hostess tips for a stress-free 4th

San Diego’s Fox in the Morning news recently invited us to share some tips for stress-free 4th of July entertaining! Here are a few screenshots from part of the segment and some tips to help you spend more time at the party and less time in the kitchen:

1. Don’t feel pressured to make everything from scratch. For example – one of our desserts for tomorrow is a store-bought (and super yummy!) Strawberry-Topped Boston Cream Cake. Between the white whipped frosting and the strawberries, we already had our red and white – then we simply lined the edge of the cake with blueberries and voila! A scrumptious patriotic dessert in 5 minutes flat . {Check out the screenshot above to see how it turned out!}

2. Opt for easy appetizers with less than 5 ingredients.

3. Make whatever you can the night before so that you have less on your to-do list the day of the party. This Patriotic Sangria is a great make-ahead beverage!

4. For signature drinks and cocktails, use a ready-made flavored mixer where all you need to add is alcohol…and a cute drink garnish of course! We love Rose’s Cocktail Infusions . The Blue Raspberry and Pomegranate Twist mixes are perfect for Independence Day martinis – and the bottles are so cool they’ll instantly dress up your bar! For a fun touch, float a star-shaped apple slice on top of the martini (as shown above), or garnish the glass with a starfruit wedge.

5. The same "go simple" rule applies for non-alcoholic drinks. Choose easy, festive drinks such as red, clear & blue Jones soda , blue-raspberry Kool-aid (regular or sugar-free), 2-ingredient Shirley Temples or fruit punch.