pre-4th of july celebration

We decided to break out all the red, white, and blue a little early and host a pre-4th of July dinner party at our home last weekend.  The day was perfect…sunny and dry (which was important since our part of the country received 4 plus inches of rain the day prior to our celebration).  AND I had planned to use our sunporch and backyard for this party!

While the adults were enjoying a beverage and chatting about summer activities and vacation plans, the younger ones kept busy with games, sparklers, and temporary tattoos.

I kept it very casual by serving the food buffet style from a table in our backyard.  I covered the table with a simple white tablecloth, accented with some patriotic fabric.  A vase of sunflowers added more color!  For ease in serving, the utensils were placed in stars and stripes tin buckets.

The menu was summertime food…strawberry spinach salad, grilled vegetables, corn-on-the-cob, grilled salmon, bacon wrapped filets, grilled fruit couscous.  I did have hotdogs, carrot sticks, and chips for the more “discriminating” eater (my youngest daughter would be in that group)!

Following dinner was everyone’s favorite course…dessert!  What is more American than an ice cream sundae bar!  I had a lot of fun preparing this for our guests, and I hope they had as much fun indulging in it.

Three flavors…vanilla, strawberry, and cookies and cream…already scooped in individual serving cups, and ready for the toppings.

And the toppings…sprinkles and jimmies of various red, white and blue combinations, along with caramel and chocolate sauce, fresh strawberries and blueberries.

You can’t forget the whipped cream!!

Top that off with a chocolate chip cookie, and everyone is happy.

For anyone not wanting ice cream (but really, who doesn’t want ice cream), we started the fire pit and brought out all the fixings for s’mores.

What a fun celebration we had to kick off the 4th of July festivities!  Now I’m looking forward to more fun on the 4th…relaxing by the pool, watching fireworks, carnival games for the kids, and family time together.  Happy Independence Day everyone!

**The Fourth of July printable ice cream labels can be found here.  I created my own labels for the dinner buffet by using a variation of the ice cream labels.