Fourth of July Celebrations in Goddard, Kansas

Fourth of July brings out all the summer time fun,the awesome barbecue,the water wars and fireworks that light up the night. Here in Goddard,Kansas since we don't love in the city we can purchase and set off our own fireworks,which the all the neighborhood kids extremely enjoy.We also like to get outside and share conversations and meals with our neighbors (yes people still do this).That is what we love about our small town lives.

Some fun ideas that have reared their heads in the past have been to have the fire chief come out and open up the fire hydrant for a little while as well as spray the kids with the fire house on the truck.We also have rented inflatables like ball bounces and activity courses.

Being that summer is a time of year that most people vacation funds can sometimes dwindle down a bit,so we come up with alternate solutions such as one neighbor might set up a tv and chairs in their garage for those that want to watch movies,another neighbor might have a water filling station for water guns and water balloons or maybe play nostalgic games that the kids still seem to love like,three legged races and food eating contests.It's always a good time no matter what.

Some great recipes have came out of our years of fourth of July celebrating that are simple and convenient.

Pasta Salad
what you need: tri colored rotini noodles
red onion
green bell pepper
zesty Italian dressing
Parmesan cheese
black olives
diced ham

boil rotini pasta drain and set aside in a glass bowl ( I like to add a little olive oil and salt & pepper to the warm pasta),cut your red onion and bell pepper into dices mix into pasta,slice up about 1/2 can of black olives and about 1/2 cup of diced ham add as well to pasta,mix in about 1/2 cup of zesty Italian dressing with mixture,toss and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese,let set in refrigerator for about 1 hour before serving.

Jello jigglers with fruit

what you need: 2 boxes of your favorite kind of jello
1 can of mixed fruit in water
small shaped containers or cake pan

prepare jello per directions on box in a large bowl let set in refrigerator for about 20 minutes,drain the can of mixed fruit stir into the jello (jello should still be slightly runny and a little set up),scoop into fun small shaped containers or a cake pan,let set in refrigerator for about 3 hours then lay a plate out and dump the shaped containers upside down to get the jello out or if you are using a cake pan slice the jello into cubes with a butter knife,plate and serve.

Bar B Q meatballs

We all like the convenience of finger foods and bar b q meatballs are a fast appetizer to serve.

What you need: 1-2 pounds of ground beef (depends on how many that you want to make)
yellow onion (if desired)
bell pepper (again if desired)
bread crumbs (I prefer the seasoned kind)
Worcestershire sauce
garlic powder
celery salt
salt & pepper (to taste)
1 egg
your favorite bar b q sauce

place ground beef in a bowl add chopped up onion & pepper (if you are using it),if you are using 1 pound of ground beef add about 1/4 cup of bread crumbs,if you are using 2 pounds use 1/2 cup of bread crumbs,add about 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce,1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder,1 egg (for 1 pound,2 eggs for 2 pounds) and salt and pepper.Form meat mixture into small balls and cook over medium heat until done,after all the meatballs have cooked through pour about half of a bottle of bar b q sauce over the top,let cook on low heat for about 10 minutes.Scoop out bar b q meatballs onto a plate and use toothpicks to eat them with.

Finger sandwiches

what you need: your favorite kind of lunch meat (something that stacks well like turkey,ham,roast beef)
your favorite kind of cheese or cheeses
lettuce
tomato
onion
pickle
mayonaise
mustard
your favorite kind of bread or you can use rolls of your choice (like potato rolls or bakery dinner rolls)

First I like to make an assembly line I get my bread slices ready add mayonnaise and mustard on both halves,then I stack the meat and cheese and top sandwich toppings (lettuce,tomato,onion and pickle),then I get a knife and cut each sandwich into four pieces and place on a plate,I make about 6 whole sandwiches and stack them up in a spiral.

There are alot of friendly,fun ideas that you can come up with,another kid favored treat is homemade ice cream sandwiches or fried ice cream.

Making ice cream sandwiches and fried ice cream is alot easier than you think,I'll start with the sandwiches.

What you'll need: large cookies (your favorite kind )
vanilla ice cream (or your favorite kind)
saran wrap

let the ice cream set out to unthaw for about 10 minutes,take a plate lay out about 6 large cookies on it bottom up,scoop out a good size scoop of ice cream and place on the cookie,after you finish all of them top with a additional cookie and wrap each one individually in saran wrap and place in freezer until frozen then serve

Next I'll let you in on the secret to fried ice cream.

What you'll need : corn flakes
vanilla ice cream
caramel or chocolate syrup
reddi whip

Let your ice cream thaw out (about 10-15 minutes should do),in that time crush about half a box of corn flakes into tiny pieces(the easiest way to do this is to put them in a large ziploc baggie and use a rolling pen ),after ice cream is thawed roll into large balls with a large spoon (not a ice cream scooper),roll balled ice cream into the crushed corn flakes,place all your ice cream balls onto a cookie sheet and set in the freezer for about an hour,after the ice cream is set up place each ball into a bowl or sundae dish and top with syrup and reddi whip.

All these ideas are sure to please everyone in the neighborhood and the best part is that the moms get to enjoy the time being outside as well and having to be tied down to the kitchen.