the picnic habit

One of the healthiest summer staples is to pack an easy picnic lunch to eat with your loved ones. By all means cultivate it. When the weather is nice outside, take out as many cookouts as possible. There’s nothing like a trip to the fresh air to improve your health or lift your spirits. Even an occasional lunch or dinner served on the shaded porch looks twice as appetizing as the same meal eaten in the hot dining room; and if a little management is used, there is not much extra work. Be sure to pack everything carefully; food that looks messy is never much enjoyed. Wrap each sandwich separately, or if they are small and this is too much trouble, at least wrap the different varieties separately. The modern picnic kit has boxes and containers for everything. But an ordinary basket or packing box of convenient size, with empty tin cookie boxes or other miscellaneous containers you can find in your pantry, will also carry a lunch fit for a queen.

Here are some fun and easy ideas to make your picnic a little different and more special.

sandwich fillings: For excellent reasons, sandwiches are the mainstay of every picnic. They are easy to eat and remarkably filling. Most people fall into a rut when it comes to the sandwiches they take to picnics. Ham, chicken, cheese, or egg sandwiches are fine in their own way, but the variety in the sandwiches is just as nice as anything else. Have you ever tried to mix some chopped green bell pepper into your cheese sandwiches? Also popular are sandwiches made from Boston brown bread baked with raisins, sliced ​​and filled with cream cheese, or as an appetizer, sandwiches made from very thin slices of whole wheat bread spread with a thin spicy cheese filling sprinkled with horseradish.

Tomato or cucumber sandwiches: These are best when prepared just before eating, which can be done very easily even in a car, by slicing the cucumbers and tomatoes just before starting, packing them separately in jars or plastic containers, and then in a box packing slices of bread or buttered rolls, or biscuits with the halves together with a sheet of waxed paper between them so they can be pulled apart quickly for stuffing. It is customary to take a small pot of mayonnaise and put a spoonful on top of the tomato or cucumber before putting the top of the sandwich back on. Crispy lettuce leaves can be used in sandwiches in the same way. These simple vegetable sandwiches are the most popular in the lunch basket on a hot day.

peanut sandwiches: Peel the freshly roasted peanuts and crush them very finely with a rolling pin or pass them through the food processor. For every two cups of peanuts use one cup of finely chopped celery. Make everything into a paste by adding stiff whipping cream. Season to taste with salt. Spread on thin slices of freshly buttered whole grain bread.

Ground Beef Sandwiches: You can use whatever deli meat you have for this. Ham, pork or corned beef are especially tasty. Trim the meat carefully and cut off all the gristle, but leave a little fat, not enough to make it greasy, but enough to remove the dry flavor that cold meat often has. Run through the food processor. If the meat is rather lean, moisten with melted butter, using a tablespoon for each cup of meat. Add a pinch of pepper and salt, if needed. Deli meat is best if a few drops of Worcestershire sauce or a tablespoon of ketchup or hot sauce are added to each cup of ground meat. Spread between thin slices of white or whole wheat bread or white rolls or buttered rolls.

Pineapple cake: This is quite delicious on a picnic to eat with the fruit that makes the healthiest dessert. Use your favorite recipe for layer cake, or try this one: Mix a cup of sugar and a half cup of butter, add two well-beaten eggs and a half cup of milk, and then add two cups of flour in which a mound is formed. . A teaspoon of baking powder has been sifted. Bake in two layers.

Filling: Boil two cups of sugar with two thirds of a cup of cream for ten minutes. Remove from heat and whisk until thick and smooth. To a third of this add a cup of grated pineapple and distribute between the layers; to the rest, add enough pineapple juice to spread smoothly over the top and sides, and then mix in a third cup of the shredded pineapple to coarse glaze. Before the frosting sets, press a slice of canned pineapple cut into petal-like tips into the center of the cake and place a candied cherry in the center. The pineapple used for the decoration must be well drained of the juice and as dry as possible, so that it sticks to the topping.

spice cupcakes: Take a cup of granulated sugar, add a cup of brown sugar and beat with a cup of butter, add three well-beaten eggs, half a cup of milk. Then slowly mix two and a half cups of flour into which two teaspoons of baking powder have been sifted with one teaspoon of grated nutmeg, one teaspoon of cinnamon, one teaspoon of ground cloves mixed together. Lastly, add a cup of floured raisins. Bake in small pans. These are good left alone or covered in chocolate or white icing.

homemade gingerbread cookies: Put a cup of molasses in a saucepan, add half a cup of brown sugar and cook over low heat until the sugar melts. Dissolve one teaspoon of baking soda in two teaspoons of warm water, add to hot molasses. Now add half a cup of butter that has melted about halfway. Then add, little by little, two cups of flour in which a teaspoon of ginger, a teaspoon of cinnamon and a half teaspoon of nutmeg have been mixed. If it’s too soft, add a little more flour. There should be enough for the snaps to roll out thin. Cut with a small cookie cutter and bake in a quick oven. These snaps should be very crispy. They are delicious with lemonade or fruit drinks.

Pound Cake SandwichesTopping: Add sweet cream to one of the small foil-wrapped cream cheeses, until thin enough to spread evenly, add four coarsely chopped Brazil nuts or six English walnuts and a teaspoon of strawberry jam . Stir until well blended and spread between thin cake slices.

Cheese sticks: These are delicious and easy to pack. Sift a cup of flour with a quarter teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt. Using a knife, chop two tablespoons of butter into the flour, add a cup of grated cheese and a pinch of cayenne pepper and enough cold water to make a stiff paste and roll out very thin. Cut into narrow strips and bake on greased paper in the bottom of an inverted cake pan or shallow dripping pan. Sprinkle a few grains of salt on each finger while it’s still hot.

Pineapple-Lemonade: This can be served here cold. Boil one pound of sugar with six cups of water to form a syrup. Then strain and cool. When it is cold, add the juice of six lemons and one orange and a can of grated pineapple, both the fruit and the juice. Let the mixture get very cold in the refrigerator before pouring it into a thermos.

grape punch: This is a drink that has always been very appreciated when I have taken it to picnics. Make a quarter of the tea -it must be quite strong because it will be very diluted- while it is hot, add two tablespoons of sugar and leave to cool. Then squeeze the strained juice from one and a half medium-sized lemons and add three cups of grape juice. If you like your drinks sweeter, add more sugar.

Fruit-Lemonade: Make two-thirds the amount of strong lemonade you need, and every two cups add a cup of fruit juice from the can or mason jar, or extract fresh fruit by letting it sit in a wide, heavily sugared dish overnight. The berries should be lightly crushed to get the most juice, and the pineapple should be finely crushed. Add some of the crushed berries or pineapple chunks to the thermos or jar before corking.