There is a way this July Fourth for you to have lots more fun than just preparing cute dishes that happen to feature red-white-and-blue ingredients, as suggested by so many peppy cooking articles.

Playing volleyball on the beach with your family would probably be more fun than slaving over such dishes, as would splashing in the pool or riding the Ferris wheel and roller coaster at your clan's favorite amusement park.

July Fourth spreads often consist of large buffets of homemade items that take lots of effort, as well as the obligatory red-white-and-blue themed recipes, however, what if you could combine lots of your favorite July Fourth ingredients in a single easy one-pot meal that's much more dazzling than those individual time robbers?

A "low-country boil," which shot to prominence in the low country (the coast between Georgia's Savannah River north to Pawleys Island, S.C.) is just such a dream come true. It was served for the first time publicly in South Carolina in the 1960s by National Guardsman (and later seafood company owner) Richard Gay, who was throwing together a quick dish of leftovers for 100 of his fellow guardsman. The dish (also at that time referred to as Frogmore Stew - where Gay was from in South Carolina and his family had made it at home for years - or Beaufort Stew - where he was stationed in South Carolina) has become a legend enjoyed at millions of outings every summer.

There's good reason. The dish is a melange of fresh shrimp, potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, smoked sausage and plenty of Old Bay seasoning. Through the years, cooks at the beach where the stew is often prepared, also have added lobster, oysters, crab and crawfish. The recipe easily adapts from a yield for a small family to that of a large group, since every ingredient is measured per person. "The rule of thumb here is the bigger the crowd, the bigger the pot," noted Coastal Living magazine, which covers that part of the country.

Even better than this being a one-pot recipe is that it also can be a no-dishes recipe. Often cooked outdoors over an open flame, "when it's ready, cooks simply turn out the ingredients on a table covered in newspaper. When you're done, simply roll up the paper and throw it out," notes A Foodie in the Low Country, a South Carolina-based blog (http://lowcountryfoodie.blogspot.com) that's an archive of low-country recipes and lore written by a home cook.

Famed Georgia low-country gal Paula Deen, star of the TV Food Network, award-winning Savannah restaurateur and best-selling cookbook author, is so enamored of the dish she makes it all summer long and featured it as the July offering in her popular recipe calendar book and rightly calls it more of a "technique than a recipe."

Her directions that follow here are just like Gay's famous original version. And then - talk about a gourmet, but still easy, variation - Bon Appetit's version includes mussels, lobsters (cooked briefly in their own pot) and lots of pale ale.

LOW-COUNTRY BOIL

1/4 pound fully cooked smoked sausage per person, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 cup Old Bay seasoning, or more to taste

2 small new potatoes per person

1 ear corn per person, shucked, silked and broken in 1/2

1/2 pound large, fresh shrimp per person (16-to-20-count size), shell on

Tartar sauce, for serving

Cocktail sauce, for serving

Yield varies as needed.

Fill large pot with enough water to cover all ingredients. Add sausage and Old Bay seasoning and allow to boil for about 20 minutes so that sausage can flavor water. Carefully taste for seasoning; add more Old Bay if desired.

Add potatoes and boil for about 15 minutes. Add corn and boil for about 10 minutes. Finally, add shrimp and allow to cook for 3 minutes. Carefully taste a shrimp and, if cooked through, drain immediately and serve on oversized platter, or, as Paula Deen's family does, on a table covered with newspaper. Serve with tartar and cocktail sauces.

- "Paula Deen's 2008 Calendar: A Hearty Helping of Eye-Catchin' Pictures, Mouthwaterin' Recipes, Tantalizin' Tips, and Plenty of Good Ol' Southern Charm" by Paula Deen (Random House, $12.95).

LOW-COUNTRY LOBSTER, MUSSEL AND PALE ALE BOIL

18 small, red potatoes

6 small onions, quartered lengthwise

1 fresh fennel bulb (about 1 pound), trimmed, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise

2 (12-ounce) bottles pale ale

4 cups water

1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt

10 fresh thyme sprigs (divided use)

1 pound fully cooked kielbasa or linguica sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces

6 ears of corn, husked

2 1/2 pounds mussels, scrubbed, debearded

3 (1 3/4-pound) live lobsters

Melted butter, for serving

Lemon wedges, for serving

Yields 6 servings.

Fill very large pot 2/3 full with salted water; bring to a boil over high heat.

Meanwhile, place potatoes, onions and fennel in another very large pot. Add beer and 4 cups water; sprinkle with Old Bay seasoning and salt. Add 5 thyme sprigs and sausage. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to medium-high. Cover; cook 15 minutes. Add corn, then mussels and remaining thyme. Cover and cook until mussels open and potatoes are cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, drop lobsters headfirst into pot of salted boiling water; cover. Boil until cooked through and shells turn bright red, about 13 minutes. Using tongs, remove lobsters from pot. Split in 1/2 lengthwise.

With utensil, carefully remove corn, fennel, onions, potatoes and mussels from pot (discard any mussels that fail to open). Divide among 6 large bowls. Place 1/2 lobster atop mixture in each bowl. Season broth with salt and pepper; pour over seafood and vegetables. Serve with melted butter and lemons. Also good with mayonnaise that's been combined with fresh herbs and lemon juice.

- Bon Appetit

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Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Copley News Service "Cooks' Books" column.

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