Five Fun and Easy Fourth of July Recipes

It's Fourth of July weekend! Aside from the obvious fireworks shows and festivals around town, Fourth of July means cookouts with friends, family and neighbors.

Here at Bolingbrook Patch, we love cookouts. And we're not going to let you leave this article empty-handed. 

Here are five easy and fun recipes, courtesy of FamilyFun.com, to use this holiday weekend: 

Ingredients

• Mini ice-cream sandwiches
• Sprinkles or nonpareils
• Colorful cupcake liners

1. Skewer mini ice-cream sandwiches on popsicle sticks.
2. Press the exposed filling into a plate of sprinkles or nonpareils.

• 12 ounces of white chocolate chips
• Strawberries
• Blue sugar or edible glitter

1. Melt 12 ounces of white chocolate chips in a microwave according to the package directions (make sure the container and the berries are dry; even a little moisture will alter the texture of the candy).
2. One at a time, dip strawberries into the chocolate and then into blue sugar or edible glitter.
3. Set them to harden on waxed paper.
4. Makes 35 to 45 decorated berries.

• 29 large strawberries
• 30 large blackberries
• 7 or so large bananas
• Lemon juice

1. Hull and halve 29 large strawberries and set them aside. 
2. Arrange 30 large blackberries, as shown, in the upper left corner of a serving tray or cutting board (it should be at least 8 by 13 inches). 
3. Cut 58 banana slices, 3/4-inch thick, into a bowl. Sprinkle on lemon juice and toss the slices gently with a rubber spatula to keep them from browning.
4. Assemble the banana slices in rows as shown and top each slice with a strawberry half.

• 1 bag blue corn tortilla chips
• Cooking spray
• Aluminum foil
• Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• Salsa
• Sour cream

1. Place blue corn tortilla chips on a foil-covered baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
2. Sprinkle the chips with shredded Monterey Jack, then bake at 350 degrees for five to seven minutes.
3. Top the nachos with salsa and sour cream.

• Hot dogs
• Prepared breadstick dough
• Skewers
• Cubed cheese
• Mustard

1. Simply wrap hot dogs in prepared breadstick dough (we used Pillsbury brand) and insert a skewer, letting it protrude at the top.
2. Bake the dogs according to the dough package's instructions. Add a triangle of cheese for a topper, tie on a tail made from ribbon or aluminum foil, and squirt on stripes of ketchup and mustard.