Tag archive for picnic

I am calling it Summer Chop Madness, but it seems like most meals around here involve some kind of chopped salad. I’ve been busy shopping at the farmer’s market, as well as my favorite family farm and the best way to use the great selection of fresh veg is with giant salads. I should also mention the crazy heat that we’ve been sweltering in, as I am sure it has had a part in this. On a hot summer evening, a cool salad bowl is just what I want to eat. We’re not talking about a leafy green number – these salads have enough heft to carry a meal. Wedges of newly dug potatoes, handfuls of the best green beans and no end of cucumbers. But more on that later. With all of this talk of salad, I feel I am within my right to bake cake or two.

I have no favorite summer fruit. I cannot be pinned down to just one top pick. I love them all in their turn – the few weeks when each one has a little window of perfection before giving way to the next one on the list. For us, cherries have been enjoying their time to shine. While I can’t get enough of a just-warm cherry clafoutis, like this one, I do have a new cherry recipe to add to the mix this year. I found this amazing recipe for a cherry picnic cake just about the time cherry season was starting. I’ve been baking it on a weekly basis ever since. And now that we are nearing the tail end of our season, I am finally getting around to sharing it with you.

After my first time baking this cake, I spent several evenings standing at the kitchen sink with a dark apron and a box full of cherries to be pitted. You see, this recipe is just as happy with fresh fruit as it is with frozen. I imagine myself pulling this cake out of the oven on a grey winter day, when the smudge of a juicy cherry will make a slice of pound cake seem like the sweetest treat. And all of my cherry pitting efforts will be well rewarded in that moment.

But for now, I’ll be serving thick slices of this cake in the garden or packed up for a picnic. It travels so well and you know you won’t go wrong when you finish off a meal with this treat.

This cake turned out perfectly the first time I made it, so I haven’t changed a thing from the original recipe. I did make one swap, toasted walnuts for the pecans called for in the original recipe. Go with your favorite flavor on that one. And while a 6-inch cake pan may not be in your cupboard, I made do with a 6-inch soufflé dish the first time around. Since then, I added a pan to my collection. I know it is going to be well used!

CHERRY PICNIC CAKE

Recipe by Tara O’Brady via Herriott Grace

Makes 2, 6-inch round cakes

For the cake

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (256 g) cake flour

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

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1 1/3 cups (275 g) granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling if not using the glaze

4 large eggs

Seeds scraped from a vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons thick yogurt or sour cream (not nonfat)

1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts

1 cup pitted dark cherries, fresh or frozen

For the glaze (optional, but recommended)

1 1/4 cups (142 g) confectioner’s sugar, sifted

1/4 cup heavy cream

A pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 300°F and position a rack in the middle of the oven. Butter two 6-inch round cake pans and line both the bottom and sides with parchment. Butter generously.

Sift flour and salt together in a bowl, set aside.

Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream on the medium-high setting for 8 minutes. Scrape down the bowl regularly. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla. Turn the mixer down to low, mix in the flour in two additions, alternating with the yogurt until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the nuts with a spatula. Spread one-quarter of the batter between the prepared pans, then scatter with a few of the cherries. Continue to layer dollops of batter with cherries until finished. Smooth the tops with a spatula, then sprinkle with granulated sugar if you are not planning to glaze the cakes later.

Bake the cakes for about 60 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. They are done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before unmolding. Return the cakes to the cool rack and allow to cool, right side up, until completely cool.

If you are making the glaze, whisk together all ingredients until smooth. The glaze should be soft enough to drizzle nicely from a spoon. If more liquid is needed, add more cream one teaspoon at a time. Spoon the glaze over both cakes and allow to set for at least one hour before cutting.

These cakes keep nicely at room temperature for a few days and will look lovely under a cake dome or loosely covered in plastic.

Having a food blog, it is a fair assumption that I spend a good deal of time cooking and in the pursuit of many things related to food. It’s true. My interest in the kitchen is far more than simply getting meals put together, it colors the way I approach my eating life. Reading cookbooks, finding farms and markets to shop at and trying my fair share of new recipes all play a part in that. But my interest in food sometimes takes me far outside of the kitchen as well.  So I thought I would share a little about some of the things I do when I’m not in the kitchen.

Weekends are one of the best times to make time for cooking adventures. We are coming up fast on preserving season, in fact, I’ve already just started pitting and freezing some of the first cherries of the year. Standing at the kitchen sink with my with my favorite podcast, I can make reasonably quick progress on pitting cherries. But this doesn’t happen every weekend, sometimes we just pack up and head out of the house for the day to explore.

We’re lucky enough to live in a part of Washington state where adventures can be found in all directions. Head west 30 minutes and we’ve arrived at the Columbia Gorge with plenty of water, trains and stunning views. In the opposite direction, mountains and trees offer a distinct change of scenery and that is where we went last weekend. Out on the road, we have opportunities to find new places to eat, shop for antique treasures and props or pack a picnic to eat out of the back of the car.

On our way into the mountains last weekend, we stopped at scenic overlooks and a happy little creek where I scrambled down the rocky bank to check out the water. A thicket of thimbleberries edged the creek, still in bloom. The mountain water ran cold but I waded in, despite the warning call of “Leeches!” from my traveling crew. I picked a path through the stream and on the other side, I found a little stand of columbine flowers blooming.

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Generally, I pack up some food for our roadtrip adventures. Travelling with a small child keeps me mindful of necessities, such as food and proximity to the next bathroom. Sometimes our fare is as simple as some dried fruit or nuts. Now the summer weather definitely has me in a picnic state of mind. This time of year, I might pack up a baguette with some butter, a few cherries and some chocolate and call it a meal. Eaten outdoors in the sunshine, there isn’t much better!

On this particular day, our travels took us through a tiny town called Lostine and past the Lostine Tavern that had recently opened up. Apparently, Lostine is officially designated as a city, but with a population of 213 at the 2010 census, I am just not sure how that adds up. But no matter, the Lostine Tavern was a real treat for lunch as we made our hungry way through the hills of Oregon. Billed as a casual farm to table pub, the tavern has a growing menu of great food options with many locally sourced items. And with dessert options like strawberry and rhubarb bars, chocolate layer cake and cowboy cookies, I’m certainly stopping by again soon!

Wherever your journeys take you this weekend, have a great one!

Not all picnics are created equal, and that’s a good thing. My personal philosophy around picnics is that anything not eaten around the primary table in my house classifies as a picnic. This means that winters are filled with couch picnics and the summer with patio picnics.

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Just in time for summer, we are celebrating International Picnic Day. Yes, there actually is a day for that – today, June 18. And it turns out to be an event that I can get behind. Around here, we like to pack up a meal or two every week and head outdoors. Often times it will be a late Sunday afternoon or maybe even a Thursday night, when we feel like getting the weekend off to an early start. We’re lucky enough to be within biking range of a lovely park with picnic tables, trees and plenty of grass for running and lounging.

The glorious thing about picnics is that there are no rules. A picnic can be as fancy or as basic as you like. Invite all of the friends that won’t fit into your dining room out to the park, or make it the most cozy of meals with a special someone. And food suitable to eat outdoors is pretty much only limited by your imagination and the time you have to put it together.

Most often, I rely on a few delicious items that I pick up at my favorite shop. If I have time, or plan ahead, I might make a simple salad or some other dish to take along. And I do have this crazy plan that maybe one day, I’ll pull a piping hot fruit galette out of the oven and roll down to the park with a frosty cold jar of heavy cream. We’ll take turns shaking the cream and spooning the goodness onto our just warm gallette. One day…

Summer after summer, I get more of a picnic routine down. With a little gathering of supplies in advance, I can get us out the door and on our way to the park by 6 p.m., even after a full day of work. This is the lovely part about picnics, they don’t have to be complicated. Head down to a well stocked grocery store, grab a few of your favorites and head off to eat. Depending on the day, I might pack up a couple of real glasses or just throw in the melamine plates that came from a picnic set we got years ago. Meals are also quite tasty eaten by hand with a napkin to catch the drips and brush away the crumbs.

With a few summers of regular picnicking behind me, I thought I’d share a few of our favorites, just in time for your own summertime adventures.

Easy food options:
Baguette
Selection of salami
Favorite cheeses
Hard boiled eggs
Olives/cornichons
Something to drink
Fresh fruit
Chocolate bar

Make something delicious to bring along:
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Tina’s fancy pocket picnic sandwiches
Grape cake to round things out
And just in case you decide to live the galette dream, here’s the recipe.

Bits to pack to make your picnic even better:
Salt
Paring knife
Corkscrew/bottle opener
Napkins
Glasses

Fancy extras:
Blanket for lounging
Bocce ball, soccer or frisbee
Favorite book, magazine or sketchbook
Tablecloth

If the world were to need a picnic champion, I could easily be that champion. I am the picnic proponent in my circle and am quick to point out that there is virtually no situation where a picnic isn’t appropriate. For example, it is sunny out after 6 days of rain… sounds like the perfect time for a picnic. It’s your birthday… we should go on a picnic to celebrate. The work week is complete… picnic. Just want to relax a little… picnic. Wanna hang out with your friends but haven’t cleaned your house lately… picnic. See what I’m saying? You probably want to have a picnic right now don’t you? What about a winter picnic? That sounds like marvelous fun to me too and yes, I have thrown the “p” word around a few times already this year.

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I am sure that it isn’t a big surprise to you that picnics can be great fun. But, you might find yourself thinking “If picnics really are so wonderful, why do I have them so infrequently?”. I’ll tell you why, because you haven’t embraced the pocket picnic yet. When it comes to picnics it is easy to over complicate them, preparing 7 different salads, packing the BBQ, bring 4 coolers of drinks, 17 blankets, a volley ball net… and the list goes on. Not every picnics should be that complicated. Picnics can also be easy, relaxing and spontaneous.

A few years ago while Ginger and I were vacationing in Paris (yeah vacationing, we are fancy that way) all of my preconceived notions about picnics being complicated affairs changed. Some of my best memories are of the outdoor lunches that Ginger and I enjoyed together. We arrived in Paris in late september. Paris has the most beautiful falls, the weather is crisp and fresh in the morning, but warms by early afternoon. There were many an afternoon where Ginger and I found ourselves in the middle of some city square, famished after a morning spent in a museum. In those moments nothing was more inviting than the warmth of the afternoon sun and a park bench.  This is how the Parisian pocket picnic came to be. Every Parisian street is not complete without a lovely bakery and the majority of those bakeries made wonderful baguette sandwiches and pastries (in my case I always went for the flan, big surprise). A sandwich and a small treat were easily stowed away in our pockets or perhaps even an oversized Longchamps tote while we headed off down the street in search of a patch of sun to enjoy a simple, yet tasty lunch in.

With a pocket picnic there are no excuses. A beautiful sandwich comes together quickly or is easily picked up at the local deli and before you know it, you are enjoying a sunny park bench. Some of my favourite sandwiches are the simple ones, filled with a nicely curated selection of vegetables, a hard boiled egg, maybe some beets, something pickled and of course Dijon mustard. Next time you see the sun peeking out from behind the clouds, pack up a quick pocket picnic and afterwards try to tell me that a quick hour spent in the fresh air didn’t just make your day.

We made these sandwiches two ways, one was vegetarian and the other had a spattering of French salami. Another fun way to customize your sandwich is with the mustard and the olive oil. We used a tarragon mustard and a good quality olive oil but, I imagine dijon and a nice lemony vinaigrette would also be a delightful addition.

Boiled Egg, Seared Asparagus & Pickled Onion Sandwiches
Adapted from The Kitchn | Serves 2

1/2 a bunch of thin asparagus spears (about 15-20 spears)
2 demi baguette
4 slices of cheese (go with something full fat like havarti, brie or chèvre)
2 eggs, hard boiled
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons diced raw onion
2 tablespoons French tarragon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Hard boil eggs and set aside to cool. Prepare the asparagus by trimming off the tough ends, if you couldn’t manage to find thin spears cut them in half length-wise. Now for the quick pickle, dice the red onion and place it in a small bowl topping with red wine vinegar, set aside allowing the pickling magic to happen.

Bring a large skillet to high heat and add a splash of olive oil. Carefully add the asparagus to the pan searing for about 3-4 minutes per side. Only turn the asparagus once or twice as you want to spears to char a little.

Cut the baguettes in half and smear one side of the bread with mustard and the other with a little olive oil. Top each sandwich with two slices of cheese, half of the asparagus, a sliced egg, pickled onions and salt and pepper to taste.

 

When I turned on my phone the other day and it said “September 1”, I was pretty sure there had been a mistake. Some silly data mix-up that was feeding my phone nonsense information. Turns out it is true—September is here to stay, it seems. Where has the year gone! And let me add that there is nothing wrong with September, I think it is likely my favorite month of the year. There are so many good things packed into this month. Some of my favorite people have birthdays in September. The cooling temperatures along with the beautiful light make it a great time of year to be outside. And it is also a prime month for travel, especially when it is a non-stop flight to Paris. Sigh…

It certainly does not hurt to welcome in a new month with a long weekend. Since I am a bit of a list maker, I had a few goals that I wanted to get to over the weekend. I didn’t bother with trivial cleaning and ordering tasks. I had big plans, like picking out a birthday cake recipe for the birthday boy. He’ll be three years old this week! After a few discussions, I think he has finally made up his mind on a chocolate cake. I still feel like I can take a few creative licenses with his cake, so I think we’ll be going with some kind of chocolate layer cake. I did do a wee bit of organizing as I cleaned out his shoe box though, so we could share with friends. The collection of those shoes is making me a bit nostalgic.

I’ve also been working on a little bit of late summer preserving. I don’t get too carried away like I have in years past, but I can’t help but think I’m doing my family a bit of a favor with a few jars of beautiful peaches (my first effort on my own). They are joining the apricots that I already stashed away and will soon be followed by a whole lot of tomatoes, which are easily my favorite fall preserve. So perfect for winter soups, baked beans or some of the best sauces anyone could ask for.
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The other thing that has been most welcome around here is a Mexican-inspired meal. A month of so ago, Saveur sent out their Mexico issue. I would tell you I’ve been cooking my way through it, but that wouldn’t be quite accurate. I got stuck on a few dishes, especially the recipe for sopa seca. This may not be the dish that speaks the loudest of all that is Mexican cuisine, but it is delicious. I’ve been making it once a week! Just go easy on the chipotle peppers!

And while September might be here, this picnic season is far from over. September has room for some of the best picnicking weather anyone could ask for. We’ve been trying to fit in a picnic dinner most weeks. The unexpected surprise of a portable dinner with not much clean up (bonus!) is something that cannot be overlooked in the last days of summer. Mark Bittman’s recent article highlighting the four main food groups in his picnic basket inspired me to be a little more thoughtful of my approach. With great organization comes plenty of room for creativity. So pack up a picnic and get out there!

This past week marked the passing of the best day of the year. July 12, also know as my birthday. When I was a kid I remember birthdays as being a pretty big deal. Friends would come over, sleepovers would be had and best of all my mom would make a treasure hunt and yummy goodie bags for us to search for. The anticipation was unbearable! It seems that as the years pass, birthday celebrations have become more and more low key.

Lucky for me my family is pretty on top of all things birthday and they often just give me a call and let me know that they are coming to visit on the big day. Things came to a new low this year when I didn’t realize just how close my birthday was until it was only two days away. No party was planned, no friends invited over, nothing. Although I really have been a party planning slacker this year, I did still manage to have a perfect day anyway.

Picnics are one of my favorite parts of summer and this year on the evening of my Birthday Scott and I packed up a picnic and biked down to the beach to watch the sunset. At the time I was mentally planning my post. I imagined that I would have spectacular photos of our fantastic picnic set up and I would give you Tina’s Step by Step Guide to a Perfect Picnic. However the evening had other things in mind and shortly after arriving at the beach it became apparent that the real star of the show wasn’t the picnic at all but the evening. On that note I’ll shut up and let the photos do the talking.
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Nothing beats a summer Birthday!

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1/2 cup finely ground toasted almonds
1/4 cup quick-cooking polenta or coarsely ground yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/3 cup whole milk
2 cups red or black seedless grapes, rinsed well

One of my favorite meal arrangements has to be the picnic. The word sounds so easy and relaxed and I can’t help but smile when I hear it. Place settings and formality need not apply. And whether I’m eating indoors or out, the laid-back mentality of a picnic seems to translate. I’ll happily picnic all year round.

And I do just that, turning winter weekend lunches into picnic affairs with food arranged on the table for happy sharing and snacking. There are no wrong combinations and everyone gets just what they want.

It wasn’t very long ago that we enjoyed a little picnic out in the middle of the snowy woods – a few snacks and chocolates tucked in a backpack to accompany us on our snowshoeing adventure. Next winter I will remember to bring the Thermos of hot cocoa, I promise! But right now, crisp spring afternoons spent indoors around the table, or better yet, in front of a fire, seem like just the right thing.
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But with spring in the air, it’d probably be wise to get your picnic routine figured out. You simply can’t go wrong with a baguette or crackers, cheese and perhaps a little salami, if you are so inclined. Throw in a jar of homemade lemonade or a bottle of wine. Spice things up a bit with a bunch of fresh radishes, a little basket of strawberries or thin slices of a crisp apple. Olives, almonds, a little bar of dark chocolate and you’re set.

And just like that, you’ve got a picnic! Take it outdoors or into the living room. Just be sure to enjoy it with friends.