On Kiva Williams’ Juneteenth table, pops of red — barbecue ribs and watermelon, a symbol of freedom — share the table with hot dogs, burgers, potato salad and baked beans. Sometimes, foods from her past, like fried fish and spaghetti, and coleslaw, “my favorite meal from back home” in Tennessee, also make an appearance.

For Williams, who runs the Fun Foodie Mama blog, the celebration is a relatively small one, and recent. Williams, 45, didn’t grow up celebrating Juneteenth — she’d learned about the holiday from her parents but didn’t celebrate.

But, “as I grew older and had a family of my own, I wanted to be intentional with my kids on celebrating,” she said, adding that she hopes to pass down the celebration, its recipes and cooking traditions to her children. She and her family attend local festivals, spend time learning about the holiday and, of course, gather around a meal.

Red foods are customary for Juneteenth, the annual commemoration of the freeing of the last enslaved Africans in Galveston, Texas, 2 1/2 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The scarlet hue symbolizes ingenuity and resilience while in bondage. It’s been four years since Juneteenth became a national holiday, and people are carving out their own traditions.

The menu here isn’t labor-intensive or intimidating, even if you’re not normally the host. Light, bright, fresh and joyous, the menu here feels like a celebration, and it’s all made with the goal of feeding a group of loved ones: a strawberry ginger limeade, garlicky chicken sandwiches topped with a crunchy slaw, a deeply satisfying shrimp jambalaya, crisp okra made for sharing and tossed with a sweet honey-based sauce, all capped off with bright-red strawberry pretzel bars.

Make a few of the dishes or make them all, just make it yours.