This post brought to you by The Clorox Company . The content and opinions expressed below are that of Adventures in Wunderland.
One of my favorite summer activities is gathering together with great friends for a good old fashioned BBQ. We join up at the beach, all of the kids in tow, and have a great time!
The 4th of July is the perfect excuse to get together with friends this summer and host a Patriotic BBQ – of course when we do it, we do it beach style. There is nothing better than the company of good friends, good food, and care free kids.
If you are at the beach or the park, or even if you’re in your backyard, you are going to want to be enjoying your time, not worrying about set up, food, or cleaning. Of course, I’m sharing my easy ideas for a Patriotic BBQ with you so you can throw a festive event without all of the hassle.
I use simple decorations – a stars and stripes table cloth and red, white, & blue bunting set the scene. Plastic serving dishes in red and blue add pops of color and a simple mason jar, beach sand, and American Flag centerpiece finishes it off. Great decorations that don’t cost much and are super easy to set up – even if you’re at the beach or a campground!
Keeping the food simple is also a must! Choose recipes that you can make ahead, are easy to serve, and finger foods are always great. You certainly don’t want to spend the whole day in the kitchen or at the grill!
For this even I put together my favorite salad to take to any BBQ – Tortolini Salad made with three cheese tortolini, fresh cherry tomatoes, carrots, and zucchini and topped with Hidden Valley. My secret ingredient is adding a few cloves of crushed garlic to the dressing before mixing it into the salad. You can certainly make this ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator. Just be sure to toss, and add extra dressing if needed before serving to your guests.
Along side the salad I wrapped some corn on the cob in foil and tossed it on the grill (hint: to add some zest, sprinkle Hidden Valley Original Ranch Salad Dressing & Seasoning mix on it before you wrap it up) and pre-marinated some thin sliced chicken breasts and skirt steak in Soy Vay Veri Veri teriyaki marinade. All that needs to be done is add skewers so that they are easy to eat, and toss those on the grill with the corn. The thin slices means they won’t take long to cook and the marinade gives the meat so much flavor. I keep the table festive by serving a fun layered red, white, and blue Patriotic Punch along side the yummy food.
Of course no summer time BBQ is complete without serving up S’mores for dessert. We don’t like to limit them to just grahams and chocolate so I put out a platter with a variety of goodies – just make sure you keep the Clorox Disinfecting Wipes from The Clorox Company handy for quick clean ups of sticky messes, trust me, you’re going to need them when the kids get a hold of those marshmallows!
Next time you plan a Patriotic BBQ with your friends I hope these tips come in handy! What is your favorite way to celebrate with friends? Do you have any good tips I need to know about?
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