A good old-fashioned Texas BBQ is what’s in store for us this Independence Day weekend. In fact, we are celebrating it with a few friends – calling it Friendependance Day – and we have a few Texas favorites to enjoy along with it as well.
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that the love of Texas is strong with me. I love the land, I love the weather, I love the food, and most importantly, I love the people. There is nothing I love more than gathering all my people around me to celebrate a holiday – and the Fourth of the July – Independence Day – is the perfect holiday to get outdoors and celebrate all the goodness we have in our lives.
What’s Friendependance Day?
Texans are good-natured and social and no one knows how to throw a party – a Friendependance Day – like a Texan does. This Independence Day, we have invited a big group of friends over to celebrate together with a big, old fashioned BBQ in the back yard. We have a big pool, trampoline, & weather ball for the kids, as well as some fun yard games – corn hole anyone?
And we thought it would be great to ask everyone to being their favorite Texas snack to eat at the party. We love to support local businesses and this will be a great way to learn about new Texas products/food that we may not have had a chance to try yet.
Our Friendependance Day Menu
Our friends at Ozarka sent us a box of some fun Texas favorites that we are excited to incorporate in our Friendependence Day menu:
I started using The Jelly Queens jams a few years ago when they started out in a kitchen here in the Austin area – their Peach Pepper jam is amazing. I am excited to try both their Black Garlic Rosemary sauce and their Spice Kings The Juicy Steak rub when we grill up some steaks for the party. It will be interesting to try them both with our friends to see what we like best. And the Taste Elevated mustard seeds will go great on a charcuterie tray with some Elgin sausage and cheese.
You can’t go wrong with BBQ for a Texas Friendependance Day party and their are so many amazing BBQ spots all over Texas. We have actually been out to Snows BBQ in Lexington and it was ah-mazing y’all. I love that you can enjoy the taste at home with their own BBQ sauce. And while my friends may be interested in a little heat from the Yellowbird Serrano sauce on a sandwich, I’m using it to make our margaritas SPICEY! Just a few shakes of this sauce into the glass before pouring in your favorite margarita recipe makes it so so good.
And no good Texas party is without chips & queso. I am excited to feature some original Texas-made Paqui Tortilla chips – Paqui means “to be happy” – and Cookwell & Company Queso. Made in Austin, these chips are made with high-quality ingredients and are yummy – we already opened the bag to try them. I have enjoyed Cookwell & Company’s products for a few years now – I love that they feature fire-roasted ingredients that has that delicious smoky flavor in a lot of their products. Their Green Chile Strew is so good!
One of my favorite summer treats that you can get in the Central Texas area are the Fredericksburg peaches. I grew up standing over a sink or on the lawn eating the juicy peaches, savoring every bite. Simply put, it is my favorite fruit and you can get them only a few weeks out of the year. We typically will drive over to the Hill Country in Texas to be able to buy a few boxes of them each June. We love to cut them up and freeze them to make peach cobblers or to pour over a bowl of Texas’ Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.
Rounding out our Texas favorites menu for our Friendependance Day party, we have to feature a water that is ‘home-grown’ as well. Did you know that Ozarka Natural Spring Water is 100% made in Texas? Ozark’s crisp refreshing last comes from 3 natural springs all located within 100 miles of each other – Roher Spring, Moffet Spring, & Piney Woods Spring. They really have a unique story and they are very proud of being from Texas. You can find Ozarka Water in the stores or still have Ozarka Waer delivery to your home.
Throw Your Own Friendependance Day Party
Ozarka Water encourages you to tell us why you love where you live. Not only do I love Texas for the great parties we can throw but there are so many unique places to travel in Texas – like hiking the Palo Duro Canyon, swimming in Hamilton Pool, or even tubing down the ice-cold Fri River in Garner State Park.
You don’t have to be from Texas to throw a great Friendependance Day party! I encourage you to look at where you are from and have some pride in the people & products that make your state original. But most importantly, gather your friends together and enjoy some much needed time together.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post with Ozarka. All opinions are my own.
