Summer Dinners - no. 3

This is the week of the 4th of July, so I thought I’d give you a bunch of ideas to help inspire your holiday. Here you’ll find recipes for an all-American feast of cheeseburgers (smashburgers!) and handmade fries, a fruit pizza all decked out in red, white, and blue, and a patriotic-looking popsicle to cool you off. And there’s a conversation starter about our country too!

Sometimes I want a fat, juicy, steakhouse burger. And other times, especially because I’m a transplanted California native who misses In-n-Out burger, I want a thin burger where all the flavors meld in every bite and it’s dripping in cheesy goodness. So, when our son and daughter-in-law, who recently bought their first house and have taken up grilling with a passion, asked me, “Have you ever had a smashburger?”, I replied, “No. Tell me more!” And they went on to describe the most mouth-watering tale of sizzling skillets and smashing meat and double-stacked meatiness. So, we experimented, and there’s no going back! Smashburgers for the win!

And for a little bonus to round out the one-platter meal this week, I’m also including the recipe for the Oven-Baked Thick Cut Fries. These fries don’t skimp and will please even your heartiest eater. We loved how the whole feast was just piled high on one platter! Platter available here.

Since it’s 4th of July week, I thought it might be good to talk about our country as we gather with family and friends. Here’s a conversation starter to prompt some positive discussion over your backyard picnic table.

This week’s pizza recipe is a dessert pizza! This Red, White & Blue Pizza is topped with berries and has a light and summery cream cheese spread infused with almond and lemon. And best of all, it’s easy to make because the crust of the “pizza” is puff pastry instead of pie pastry. You can slice it in pizza slices and eat it with your hands even! Pizza Peel for serving found here.

This Red, White & Blue Popsicle is, without a doubt, our favorite of the summer so far! It’s such a refreshing combination of coconut and berries. If you stretch your celebration out over the whole weekend, you could serve the fruit pizza one day and the popsicles on another. Alternatively, it’d be great to make the fruit pizza for the adults and popsicles for the kids at your 4th of July get-together. But just be warned, that kids might want fruit pizza and adults might want popsicles. I’m always trying to figure out how to double dessert! Popsicle Mold with Summer Popsicle Sticks available here.

Have a fabulous 4th of July!