4th of July Recipe Roundup

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What does the 4th of July look like for you this year? Are you traveling or doing a barbecue with friends? Maybe you are flying solo this year due to coronavirus still being very much a concern in our country. My whole family had a trip planned to Santa Barbara that we had been looking forward to since February. The 4th is always a bit of a flop for me, so I was looking forward to being with family this year. Plans have obviously changed and we are staying home.

I’m laying very low this year, but hope to be meeting up with a few friends by a pool at some point this Saturday. I’m thinking festive Perfect CCC’s or S’mores Cookies and The Baker Mama’s American Flag cheese board will be my contributions. I rounded up those + some favorite summer recipes from my site and a few from websites I trust. Hopefully, this list will help make your holiday a little more special no matter what your celebration looks like.

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And now a few recipes I’ve made or recommend from sites I trust!

The Baker Mama’s American Flag Cheese Board
Broma Bakery’s S’mores Rice Krispie Treats
Half Baked Harvest’s Bourbon Peach Baked Beans (I love this recipe!)
Barefoot Contessa’s Flag Cake (a 4th of July staple. I’ve made this exact recipe and is insanely good)
Elisabeth & Butter’s Blackberry Cobbler Ice Cream
The Defined Dish Whole 30 BBQ Ribs (I’ve been craving ribs, is that weird?)
A Peony For Your Thoughts Red Potato and Sweet Corn Salad (APFYT was my sister’s old blog, we havne’t made this recipe in forever, but it is so good and I always think of it when it comes to barbecues).

I hope you have a wonderful and safe 4th!
Annie

Bites of My Life

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Memorial Day behind us and it’s unofficially officially summer! After a particularly fun week, I headed up to Grand Lake for one of my favorite weekends. A group of some of my best college friends have been hitting the lake for MDW for 4 years now and have deemed it “Lake Ratz.” We joke about how we will be going years from now even if babies are in tow. Since year one we’ve had a wedding and two on the way for members of the group. It’s evolved, yet remained the same. Each year the house gets a little bigger and nicer, we’ve classed up the weekend menu a bit adding smoked pork shoulder in the the mix with our ground beef tacos and burgers. Don’t let me fool you though, it’s pretty easy to revert back to being 22 when you’re at the lake with your college besties!

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-Spotted this skirt and had to have it. It was double my normal size but I bought it and belted it with a thick brown belt. Long dresses (like this one) and skirts are all I want to wear right now to keep things breezy for these Dallas temps, yet warm when inside and the AC is blasting.
-Tini Tuesday nourishment in the form of a charcuterie board and this Strawberry Quinoa Salad. I added tomatoes and subbed mozzarella pearls for burrata.
-However, the Mary Martini was the star of #tinituesday. Did you catch last week’s post when my friend Mary guest blogged sharing her new go-to cocktail recipe?
-A batch and a half of Perfect CCC’s to take with me to the lake! I 1 and a 1/2 the recipe and scooped them a little smaller to end up with exactly 60 cookies.
-Pizza on the dock to commence Memorial Day weekend at the lake!
-My birthday has fallen on MDW the past few years, and I love celebrating over the weekend with friends. My birthday is actually tomorrow, but I was still surprised with a cake and Happy Birthday over the speakers on the deck to celebrate a few days early!
-Golden hour with girls of Lake Ratz.
-Closing time feat. this perfect s’more.
-Ended the weekend with a bang being asked to be a bridesmaid in my bestie Jordan’s wedding next spring!

Annie

Song of the week: Thief by Ookay