Menu Ideas for Outdoor Dinner Parties and PicnicsThere is no end to the variety of foods which go over big at a picnic. Fresh air serves to whet appetites and add zest to the taste of food. When summer approaches, it is a good idea to assemble the picnic equipment and keep it together in one place ready to pick up, when the urge to head for the outdoors comes. The equipment should include dishes which can be packed (plastic or pasteboard), salt and pepper shakers, a can opener and a knife. Keeping all of your picnic essentials in a Collapsible micro fiber framed large picnic basket, insulated If there is to be cooking outdoors a portable grill is ideal. The Weber 1520 Propane Gas Go-Anywhere Grill For a group of coffee lovers an old pot should be included.Table cloths and napkins may be of cotton or butchers paper. You can even use old sheets! Check out the video below for some quick tips on planning for a picnic.
Other picnics are better if at least part of the food is packed individually. For instance, a covered paper cup of salad is easier to serve and manage than a big platter. Individual box lunches cut down on the total amount of food which is prepared for “help-yourself' picnics. Packing the food is important. If sandwiches are made at home, they dry out less when wrapped in aluminum foil than any other material. If a lunch is to be packed for a hot day, it is a good idea to make the sandwiches the night before, wrap in foil and store in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly. Some sandwiches, like mufaletta, are even better the second day. When tomatoes are to be used in sandwiches, it is better to take the whole tomatoes and knife for slicing. Bacon for sandwiches stays more crisp if it is wrapped separately and not with lettuce in a sandwich. Special caution should be taken for the preservation of foods on a hot day. Salads with a cream dressing, deviled eggs, seafood and any combination which contains custard spoils easily and should be refrigerated. Salads can be placed into a well iced container. Deviled eggs can be packed in a jar with wax paper between them. For hot or cold beverages, use a thermos. For picnic lemonade take the lemon juice and sugar syrup. Add water and ice at the picnic site. To make campfire coffee, use one rounded tablespoon of coarsely ground coffee for each cup of water with an extra measure “for the pot.” Tie coffee in cheese cloth. Drop into briskly boiling water. Cover pot and let simmer, not boil, for 5 to 8 minutes. Serve at once. The job can be even more simple with instant coffee which requires only hot water.Tiny individual, picnic packages of salt are on the market now. When preparing a picnic for children, they love their own little lunch. Tie the lunch in a square of cloth and place on the end of a stick for a “hobo” picnic. Cooking outdoors always provides entertainment. Make sure have a grill large enough for your size group. Or plan to "barbecue" some items inside before your guests arrrive. SUGGESTIONS FOR OUTDOOR MENUS Steak, Hamburgers or Frankfurters Cole Slaw and/or Potato Salad Pickles Rolls Chocolate Layer Cake Beverage When the meat has been cooked, split the rolls and toast lightly. Don't forget the butter for this menu. Frankfurters Baked Beans in Casserole Buns Stuffed Celery Catsup Dill Pickles Chilled Watermelon Beverage When carrying a casserole of hot food on a picnic, heat the food sizzling hot in it and wrap with thick layers of newspaper. It will stay hot for hours. For the baked beans, open can and add chopped, sautéed onion, ketchup, brown sugar and tiny cubes of American cheese. Steamed Crabs Cole Slaw Hard Rolls Potato Chips Fruit Beverage For steamed hard crabs, allow 8 to 12 per person. Baked Ham Corn on the Cob Rolls Mixed Vegetable Salad in Individual Cups Praline Cup Cakes Beverage Fried Chicken Potato Salad Deviled Eggs Tomato Wedges Fresh Pineapple Skewers Coconut Layer Cake Beverage *Brunswick Stew Barbecued Spareribs Cole Slaw Corn Dodgers Beverage This meal to be served outside requires an outdoor oven. A corn dodger is a corn muffin mixture which is dropped on a hot greased griddle and fried. Here is a recipe for Brunswick Stew which cannot be improved upon the natives of either of the two states, Virginia and Georgia, which claim to be the “birthplace" of the dish. Frogmore Stew 6 quarts water 3/4 cup Old Bay Seasoning TM 2 pounds new red potatoes 2 pounds hot smoked sausage links, cut into 2 inch pieces 12 ears corn - husked, cleaned and quartered 4 pounds large fresh shrimp, unpeeled 1. Bring water and Old Bay Seasoning to boil in a large stockpot. 2. Add potatoes and cook for 15 minutes. Add sausage and cook for 5 minutes more. Add corn and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in the shrimp and cook until shrimp are pink, about 5 minutes. Drain immediately and serve. *BRUNSWICK STEW 1 large stewing chicken 3 pounds lean veal 3 to 4 bay leaves 4 to 6 medium sized potatoes 4 cups corn (fresh or canned whole grain) 2 large onions chopped 1 quart shelled lima beans (fresh or frozen) 2 No. 2 cans of tomatoes 2 cans tomato paste Salt - Pepper - Tabasco Real Butter Worcestershire Sauce Prepared Mustard Cook the hen and veal in boiling salted water with the ‘bay leaves until the meat is ready to fall from the bones. Cool. Keep liquid. Remove ‘bay leaves. In another pot cook the finely diced peeled potatoes until tender but not mushy. Remove the chicken from the bones and pull into fine slivers with the fingers. Do not use liver, gizzard or skin. Sliver the veal in the same manner. Cook the corn, lima beans and onions together until tender. Mix together in a large pot the chicken, veal, broth,potatoes, corn, onion, lima beans and canned tomatoes. The mixture will be thin, like soup. Simmer together for three or four hours. Add tomato paste. Season with a large lump of butter, salt, pepper, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce and prepared mustard - the only way to do it is to season and taste. Simmer ingredients together for another hour adding water if the stew becomes too thick. Serves 10 to 15. (Skim off excess veal and chicken fat from broth.) *Barbequed Chicken **Roasted Corn Potato Chips Pickles Sliced Tomatoes Stuffed Celery Angel food Cake Beverage *Barbeque half broilers over hot coals. Brush with barbecue sauce as they broil. Make the sauce from a mixture of butter, vinegar, tomato paste, finely chopped onion, brown sugar, salt, Tabasco, black pepper and dry mustard. **To cook corn outdoors, peel back layers of skin without tearing off and remove the silky strands of silk. Put skin back on corn to protect the kernels during the grilling process. Place corn on the grill turning constantly. Some of the corn will turn black but the flavor is excellent. Brush with butter and eat. For more flavor, sprinkle with salt pepper and grated parmigiana cheese. French Rolls stuffed with Honey Chicken Salad Pickles Fresh Fruit Assorted Cookies Beverage
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to keep your food from spoiling makes sense.
is the one I would recommend, even if you are just having a small BBQ in your back yard.
