As you know, I absolutely LOVE to entertain, and no better time than the Fourth of July to gather a group of friends for some casual fun and camaraderie. A couple of years ago Jason and I hosted some good friends of ours for the perfect July Fourth dinner at our family's lake house on Texoma!
Most of the time, the lake house is decorated from Memorial Day through Labor Day weekend. Celebrating with so much red, white and blue has become the norm, especially since my mom's birthday is the day before July Fourth! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA D!
All of our guest pitched in and brought a recipe of their favorite pre-dinner nibble. I covered an oval table with banana leaves and filled it up with a smorgasbord of appetizers.
While the gals and I were setting up the appetizer table, the guys were getting the grill ready for a patriotic cook off with beer can chicken, steak and corn.
The tables were set in holiday fashion of red, white and blue striped placemats & plates, starred napkins, and patriotic candles to match.
With the first course of salad on the plates, the dinner buffet was just about ready for all to enjoy.
Shannon King, one of my dearest and sweetest super-creative friends came up with the idea to put all of the extra carnations and flowers we weren't using into the barnacles and throughout the buffet. It added a whole extra layer of depth.
This corn platter was the ooh and aah of the food display. Splayed out in holiday fanfare, a bowl with frozen star shaped butter sits in the middle.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful, safe and very happy Fourth of July!!! And thank you Jay Decker for being our official photographer at our lake house!
Are you planning something special this week in honor of our country's birthday? If so, submit your photos to me by this Friday, July 5th and you may get a chance to be featured in Monday mornings blog "How Fort Worth Celebrates the Fourth". So get your creative juices flowing and grab a camera and have fun.