What You Need for Your 4th of July Party

Independence Day will soon be here, and after over 14 months of lockdowns and restrictions, we’re all feeling more independent than we’ve felt in years. If you’re feeling more patriotic, we can’t blame you. If you want to make the most of this 4^th of July, we’re here to help. Here’s a little of what you need for your 4^th of July party to make this the summer of 2020-fun.

Fireworks (Legal Ones)

It’s a 4^th of July tradition in neighboring Illinois and Ohio to travel to Indiana and Michigan to procure some light recreational explosives, all while hoping that no cops happen to ask what’s in your trunk. We would never advise our fellow Midwesterners to risk running afoul of the law, but you can still get safe and legal fireworks in most states. They’ll get everyone in the spirit before the big local presentations just after sundown.

Patriotic Decorations

This isn’t just any shindig—it’s arguably our proudest holiday of the year. Don’t celebrate the 4^th without decorating your backyard in all things red, white, and blue. Make sure to display the American flag itself with the utmost care, but don’t hold back on streamers, balloons, and bunting.

Disposable Dinnerware

With everyone celebrating outside, you don’t want to run the risk of any slips or drops shattering your year-round dinnerware. At the same time, those paper plates from the grocery store tend not to hold up well against fruit salads, juicy burgers, and heaps of coleslaw. Instead, choose a durable but disposable option that can stand up to cookout fare. Plastic plates offer several benefits over their paper counterparts. You can find some very festive designs whose inks won’t run when you put a slice of watermelon on them.

Flag Cake

In this writer’s family, no 4^th of July party is complete without a tasty dessert that you’d want to eat all year long. What you need for your 4^th of July party is to provide a sweeter conclusion than any fireworks display. That means a grand old flag cake. For this festive, fruity, and flavorful dessert, you’ll slather a thin base of cake with a layer of cream cheese-based filling on a large and shallow pan. Then, top it off with the stars and stripes in fresh fruit form: strawberries or raspberries for the red stripes, sliced bananas for the white, and a canton of blueberries in the upper left corner.