Red, White and Blue for Fourth of July

Planning a Fourth of July celebration? Get creative with your munchables — make your food fit into a red, white, and blue theme!

Fruits are easier than veggies when it comes to fitting into the red, white, and blue theme.

Blue is going to be the hardest color to include! You could try to get around it by offering a bleu cheese dressing for a veggie dip.

Do you know the trick for dying celery? Place a drop of food coloring into a glass and add celery stalks. Over time, the celery will draw up the colored water and you’ll end up with stripes! This is one way you can get more blue onto your veggie tray.

For a more elegant appetizer, you can alternate slices of (white) mozzarella cheese and fresh tomatoes. Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over the top — delicious! Your guests will forgive you for leaving the “blue” out of this one.

Jell-O in red and blue is a great dessert option — add whipped cream for the white and you’ve got a great patriotic dessert. You can always use colored frosting or food coloring to turn plain old sugar cookies into patriotic pastries!

But what about red, white, and blue main courses? You may have to get a little more creative for this one. When colored condiments were popular, it was easy to find blue ketchup for your burger, but there isn’t a whole lot in the way of blue foods out there!

Try these fancy burgers for your red, white, and blue party: Red (Meat), White (Bread), and Bleu (Cheese).

• Grill a burger to your desired level of doneness. Use a meat thermometer to make sure the meat is hot enough to kill bacteria that can cause food poisoning!
• Add a hunk of bleu cheese to the top and let it melt a bit if you like.
• Serve open-faced over a slice of your favorite artisan bread, like ciabatta or fresh Italian.

A few other ideas to help add that patriotic flair to your buffet table:

• Use a star-shaped cookie cutter to turn sandwiches into starwiches!
• For an instant centerpiece, stick an American flag into a bud vase (with or without flowers).
• Looking for something more exotic to offer? Slices of starfruit are actually star-shaped and will make a great accent for a fruit salad or serving platter.
• Buy plain, white cups (paper or Styrofoam) and put out red and blue markers so guests can decorate theirs!