Barbeque Ideas and Food Preparation Suggestions for Fourth of July

Fourth of July is quickly approaching. People usually celebrate this holiday with lots of food, with friends, and with family. There are many dishes and drinks that can be served. Besides having a selection of carbonated beverages, water and juices, three other beverages that could also be served are the party punch, iced tea, and lemonade.

The party punch is a fairly popular beverage. It requires a 2 liter bottle of 7 up chilled, one gallon of fruit punch, and ½ a gallon of sherbert (orange and lime work best). Let the sherbert thaw until it is easy to scoop. Add it to a really large bowl and mix it with the 7 up and the fruit punch. This party punch should be made 20-30 minutes prior to serving.

For those that like iced tea, brew about five to seven tea bags in a teapot or saucepan for at least 20 minutes but not longer than one hour. Put two to three trays worth of ice cubes in a pitcher and pour the tea over the ice. If the tea is too strong, just add water when serving it.

For those who like lemonade and have a juicer, here's one way to make lemonade. This version of lemonade tends to be sweet. If it is too sweet, add less sugar. First heat one cup of water with one cup of sugar until all the sugar is dissolved. Add one cup of lemon juice, which is the amount of juice juiced from four to six lemons, with the sugar water to a pitcher. Add around four more cups of water. If the lemonade is too strong, add more water to the pitcher.

Besides drinks, snacks are great to have on hand. Besides the chips, pretzels, popcorn, and other snacks that can be bought from the store there are some other appetizers that take little preparation that could also be served such as a tray of freshly cut vegetables served with ranch dressing. Vegetables normally found in a vegetable platter are carrots, cauliflower, celery, broccoli, sliced peppers, and cherry tomatoes. Two other dips that might go well with vegetables is the spinach dip and the bacon dip.