Perfecting the picnic

I love picnics. Picnics at the beach. Picnics in the mountains. Picnics at a park. But picnics, in our family, don’t seem to happen enough. This summer (and I’m starting early this weekend), I am going to be more organized about making them happen. Years ago, I tore out a page of recipes in Gourmet magazine on salads in jars, and have always had the best intentions on creating them for picnics. Now I will. Martha Stewart Living recently had a good recipe for a layered tuna niçoise salad, which I will try. Plus I think a deconstructed Greek salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, Kalamata olives and a bell pepper–no lettuce) or mozzarella, tomato and basil would be equally yummy. A baguette, homemade brownies and grapes (always a part of any picnic I make), and fresh lemonade to round it out.

For the salads, I’m going to buy some Weck jars, above,  from a great site, www.acmepartybox.com, which sells other fun, picnic-worthy items such as disposable bamboo tableware and colorful napkins by the roll. (They also sell a great picnic basket, stocked with all the necessaries, which would make a very nice hostess gift.) And I love the striped blanket, above, from Williams Sonoma.

Acme picnic basket

Besides any beach, my other favorite destination is Lake Minnewaska, also above, in upstate Ulster County, New York. You can have a decent hike and then find an empty rock with a 360° view and sit down to lunch. The view is awe-inspiring–on a clear day, you truly feel like you can see forever.