Last minute Fourth of July dishes

GABRIELLA RAMOS | Evergreen L&L editor

Red, White and Blue Jell-O Cups

What you’ll need:

• Strawberry Jell-O

• Blueberry Jell-O

• Water

• Whipped cream

• Blueberries

• Strawberries (diced)

1. Start by preparing the strawberry and blueberry Jell-O as directed on each box.

2. Pour the Jell-O mixture into glass cups, filling each about half way.

3. Let sit in refrigerator for a minimum of four hours.

4. After four hours, top each Jell-O cup with whipped cream.

5. For the cups with strawberry Jell-O, top the whipped cream with blueberries. For the cups with blueberry Jell-O, top the whipped cream with diced strawberries.

Recipe inspired by thefirstyearblog.com

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Patriotic Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

What you’ll need:

• 20 large strawberries

• 80 blueberries

• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened

• ¼ cup of powdered sugar

• ¼ tsp. of almond extract

1. Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and almond extract in a bowl. Chill for 10-15 minutes.

2. Slice each strawberry in half.

3. Spoon cream cheese mixture onto each strawberry.

4. Top each strawberry with two or three blueberries.

Recipe inspired by thekitchenismyplayground.com

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American Flag Cupcakes

What you’ll need:

• Baking cups

• 2 boxes of Betty Crocker cake mix

• 6 eggs

• Water

• 2 cans of Betty Crocker vanilla icing

• Red and blue food coloring

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Make and bake cake mix as directed on each box for 24 cupcakes.

3. Let cupcakes cool before arranging them in 6 rows of 7.

4. Take ¼ of frosting from each can to dye blue. Dye the rest of one can red and keep one can white.

5. Frost six cupcakes in the top left hand corner blue. Frost the remaining cupcakes in the top row red. In the second row, frost the remainder of the cupcakes white. Alternate red and white frosting for the remaining rows.

6. Use a frosting kit to place white frosting stars on the blue cupcakes (optional), or replace white frosting with white star sprinkles.

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Evergreen suggested sauces and seasonings

Homemade barbecue sauce

What you’ll need:

• 2 cups ketchup

• 1 cup water

• ½ cup apple cider vinegar

• 5 tbsp. brown sugar

• 5 tbsp. sugar

• ½ tbsp. black pepper

• ½ tbsp. onion powder

• 1 tbsp. lemon juice

• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.

1. Cook uncovered for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

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Sweet teriyaki kebab sauce

What you’ll need:

• 1 cup soy sauce

• ½ cup brown sugar

• 2 garlic cloves (minced)

• 1 tsp. ground ginger

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

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Kid-friendly cocktail

What you’ll need:

• Ice

• Cran-Apple juice

• Pina Colada mix

• Blue Gatorade

1. Fill a cup completely with ice.

2. Layer cran-apple juice, Pina Colada mix, and blue Gatorade in that order.

3. Garnish with Twizzlers or other festive candy.

Recipe inspired by buzzfeed.com

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