4^th of July parties are famous for the food. Usually, a barbeque is the order of the day, while the usual side dishes like potato salad, Jell-O, and chips and dip decorate the table.

This year, you can try something different. If you want to get some “Oohs!” and Aahs!” without a lot of time and expense, try some of the following ideas. You can start with some sugar cookies, premade, from a mix, or from scratch.

Decorate a number of the sugar cookies with one half red and the other white, until you have constructed the stripes section of the American flag. Then decorate the remainder with blue icing and white stars. Arrange them on a tray, to appear like the flag and people will think you put a lot of thought and effort into it.

Find a diagram online for carving melons into fun shapes. Watermelon baskets are fun, but you can also cut other shapes as well. Use a melon baller to shape the edible part of the melon, or better yet, cut 1-inch thick slices of the melon and use small star-shaped cookie cutters for bite-size pieces.

Stuffed potatoes are so much more fun if they are red, white, and blue. How do you do it? Simply use the potato as the white part, dye some sour cream with blue food coloring, and use diced red peppers to sprinkle on top. With a little ingenuity and a few inexpensive ingredients, you can make almost any dish patriotic.