Our Canada Day Party: Activity Ideas and Recipes

Making our Canada Day a family-orientated day had its challenges, but looking back, I find it completely rewarding! Sure, there were temper tantrums and screaming fits, but when you see those kids' faces light up by simple things like balloons and flags, a funny cake, wearing silly hats, or pulling out those watermelon slushies, it makes it all worth it. It's amazing how you can look back at these pictures and remember all the fun we had, completely forgetting that for the first 45 minutes where both my sons were screaming, having a meltdown, and throwing stuff on the floor...

Have a peek at a day in our life! I've included different ideas, in case you're looking for to make your next Canada Day a little more exciting. Or if you're celebrating the fourth of July, have an Independence Day party, and just add something blue, like blueberries, blue straws, blue plates. Let's check out these fantastic ideas I found and made/used!

Mmmmmm... refreshing!

Nothing says Canada Day then watermelon! We found a recipe at Canadian Living that was a big hit on a warm, sunny day! A cold, juicy drink - slurp it with some fun straws or eat it with a spoon!

Servings: 5

Ingredients:

• 6 cups (1.5 L) seeded watermelon cubes
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) grated lemon or orange peel
• 2 tbsp (25 mL) lemon or orange juice
• mint sprigs

Preparation:

1. In food processor or blender, combine watermelon, sugar, peel and juice; whirl until smooth.
2. Transfer to 13 x 9-inch (3.5 L) cake pan and place in freezer.
3. Freeze until a solid border has frozen around edge but middle is still mushy. (This usually takes 1 to 1-1/2 hours).
4. Transfer semi-frozen puree to food processor or blender and whirl again until smooth.
5. Spoon immediately into chilled tall glasses and garnish with mint. (If not serving immediately, return to pan and refreeze. At serving time, allow to soften slightly in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Blend or process again before serving.)

Such a tasty salad - and conveniently, patriotic looking with the red strawberries and the white poppy seed dressing! This is our adaption from allrecipes.com.

Serving: 6

Ingredients

• 1 head romaine lettuce - rinsed, dried, and chopped
• 2 bunches fresh spinach - chopped, washed and dried
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 3 TBSP red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoons poppy seeds

Directions

1. In a large salad bowl, combine the romaine, spinach, strawberries and sliced onion.
2. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, milk and poppy seeds. Shake well and pour the dressing over salad. Toss until evenly coated.

NOTE: If you are celebrating July 4th, throw in some blueberries!

We had a high decoration budget of $5.00. Wanting to keep things simple, we bought flags, streamers and temporary tattoos at the dollar store. I happened to have a table cloth, blew up a few red and white balloons and our boys were as excited as anything!

You will never be able to have enough of these!

I've passed this recipe to a few people - it is so easy and so tasty, it has been loved by all!

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces
• 2 cups fresh pineapple chunks (1-1/2 inch) (Substitute 1 drained can (20 oz.) pineapple chunks in juice for the fresh pineapple.)
• 1 each: red and green pepper, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup Barbecue Sauce
• 3 Tbsp. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

Directions

1. HEAT grill to medium-high heat. Using 8 long wooden skewers (placing 2, side-by-side, for each kabob), thread chicken alternately with pineapple and peppers onto skewers to make 4 kabobs.
2. MIX barbecue sauce and juice concentrate; brush some of the sauce mixture onto kabobs.
3. GRILL 8 to 10 min. or until chicken is done, turning and brushing occasionally with remaining sauce mixture.

Tips

• Soak wooden skewers in water 30 min. before using. Wrap ends with foil before grilling to prevent them from burning.

Dessert was celebrated with nice & easy cupcakes - good 'ol box of cake mix, a great icing recipe, a whole lot of red dye, and a few sprinkles!

To make icing truly red, I've found that it is near impossible. It it is recommended to start two days prior to when you need it, as the colour tends to deepen over time. Wish I thought of that two days earlier! I also add a little bit of cocoa powder to help deepen the red.

I found a great icing recipe from Canadian Living:

CREAMY BUTTER ICING

Servings: 4 cups

Ingredients

• 1 cup (250 mL) butter, softened
• 5 cups (1.25 L) icing sugar
• 2/3 cup (150 mL) whipping cream
• 2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla

Preparation:

1. In bowl, beat butter until light; gradually beat in sugar and cream, making 3 additions of sugar and 2 of cream.
2. Beat in vanilla. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days; beat to use.)

Check out the link for all the nutritional info - not that you really want to know all that when you're eating your third cupcake...

We decided to play some games before dinner, and what better way than lawn games!

Pulling out the Bocce Balls and filling up some empty pop bottles with water proved to be an entertaining "game" of lawnbowling, seeing as a 3 year old and 1 year old have never seen such a thing, nor are they that good at taking turns, sharing, or listening to instructions. Never-the-less, lawn games are the way to go on Canada Day!

10:00 p.m. fireworks were a great finish - waking up the kids, traveling to a quiet road, pulling out the lawnchairs & blankets and watching the explosions, what a fun ending!