Pinned It Tried It - 4th of July Dinner

Even though the boys were in charge of the hamburger and hotdogs, I finished the 4th of July meal with some of the best blogger recipes for grilling.

One pan was cooked regularly with no seasoning, and used to top hamburgers as well as the corn-on-the-cob.  The second pan was topped with brown sugar and fresh cracked black pepper.  It disappeared so quickly I had to make a second pan before dinner started!

Source:  Martha Stewart

The corn and husks were soaked in water for about an hour, rather than 10 minutes.  With all the other items on the grill, they stayed on for over an hour.  It turned out to be very sweet corn.  Delicious.  I ended up using the cheddar and bacon topping.

Source:  Good Housekeeeping

I didn't need any modifications for this recipe.  Some loved that it retained that smokey flavor from the grill, some didn't.

Source:  Lil Luna

There was more asparagus than appetites, so for the remaining asparagus, I made my own recipe.  (I'm not big on measurements.)

After the asparagus was washed and stems cut, I placed the bunch on a sheet of aluminum foil.

Drizzle the asparagus with sesame seed oil and sesame seeds, to your liking.  Toss the asparagus so the sesame seed oil is distributed throughout.

Finish with red pepper flakes.

Wrap the foil, and fold the ends together.  Grill to your liking.

This asparagus is much more tender than asparagus put straight on the grill, and doesn't have the smokey flavor.  The brood that didn't like the bacon wrapped asparagus, loved this recipe.

I modified the grilled pineapple recipe by dredging the pineapple slices in the brown sugar and butter before grilling, and drizzling the remaining sauce afterwards.  It was a hit.

Source:  Oh Sweet Basil

I modified the banana boat recipe by crushing the graham cracks and surrounding the banana, as well as topping it off, with the dust.  This was already requested to be made again at the next family cookout.

Source:  Tablespoon

Pinned It Tried It - Flower Crowns

So, how do you make 2 flower crowns in less than an hour?

With a good helping of luck.

I went to Wal-Mart the night before to purchase silk flowers on sale (used for the greenery) and finished my trip to Hobby Lobby for the rest.

What to Get:

• floral tape
• wire cutters
• floral wire
• silk flowers
• thick green or rustic floral wire to use as the base.

1. Using the thick green wire, measure your head for the correct size.  Give some extra wiring to adjust to the flowers, and adjust for how you want to wear it (as a headband, hippie-style across the forehead, as a halo sitting on the head, etc.)  Halo-style is my favorite, as shown in the photos below by Liz and Hannah.
2. Twist a second layer of the think green wire for base support.
3. Map where you want the flowers, greenery, and spacing.
4. Working backward on the crown, wrap the thin green wire around the silk flower stem, and attach it to the base.  Hook the green wire onto the stem, so that it doesn't fall off.
5. Cover the thin green wire with floral tape.
6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until finished!

For more tutorials and floral crown ideas, go to:

A Little Dash of Darling

Bridal Musings

Emma Dime

DDG Daily