July 4th Wonderfulness!

Here I am again with some more yummy food pictures. Only because of the 4th of July! Really, I'm not constantly looking up delicious food pictures and saving them to my computer like it might seem. I hope this image doesn't pop in your mind about me as you look at my food pictures! Ha Ha!

I actually only plan to make one dessert and one other special recipe for the 4th. I'm not goin overboard people! :-)
I found these two yummy books at Barnes & Noble last week and they had so many delicious looking recipes that I bought them along with my fitness magazines that I usually buy.  It's all about balance right?! Anyway, I will choose some of these delicious treats to make for special occasions.

The cupcake book has way too many amazing looking recipes, so I decided to have Sami and Patriot, my niece and nephew, choose one that we will have for the 4th. Here are some of the contenders....

Oh yeah, I see you Mr. Caramel Mocha Sea Salt! You are on my to do list! The peanut butter cup.... no words needed!

Big Blue is looking real good and Mojito?!?! What what!? I must try real soon!

 The Smores looks so fun and First Kiss is cherry chocolate which sounds delish too! So do you wanna know which cupcake took first place? The winner is.........

 

  Wizard Hats! These looks so rich and heavenly (and too sweet) and the little stars are perfect for the holiday! Here is the recipe for you and if you would like a recipe for one of the other cupcakes above just holla and I will email or text it to ya.

In the Simply Southern book I found a couple of other recipes that I want to make as well. One is this Barbecue Chicken Dip....

We will have tortilla chips and guacamole with this. Yum! I also would like to make this drink recipe. It looks so refreshing and tropical!

This is another refreshing drink we might try. I am not a green tea fan, but I bet I would love it mixed with Mango!

I don't do a whole lot of decorating for the 4th, but I did get a few little things on sale at Michael's to add a festive touch. These red and blue lei's were .50 each and I hung them up on the chandelier. I found some star confetti, cupcake papers, and toppers for the cupcakes at Michael's as well.

 I also put out my flag pedestal each summer. I recently painted the base white and I love it!

I like adding small flags here and there. Isn't my little wire basket from World Market so cute?! I think so! I'd like the larger size to go with this small one.

I will be back next week with some pictures of our July 4th festivities. I hope you all have a super fun and safe holiday!

I'm also linking up with Tidymom today! Go on over and see what everyone else is lovin!

I'm also linking up at Honey We're Home.......