Fourth of July picnic tea party

Basket  photo by uberculture

Each Fourth of July people across the United States pack their picnic baskets, ice chests, and thermal jugs to go out picnicking. They may go to the beach or a park or picnic in the stands of a local fireworks show while they wait for the action to begin.

You can have great fun turning your Fourth of July picnic into a picnic tea. You don’t need to bring a teapot. Iced tea will do nicely. You can be as plain or as fancy as you like. Bring a basket of china and silverware, an elegant cloth to spread, and a vase of wildflowers, or bring an old blanket and paper plates. What matters is enjoying the picnic your way.

A number of our Food and Drink Examiners have contributed some great recipes to help you plan your Fourth of July picnic tea party. Our Examiners offer a selection of new and varied recipes that will make your picnic outstanding and uniquely yours.

You’ll find all the recipes you need for your perfect and unique Fourth of July picnic tea at the links below.

Tea party planning
How to plan a tea party menu
(some basic guidelines to help you decide what you want to include)

Sandwich recipes for picnic tea parties
(Some uncommon sandwiches that will make your tea party unordinary)
Herbed veggie sandwich recipe
Steak, roasted pepper, and brie recipe
Torta de jamon (Mexican-style ham sandwich) recipe
Buffalo chicken wrap sandwich recipe

Un-sandwiches for picnic tea parties
(other savory dishes that go well with tea)
Simple sesame noodles recipe
Easy delicious Vietnamese sesame spring rolls recipe
Zucchini squares recipe
Spanish tortilla with potato, sausage, and greens recipe
Picnic pasta frittata with asparagus, leeks, and bacon recipe
Broccoli and ham Quiche recipe

Finger foods and other accompaniments
Ten easy hor d’oeuvres from the Seattle framers’ markets
Truffled deviled eggs recipe
Vera’s Hungarian cold sour cherry soup recipe (serve in cups for a picnic)
Breakfast parfaits could for picnics, camping, and road trips recipe

Salads
(unusual salad recipes suitable for  picnic tea parties)
Spring bounty radish salad recipe
Avocado sesame salad recipe
Red, white, and blue fruit salad recipe
Spinach salad recipes with strawberries

Potato Salads
(What’s a picnic without potato salad? Our Examiners offer some non-traditional recipes)
Rob’s vegan potato salad recipe
Hold the mayo potato salad recipe
Simply colorful potato salad (no boiling required) recipe

Desserts
(Because that’s the best part of the meal)
Banana chocolate chip muffins recipe
Strawberries and cream shortcake recipe
Limoncello cake recipe
The perfect brownie recipe
Red, white, and blue brownie recipe
Strawberry cream cheese coffee cake recipe

Beverages
(Iced teas, iced coffee, and lemonade)
Basic black iced tea 
Ginger peach oasis  (made with herbal tea)
Lemonade recipe 8 different ways
Citrus-flavored iced tea recipe
How-to: make cold-brewed tea
Cinnamon caramel iced coffee
 Fruit-flavored iced tea recipe

Alcoholic beverages
Have some tea and coffee with your vodka

Buy and take along beverages
Starbuck's debuts new tea drinks
 

Fourth of July foods for special diets
Top ten glluten free July 4th  summer recipes

More Fourth of July links from our Organic Foods Examiner.  Read her Fourth of July easy-to-fix salad recipe and see the other links below

For more info:  
Celebrate the Fourth of July with a tea party picnic
Staying home on the Fourth? Try this backyard summer tea party