There is nothing quite like the July Fourth holiday. A much-needed day off from work to spend catching 80 degree rays, tilt a few too many back and Oh and Aw over the ethereal fireworks your town went way over budget on.

Whether I’m sipping cold ones on a boat or rocking my star-spangled bikini on the sand, the hostess in me always feels the need to go above and beyond potato chips and cut-up watermelon.  I wanted something fun yet simple, so went a Pinterest hunting to score some ideas.

There are many American flag cakes out there, but I personally think slicing the strawberries sideways (as pictured) is utterly adorable and the way to go—and much more creative. The pan pictured is an 18×26 and accommodates either two cake mix boxes or a doubled up scratch-cake recipe. Use white cake mix/white cake recipe and white frosting (egg whites only!) to keep with the red white and blue theme. I used approximately one box of strawberries and one box of blueberries—If done right, you will have eaten a quarter of the box before your cake is finished.

The pretzel recipe is nothing more than your standard almond bark pretzels. Melt white almond bark, dip pretzels, sprinkle, viola! Throw them in a zip-lock and you’ve got yourself one heck of a bag of goodies for the boat. These, accompanied by a Coors Lite and some deer sausage, will make for one heck of a delish mid-day drunken meal. Expect to be a hero on this day of remembrance.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!