• 4th of July Desserts Roundup

    Every summer I look forward to the 4th of July: BBQ, warm weather, friends and family gathering together, and of course fireworks to celebrate America. Each year my husband’s family throws a big bash that includes an annual Rib Cook Off, trophy and all, and everyone brings food to share. I thought it would be fun to compile the desserts I have served up in the past on Independence Day, as well as some good food inspiration from others. Lemon Berry Trifle Last year I served up my first trifle and it was a huge hit! The colors fit right into the red, white, and blue theme by using three kinds of berries…

  • Lemon Berry Trifle

    The 4th of July was an absolutely perfect day of ribs, fireworks, and great company with weather that was warm and comforting. It was one of those parties where everything came together and conversation flowed well into the night after the fireworks were done and the tiki torches had burnt out. I had found a lemon berry trifle recipe online that I was excited to try out and figured it would be a great dish to change up and make variations of in the future. More about the dessert and the recipe below. We hosted the celebration this year at our house even with our siding looking like swiss cheese from a recent…

  • 4th of July is Almost Here!

    With the 4th of July right around the corner I thought I’d take a look back into Kinda Sorta Simple’s 4th of July archives and see what ideas are there to use for this year’s festivities. Our family typically has a rib cook off, lots of food, and of course lounging in the back yard, and then finishing off the night with sparklers for the kids and the local fireworks show. I try to include at least a few activities and recipes the kids can help with to get them involved in celebrating Independence Day. Thanks to Pinterest the kids have a long laundry list of crafts and activities they want to work…

  • Firecracker Cake

    This past 4th of July my mother-in-law passed on a Betty Crocker recipe to me that looked fun, festive, and easy enough for the kids to help out.  The resulting Firecracker Cake not only visually looked amazing, it was also absolutely delicious! The kids received numerous compliments on the cake and the best part is that although it looked complicated to put together, it was actually quite easy. Another bonus of this cake was that it was not frosted in a conventional way.  The fun steams of red, white, and blue was regular frosting thinned out by warming it up in the microwave and drizzled over the top of the cake using a spoon…

  • Red, White, and Blue Drink

    Need a last minute drink for your 4th of July party today?  I was looking for a recipe for the big holiday bash that would be easy to put together the day of the party and would be pretty inexpensive as well.  I had already baked the Firecracker Cookies but knew I needed to add something else that was quick and easy to prepare. Scrolling through some ideas online I saw a picture of a tri-colored drink.  Hmm, something I don’t have to bake or cook?  Let’s check this out!     Everything I read said it was as easy as pouring together three drinks with different sugar contents because the drink with the most sugar…

  • Red, White, and Blue Layered Cake

    Today I wanted to share the cake we baked and decorated for last year’s Independence Day celebration.  From the outside it looked like a typical cake.  My oldest frosted it himself with a homemade caramel frosting from a recipe his grandma gave to us and was delicious. Hence the light brown color. Inside the cake, however, was the surprise.  When you cut into the cake you could see the layers of the cake were red, white, and blue.  Fun!  The cake was a hit at the party, it tasted great, and was pretty simple to make. The Cake: Batter: We used a box of regular store-bought white cake mix.  We mixed the ingredients and…

  • Firecracker Cookies

    Hello there and happy Thursday!  Are you all ready for the 4th of July holiday that is coming up in little more than a week? I have been tracking down recipes and ideas that are simple, tasty, and fun.  Next week I’ll be showing the cake we made last year that had red, white, and blue layers inside but for today I am excited to share some easy cookies that look great and are fun to eat with an added surprise on top.  Can you tell from the picture below what that surprise is?  Read on to find out! We started with a box of Pillsbury Stars & Stripes Funfetti Cake Mix to make the cookies.…