1. July Belongs to Berries Month
This is a great Berry Pie Filling to assemble while fresh berries are plentiful, to freeze for winter months.
Mix 7 cups sugar with 1 3/4 modified cornstarch (Clear Jel A) in a large saucepan. Add 9 1/3 cup cold water and cook over medium high heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add 1/2 cup lemon juice and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Fold in 6 quarts of berries (blackberries, marionberries, boysenberries). At this point you can either put batches in freezer containers or you can fill canning jars and process immediately by process pints and quarts in boiling water bath for 25 minutes. This recipe yields 7 quarts that can not only serve as pie filling but also top cheesecake, ice cream or be covered with a crumb topping as a great berry crisp.
2. In honor of National Outdoor Month how about considering organizing some fun outdoor games such as Water Balloon Dodgeball (water balloons are used instead of balls), Glow in the Dark Capture the Flag (glowsticks are used instead of flags), Glow in the Dark Bowling (add glow sticks into ten bottles of water to make bowling pins you can use at night).
3. It's National Picnic Month in July! What will you pack for you picnic? It wouldn't be a picnic without this Olive Lover's Muffuletta Sub Sandwich recipe!
4. National Blueberry and National Raspberry Month - Have you tried the delicious Blueberry Boy Bait yet? You can also make it with raspberries as a substitute.
5. National Ice Cream Month and July 1 is National Frozen Yogurt Day AND Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day
6. National Peach Month - My favorite peach recipe blends 2 fresh peaches combined with half of a container of frozen Pineapple Orange juice concentrate, topped with ice cubes and blended. This recipe saved me through my second pregnancy as it was one of the only things that sounded tasty during the first few months.
7. The fourth Sunday in July recognizes Parent's Day - a day recognizing, uplifting and supporting the role of parents in the rearing of children.
8. Happy 60th Birthday to Disneyland on July 17, 2015! Celebrate by recreating one of Disneyland's famous desserts - the famous Pineapple Dole Whip that can only be ordered in Disneyland or Disneyworld, and by watching a classic Walt Disney movie. What is your favorite Disney classic?
I love this idea for creating a fairly inexpensive Outdoor Movie Screen out of curtain hanging wire and screen fabric which can be found at Amazon. Supposedly the screen fabric is the correct color gray for projector contrast and black out backing, although a white tarp or sheet could work in a pinch.
9. Did you know that July 2nd is considered the halfway point of the year?
10. July 2nd is "I Forgot Day". Does that mean we do nothing that day? Do we forget how to do "everything"?
11. July 4th celebrates Independence Day in the states along with National Family, National Country Music Day and it's the Birthday of the Rodeo (first one was in 1869). In our neck of the woods there are many family-friendly rodeo options that would play country music and have fireworks at the end of the evening in celebration of our country's independence. Talk about killing all your birds with one stone!
12. July 5th is Graham Cracker Day. S'mores anyone? Have you tried adding caramel to your traditional s'mores? We tried adding Rolo's instead of the Hershey's chocolate bars and discovered how delicious that mash-up of flavors can be although it was a bit messy.
13. Visit a drive-in movie venue. This is so much fun! We loaded the kids and cousins up and headed to a drive in theater while visiting the grandparents. We brought lawn chairs, blankets, snacks and used the back of a truck for a great viewing experience. It sounds as if Drive-Ins are becoming a thing of the past. Here are where to find them in the U.S.
14. Take in an outdoor concert or outdoor theater production.
15. Visit a state or county fair.
16. July 19th celebrates New Friends Day. So many of our friendships have formed around the activities that our kids partake in as we find ourselves sitting on bleachers, along the sidelines of fields and waiting for practices to conclude. As my kids age, I realize that I will have to look elsewhere for new friends, expanding my circles. What a great excuse to be proactive and to start forming new friendships with "New Friends Day".
17. The third Sunday in July marks Sundae Sunday! I do not ever need an excuse to indulge in ice cream sundaes, do you? The Hubs' recently reported that my childhood favorite Dairy Queen's Brownie Earthquake will no longer be an offering. I am thinking it's time to replicate that childhood favorite at home in celebration of Sundae Sunday.
Homemade Brownie Earthquake
Two brownies, two scoops of vanilla ice cream (soft serve or vanilla frozen yogurt, perhaps), hot fudge sauce, marshmallow cream, topped with whipped cream and a cherry!
18. July 21 recognizes National Junk Food Day! This year, I want to try making the "copycat" versions of some of our favorite Junk Food treats. The homemade Twix bars are at the top of my copycat list, followed by homemade Oreo Cookies and Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies. What are your favorite Junk Food indulgences?
19. July 21 - Cousins Day! No wonder the Hubs' family gathers around this date annually. On the Hubs' side there are currently 26 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren, so there is never a shortage of kids for the cousins to hang out with. Last summer, the older teens recreated a photo of them taken in a cabin at our family reunion years prior to include the original facial expressions, hand gestures and positions on the couch. It cracks me up!
20. National Cheesecake Day falls on the 30th of July. As a HUGE fan of cheesecake, growing up, I requested (and still request) for every birthday, my mom's cheesecake. This is my other all-time favorite cheesecake recipe - the decadent chocolate truffle cheesecake!
