Cuz I have been in the lazy groove of summer and living life large a little too much lately, I don’t have a new post for the Fourth of July holiday but I do have some tried and true faves and I also have seen some pretty snazzy stuff around the blogosphere. So enjoy…and have a wonderful, tasty and SAFE Fourth. BTW…all the gorgeous photos you see below are stolen from the blogs mentioned and linked to in this post.

How about starting the day with my Red Velvet Pancakes and cream cheese dipping sauce (that’s breakfast code for frosting). These would surely wake up the family and begin the celebration on the right foot.

And when it’s time for the big barbecue, you might want to have these Baked Avocado Fries with Jalapeno Lime Aioli from Jessica at Kitchen Belleicious ready for your guests. I could munch on these all day!

And Greg over at Rufus’ Food and Spirits Guide always knows how to grill and chill…look at these gorgeous and sticky Barbecue Baby Back Ribs! Oh, how I wish our family could just drop in on him and Katherine and be a guest at their fete.  Word on the street is that they are excellent hosts.

Need to make your BBQ a little healthier or perhaps Vegetarian…then Caroline of Sweet Caroline’s Cooking has the right thing with her Chick Pea and Brown Rice Veggie Burgers.

Maybe you should serve some of Mary’s, of Barefeet in the Kitchen, Sweet and Spicy Apple Slaw along side your sumptuous fare…this would surely give a nice kick and a little crunch to the meal.

Make sure to serve some warm, soft, just out of the oven Sheepherder Rolls from Courtney at Misadventures in Cooking. She is the bread diva and you couldn’t go wrong with this winner of a recipe.

And last, but in no way least…you MUST have a selection of festive desserts to kick off the fireworks and sweeten everything up a bit.

Jed at Sports Glutton has boozed up a Vanilla and Blueberry Bundt cake with a little bourbon. Oh yeah.

And Betsy from Bits and Bread Crumbs has a nice hometown slice of Blueberry Pie a la Mode for you to dig into.

Me? I am providing the lighter slice of sweet with this from scratch Angel Food Cake with Strawberry Puree. Once you make it from scratch, you’ll never go back.

Please enjoy the holiday…and all the great food on the blogosphere and let’s keep those in our thoughts who are suffering from the Colorado fires or the storms in the East and be grateful for what we have.