Fourth of July Menu and a Birthday
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My husbands birthday is on the fourth of July (it’s pretty amazing how everyone celebrates it! ;)), but I’m scheduled to work so I decided we’d celebrate early. It was a simple and delicious menu and everyone was humming around the table; i.e. they liked the food! There are some great July 4th ideas here so read on!
The Menu was simple, delicious and totally manageable:
I’ve included some time saving tips. I’m a little uptight when prepping for a dinner party and tend to stress over the little things which makes a party more stressful than enjoyable sometimes. Many of these dishes can be made completely or partially the day before which makes a dinner party more relaxed and stress free. I thought you’d appreciate that!
Day Before: I cut and pre-boiled them the day before then covered and refrigerated overnight. I pre-mixed the seasonings and refrigerated them also.
Day Of Event: Just before dinner, I tossed the potatoes with their seasoning and baked them 30 min before serving so they were hot and perfect.
Day Before: I soaked the skewers in water 30 min. Cut the meat and onion and marinate them for 4 hours. Skewer the the pork and onion (discard extra marinade), place them in a large pyrex, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Day of Event: Preheat your grill and put pork skewers on the BBQ until done. Transfer to a large serving tray and dome with foil to keep warm and to let condensation run off the sides of the foil.
Day Before: It’s best if you make this salad the day before your event then refrigerate overnight.
Day of: Drain marinade and serve cold.
4. Recruit your sister to make a salad (Thanks Sveta!) This spinach tomato salad with fresh mozzarella was a winner. I’ll have to share it on my blog soon.
5. The Kiwi Berry Cake stole the show and impressed everyone. Everyone was raving about it and there wasn’t a crumb left behind!
Day before: Bake and assemble your cake, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
6. Waffle Cake with Dulce de Leche. I missed photographing these waffle cakes that were brought over by my mom. They are truly and easy peasy dessert.
Day Before: They are best when made the day before. I missed the photo because the kids disassembled the tower before I could get to it. The kids were all over this cake (and so were the adults).
7. The Strawberry Basil Lemonade pleased the adults and the little people.
Day before: Make your lemonade and concentrate.
Day of: Mix your concentrate into the lemonade, add ice and give it a stir.
8. The adults loved the Iced coffee with condensed milk. Perfect for 100 degree weather!
Day before: Make the coffee concentrate the day before, or a week before. Or, make it 3 weeks before if you are really pressed for time! 😉
The sign of a good menu is a good food coma.
Happy birthday to my husband who is the sweetest guy I know. He’s an excellent father, husband, and friend. I’ll spare you the essay; to put it simply, he’s a blessed man. Someone recently asked me how you know if you’ve found the right man. After giving it some thought, I realized the answer is: make sure he loves Jesus and you know he will love his family. What advice would you give?
Fourth of July Menu
Ingredients
- See individual recipes on NatashasKitchen.com
Instructions
Roasted Baby Red Potatoes.
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Day Before: I cut and pre-boiled them the day before then covered and refrigerated overnight. I pre-mixed the seasonings and refrigerated them also.
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Day Of Event: Just before dinner, I tossed the potatoes with their seasoning and baked them 30 min before serving so they were hot and perfect.
Pork Skewers (Shaslik).
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Day Before: I soaked the skewers in water 30 min. Cut the meat and onion and marinate them for 4 hours. Skewer the the pork and onion (discard extra marinade), place them in a large pyrex, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
-
Day of Event: Preheat your grill and put pork skewers on the BBQ until done. Transfer to a large serving tray and dome with foil to keep warm and to let condensation run off the sides of the foil.
Marinated Vegetable Salad.
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Day Before: You can completely make this salad the day before your event then refrigerate overnight.
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Day of: Drain marinade and serve cold.
Recruit your sister to make a salad
The Kiwi Berry Cake
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Day Before: Bake and assemble your cake, then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Waffle Cake with Dulce de Leche
-
Day Before: They can be made completely the day before. I missed the photo because the kids disassembled the tower before I could get to it. The kids were all over this cake (and so were the adults).
Strawberry Basil Lemonade pleased the adults and the little people.
-
Day before: Make your lemonade and concentrate.
-
Day of: Mix your concentrate into the lemonade, add ice and give it a stir.
Iced coffee with condensed milk: Perfect for 100 degree weather!
-
Day before: Make the coffee concentrate the day before, or a week before. Heck, make it 3 weeks before if you are really pressed for time! 😉
What are your plans for the 4th of July??
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Hi Natasha,
Love your recipes and was looking for some ideas for a bridal shower. Let me know if you could help me with that…simple and easy would be wonderful! Pretty pink colors! Thanks in advance!!
Hi Sally, our Valentine’s Day category might give you some great ideas.
I already made kiwi berry cake twice for different occasions . It is delicious,and simple to make. Thanks again for the recipes.
You are welcome Galina, I’m glad you like it.
My husbands bday is also July 4th… he is also Ukrainian…..
Happy birthday to both of them!
My DDs is July 3rd . We did lobsters for him and she wanted restaurant so we did that for her. She loves going out….only 5 but loves it already
Oh yum! I want Lobsters on my birthday!! 🙂 Happy Birthday to everyone!
Hi Natasha. Happy Bday to your husband! It was very interesting to read about behind the scenes preparations and tricks. I love those kind of posts.
My advice would be to marry a good Jewish man.:) At least I’ve been very blessed for the last 12 years. You are a lovely couple!!!
12 years. Wow that’s awesome!! 🙂 Congrats to both of you!
Hello, my husbands birthday is on 4th of july too! I am making most of the items you have made too!
Thanks for the brilliant ideas! ;D
You are welcome Victoria :).
Happy Birthday to your husband! My husband’s birthday is July 5th. 🙂 Looks like you had a fun party!
Thank you and Happy Birthday to your hubby! It was nice to have family over and celebrate together.
Hi Natasha- I wonder about the potatoes. If you boil them the day before, did they not turn a dark colour? Love your blog. Nadia
No, they didn’t change color. I think they only change color if you keep them out of water too long before boiling them. I boiled them right after I chopped them and they were perfect the next day. When you boil them, they are nearly cooked so they won’t discolor.
Happy Birthday to your husband! We are Canadians and my son’s birthday is on Canada Day (July 1st), he is so proud to share it with his country, especially now that we live abroad :-). The menu looks delicious and you and your sister are stunning!
I guess in a way that is like this country’s B-day 🙂 Thank you Julia. You are so sweet!
What an awesome party! You two seem like a wonderful couple. It’s always so inspiring to see happily married people.
You did a great job with the menu and executing it.
My secret for parties is to do as much of the work ahead of time as possible, just like you did here too.
I think it’s the only way to have a party so you can actually enjoy the event 🙂
All the food looks delicious! The cake looks magnificent ( I will try to make one on the 4th) 🙂 I’m sure it was a great party! 🙂 Happy Birthday to your husband.
Thank you so much! I hope you LOVE the cake as much as we all did!