Summer days are upon us, so why not celebrate it with a picnic in the backyard. Your summer picnic can be held anywhere, really, such as the park, on your balcony, or by the beach. Wherever you choose to have it, keep it simple and the menu light.
Picnics are an easy way to entertain in the summer months. Casual fare and menu items means you can linger with your guests until the wee hours. You can make it even easier on yourself by making it a pot luck picnic!
For me, a good picnic always starts with a good blanket. Here I used a tablecloth I had on hand instead, and threw some outdoor pillows from my patio table for a little added comfort. Large Turkish beach towels layered out look pretty and are comfortable too! Look at www.hm.com for some beautiful and affordable options.
Next, think about what you want to serve at your picnic. Like I said above, keep it simple, and depending on the weather, you don't want to serve anything that can spoil quickly. Think about bringing a mini cooler with ice on hand to keep food fresher.
SOME PICNIC FOOD IDEAS:
-bread, crackers, pretzels, vegetable chips
-store bought salads such as, couscous, bean or pasta
-cheeses and deli meats or salamis (kept fresh and cold in the cooler)
-jarred vegetables/pickles such as, artichokes, mushrooms, olive tapenade, etc.
-store bought dips
-grapes, strawberries, melon (cut up or portioned out preferably)
-cherry or grape tomatoes, carrot, celery and pepper sticks (easier to eat)
**pack your food in reusable and lockable containers for easy transporting. Your food is more likely to stay fresh in containers too! Check out www.walmart.ca and the Pioneer Woman collection for very pretty designs and affordable styles.
**don't forget about the drinks: wine, beer, coolers, lemonade or sparkling water are popular options
A way to save on bringing too many things with you, is to serve the food right out of the containers they came in. The easiest meal you can serve is one you can pull out of the pantry or grocery shelf. Bring a small metal tray or even a cake pan, and corral all your jars of dips, tapenades or marinated veggies on it! It makes a beautiful presentation too!
Look at your local dollar store for trays or inexpensive bake pans to use.
You can always serve your meal right out of the containers you packed them in too, or you can bring along some packable plates and bowls with you. Keep in mind you don't want to transport too many items, or too many heavy items, but sometimes you can find picnic baskets that come with dishes, cutlery and cups too. Search thrift stores for some very inexpensive options. Enamel camping dishes will work too.
Here I used whatever I could find at home from my thrift store collection. I used wood bowls, plates and spoons, because not only are they cute, but they are light enough to not weigh my picnic basket down! I also used cloth napkins, but paper ones are just fine.
Think about using acrylic glassware too to make transporting all your picnic goods easier. There are so many pretty options out there too, that they can almost pass for real glass!
I have found some really cute and inexpensive picnic baskets at thrift stores too, which are such a cute and old fashioned way of bringing your picnic goodies with you. Of course you can always use reusable grocery store bags/bins, or whatever you have on hand at home too.
So as you can see, a picnic doesn't have to be complicated. With a little planning and help from friends sometimes, it can be an easy and relaxing way to entertain in the summer. So easy in fact, you may do it more than once!
Until next time!
~A
PRODUCT INFORMATION:
-wood plates and bowls, picnic basket from www.valuevillage.com
-checkered napkins, round metal tray from www.winners.ca
-glasses from www.pier1.com
-bamboo skewers from www.dollartree.com
-palm leaf pillows from www.jysk.ca
