Are you having a fourth of July party and don’t have a menu planned yet?  I’ve got some great ideas for you that are quick, easy and fun.

If you are having an outdoor party you need to carefully consider the menu since it is harder to keep food cold in the heat.  My best tip for this is one I saw on HGTV .  A party planner recommended taking a baby’s inflatable tub or small pool raft and filling it with ice.  Then you can put all your food in that to keep it cold and prevent leakage when the ice melts.

For an easy menu, I’d go with hot dogs, burgers, potato salad, chips and salad.  For that all you’ll need is a grill to prepare the meat and the rest can be bought from your local supermarket.

But if you want something a little more fun, I’d recommend trying a theme.  You could go southwestern and add chips, salsa and guacamole.  For the burgers, you could mix chorizo or bison in with the beef for a really awesome kick of flavor.  You could serve black beans instead of potato salad and have grilled peppers instead of a salad.

Or you could try a more polish/german theme with sausages or bratwurst instead of hot dogs, and make a german potato salad recipe .

For a middle eastern feel you could barbeque lamb and then grill some eggplant.  Serve that with pita or pita chips and hummus and babaganoush.

You might think its strange to recommend ethnic food for a holiday that celebrates America, but I kind of think that’s what America is all about, the blending together of different cultures.

If you want to serve festive drinks, I recommend my fun "Freedom Punch ".  To make it more festive, serve it in this light up party fountain.

Whatever you do, the key thing is just not to stress!  Parties are supposed to be fun, so make sure you enjoy yourself.