Make Food Fireworks for the Fourth

Bring a little sparkle from the sky to your plate with these fireworks-inspired food and cocktail ideas for the Fourth of July.
Tequila Lemonade

Photo by: Stephen Murello ©Stephen Murello

Stephen Murello, Stephen Murello

Baby, you may not be a firework, but your July 4th meal can be.

Add some holiday fireworks to your party menu with firecracker-themed food and drinks.

Firecrackers

Photo by: Matt Armedariz ©2012 Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Matt Armedariz, 2012 Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

First, the food. Get the firecracker power with a hefty dose of spice. Spike classic guacamole with punchy serranos in Bobby’s Spicy Guacamole. Or actual Firecracker Shrimp (with chile mayo). Alton’s Firecrackers (pictured) are actually pickled carrots with extra chiles.

If the grill’s fired up, go for Spicy Beef Skewers or Kelsey’s Buffalo Chicken Lollies. Or roll Chile-Rubbed Steak into tacos slathered with that spicy guacamole. Incendiary.

As for the drinks, you could add actual pop, as in these 80s-approved Pop Rocks Margaritas, but we prefer to go the sparkler route, floating drinks with sparkling wine or soda for the fizz factor.

Chuck’s Tequila Lemonade (pictured up top) is refreshing and minty, with a soda float. Tiffani’s Champagne Cocktail takes advantage of in-season watermelon for its fruit infusion.

Aperol

Or — and this may sound strange at first — channel an Italian getaway. The Italians are masters of fizzy, refreshing warm-weather cocktails. Giada’s lemony Sgroppino blends vodka, prosecco and mint with lemon sorbet. Debi and Gabriele’s Aperol Spritz (pictured) is light, effervescent and excellent with a float of fresh berries. Or go for the aptly named Americano, a refreshingly bitter Campari soda that would be perfect for cutting the sweetness of the mandatory 4th of July Flag Cake.

Find all our favorite summer cocktail recipes here.

Now get cracklin’.

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