One of my most favorite places to go is Colonial Williamsburg. I've been there three times and I love it more each time I go. So when asked to plan a 4th of July birthday party for my parents (their birthdays were July 3rd and 4th), I thought why not do something different and plan a colonial 4th of July party?
Outside of card
I made a colonial collage in my computer graphics program for this invitation. It was a simple fold over card since the majority of the guests would be family and the birthday bash for my parents was a yearly affair.
For the inside of the invitation I faded a picture of the Declaration of Independence, then printed out the invitaiton information on regular computer paper and glued it in place. I printed out the colonial man and glued it to white cardboard stock. I cut him out with an Exacto knife and glued him to the inside of the invitation using glue dots, which made him stand out from the card a bit.
staging & props
Below: I kept it simple, moving my bedroom drop leaf nightstand into the living room between the two chairs and placed my other oil lamp (they're a pair) on that table. The only things I bought were the flowers in the centerpiece, the pinwheel and the star curtains hanging over the windows.
I had a large group coming so needed a second dining table. One of my fave places to eat in Williamsburg is the King's Arm Tavern. I had to have a custom made backdrop for this wall. I believe at the time it cost me around $50 - but it was the only way I could pull off what I wanted to do with this living room wall, as I wanted my dining wall to look as though it were an extension of the King's Arm Tavern interior.
​
I brought the mahogany dining set I used for the Medieval party upstairs. the wall looked washed out in white so I got some colonial peel and stick wallpaper and only wallpapered the sections that would show. Peel and stick is removable so no problem taking it down after the party. I built a DIY cardboard fireplace to extend off the backdrop and painted it white.
The picture of Washington and the dining table hurricane lamps I found at a local antique store for $30.
​
For where my regular antique dining room table sat, I just removed the tablecloth from the table. The wall behind that table is solid wood so I wallpapered part of the wall (peel & stick) to lighten it up and cut a piece of chair rail to give the wall a wainscoting look. Then I moved my sideboard off the wall it was on and put it next to the dining table.
Adding the peel & stick wallpaper helped create the illusion this dining area was a continuation of the King's Arms dining wall I'd staged in the living room.
the deck
My family's big on BBQing and the kids wanted their usual BBQ'd hamburgers and brats - which was fine. The kids could have their BBQ and we adults would eat King's Arms fare.
The kids could eat on the deck.
I took the patio table umbrella down and bought an inexpensive ($4) tablecloth and 4th of July disposable dinnerware.
A few days before the party I put a couple of the great nieces/nephews to work making DIY party poppers as table favors for the kids' table. They'd each also get a box of sparklers for later in the evening.
I also set up a small candy bar for the kids. This left only one tradition left to do. Each year we hang my American flag that's so old it only has 48 stars - very rare and hard to find now.
food/menu
For the adults I wanted to duplicate food off of the King's Arms menu - authentic colonial food.
​
I decided to go with the beef tenderloin although the original King's Arms recipe is a bit sketchy:
"THE best beef steaks...should not be more than half an inch thick, when your gridiron be hot lay your steaks on it...let it broil till they look brown and turn...sprinkle with pepper and salt."
​
When all else fails, turn to YouTube:
King's Arm's is known for its sweet potatoes and they do taste different than the sweet potatoes one normally has.
King's Arms Tavern Sweet Potatoes
3 pounds sweet potatoes
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed, divided
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
Preheat the oven to 400Ëš F.
Grease a 1 1/2-quart casserole.
Cook the sweet potatoes in boiling salted water until done; drain, peel, and mash them.
Stir in all of the remaining ingredients except 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Turn the mixture into the prepared casserole and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
Bake at 400Ëš F. for 30 minutes.
(8-10 servings)
To make the authentic salat was even more baffling.
Authentic recipe: "To make a fine Sallet are commonly made of Lettuces of any sort all pick’d and wash’d; some candied nuts and pippins as you please...these are eaten with Spanish vinegar dressing poured over and is very good with cheese." Ummmm...what are pippins? (Oh, it's a red and yellow dessert apple)
I went primarily by the photo at left. Lettuce, a couple of strips of red pepper, some red delicious apple slices, candied nuts.
​
I found a Spanish vinegar recipe:
INGREDIENTS
-
1/4 Cup Sherry vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
-
1 teaspoon Fresh garlic ; Minced
-
1 teaspoon Anchovy paste
-
1/4 teaspoon Honey
-
1/3 Cup Olive oil
-
Salt & pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Whisk together vinegar, garlic, anchovy paste, and honey. Drizzle in oil and whisk until emulsified; season with salt and pepper. I served goat's cheese on the side.
Sally Lunn Bread Recipe
​
Ingredients
-
300 grams heavy cream 1 1/4 cups
-
200 grams whole eggs 4 large
-
20 grams Lemon Zest Purée or Orange Zest Purée 1 Tablespoon
-
Or: 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon or orange zest
-
450 grams unbleached all-purpose flour King Arthur (3 1/4 cups)
-
50 grams granulated sugar 1/4 cup
-
10 grams SAF Instant Yeast preferably Gold Label (1 Tablespoon)
-
10 grams fine sea salt 2 teaspoons
Instructions
-
HEAT cream in a small saucepan to 180° F (82° C). Let cool to room temperature.
-
WHISK eggs in a medium bowl until smooth. Add cream and zest.
-
SCALE flour and other dry ingredients, and place in Kitchen Aid, or other, mixer bowl. Mix on low speed, using paddle, for 30 seconds to combine. Sally Lunn is a "Batter Bread", meaning that it has more liquid than flour (high hydrations), so a paddle works better than the dough hook that you would normally use for most bread doughs, where the liquids are less than the flour (lower hydration).
-
POUR in liquids and pulse gently on lowest speed just until a soft dough is formed. Increase to speed #4 and mix a total of 4 minutes. (This is easy to remember: 4 on 4).
-
SCRAPE the batter into greased bowl, large enough for the dough to double in size. Spray the top of the dough, or spray the plastic wrap, with Pam and cover tightly.
-
LET RISE 1 hour in warm spot, until doubled in bulk. Uncover and punch down. Either oil your hands or spray with Pam when handling this dough. Because of the high hydration, it is very sticky.
​
-
THREE OPTIONS FOR FINISHING SALLY LUNN: 1) SHINY MILK & SUGAR GLAZE ADDED AFTER BAKING: Heat 2 Tablespoons (30g) milk mixed with 2 Tablespoons sugar (25g) in small saucepan until it comes to a boil and the sugar dissolves. Brush on hot buns just out of the oven. 2) TOPS DUSTED WITH FLOUR, using a small fine mesh strainer, before baking. 3) LEAVE PLAIN: No glaze or flour.
-
BAKE at 350° F (177° C). LARGE ROUND "BUNS": BAKE 40-45 minutes. Cover loosely with a foil tent after 20 minutes to prevent over-browning. PAN BUNS: BAKE 25-30 minutes. TEA BUNS: BAKE (in muffin pans) 18-20 minutes. BAKE ALL SALLY LUNN buns until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 204-205° F (95-96° C). Let cool in pans for 10-15 minutes, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.
I also made mashed potatoes and steamed green beans.
We have a couple of cake bakers/decorators in the family and they made a spectacular birthday cake. Somehow they got the inside of the cake to look like the American flag. Don't ask me how they managed that because I have not a clue!
activities
We did throw in one surprise for my parents...a fife and drum group we hired to play Happy Birthday to them.
The credit for finding them goes to my friend as I didn't even know we HAD a fife and drum group anywhere in my area.
​
We kept the fact we'd hired these kids under wraps so no one knew they were coming. There were quite a few surprised faces when all of a sudden they heard fifes and drums music! My parents loved it.
​
​Our family doesn't require many activities as after dinner we all just like to relax and
catch up with one another or go for a swim in the lake.
After dark we did hook up the TV so the kids could watch the following videos to get any idea of what life was like for
Colonial kids.
Of course we watched fireworks, which you can see from my deck and my dock.
Try putting a little different twist on your 4th of July celebration to change things up a bit.
​
My family loved the Colonial 4th of July party to do something different.
