to quibble if you bring a well-made quiche.
Want to feed your friends but tired of cooking? Here are three patriotic food preparations that you can throw together in about 10 minutes, plus a trip to Whole Paycheck (or you know; Shaw’s, Von’s, Wal-Mart, etc).
- Slice ripe pears into 8ths. Arrange them in a star pattern on a large plate. Using a squeeze bottle, drizzle chocolate over them in a spiral.
- Sliced bread. Jalapeño cream cheese. Smoked salmon (or lox). Done.
- No-bake apple pie. You know that you can buy premade pie crusts, right? Fill that with apples, cool whip and other goodies and you’ve got yourself a pie without having to empty out your oven (because we know you just use that for storing pots pans).
- A whole pineapple. Because pineapple is awesome, aloha. Or watermelon. Don’t forget a good knife.
GAMES
Cornhole: Don’t have a cornhole board? Pull that old free-standing ladder out of your garage and use any ball, disc or hacky sack you have lying around the house.
Water balloon fight: If you’re okay with sticky, a watermelon seed fight is even better.
Bowling, and variations: Glow-in-the-dark bowling (we got this idea from Buzzfeed), horseshoes, bocce, croquet and Mölkky are great lawn games. Some are easy DIY projects and a few (bowling and Mölkky) can be reasonably retrofitted for an indoor game.
SPARKLERS
Which fireworks should you bring to a 4th of July party? If you’re an explosives buff, you’ll have to check local ordinances before your pack some, you know, ordinance. As much as we’d like to have M-80s at every 4th of July party, they’re usually illegal. You should communicate with your host in advance as well. Even if your 9-mortar hellfire explosives are legal, the person putting on your party might not want the liability of a professional light show. Sparklers are almost always a win. They’re cheap and not particularly flammable. They’re difficult for children (and drunk adults) with a modicum common sense to hurt themselves with. If you have a camera with an adjustable shutter speed, you can spell things!
YOUR IDEAS: What have you brought to 4th of July parties? Anything epic? What have your fellow partygoers liked the most? Let us know in the comments.
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