An Easter Picnic

I'm dreaming of an Easter Picnic.

 A nice, lazy, drive-in-the-country, to a park with shade kind of picnic!

Yes! A Destination Picnic!

Pack a picnic in the car, drive somewhere pretty and lay out a blanket. This is totally do-able for us! 

First of all, we are invited exactly nowhere for Easter. We're completely free from obligation, nowhere to go, so why not a picnic? 

Second reason;  Nobody is coming to our house. My mom, our Aunts and Uncles, our brothers and sisters and friends are, for the most part, back in NJ or distributed across the country. Holiday's for us are only marked by the good china and extra side dishes. You'd never know it was a holiday until you saw the lace tablecloth. We rarely have company. Am I lonely? Nah. I knew what I was doing when I agreed to move far away, I'm good.

 I want this holiday to be more about Celebration and less about Lamentation.

 Third, reason; the weather in Texas in April is Glorious!!! Heaven on Earth! Spring at it's finest!  Really enough of a reason to stand alone as the only reason: Bluebonnets, everywhere! 

So, I'm forming this "relaxing picnic" idea in my mind. Maybe we'll do some Geocaching instead of Egg Hunting.

We've Geocached on Easter before, with success! I have the pictures to prove it! 

Hubby and Daughter 1 Collaborating, Easter, 2010

3 Daughters, NO fighting!

Daughter 3 found a Turtle
We put it back!

Priceless Smile!!

We can work our way  westward on 290 toward Chappell Hill and Brenham. The Bluebonnets will be starting to show and we can take our annual Spring Flower Drive and end up in a nice park.

Texas Bluebonnets on 290

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So the idea of a picnic is growing in my mind, maybe we'll bring the dogs. Maybe a Frisbee, the binoculars.. I have my lists going.. A few folding chairs, a blanket, some Pinot Grigio..

Don't forget the bottle opener! 

The Dream

I don't want to cook or deal with hot food, so I'm going to focus on a cold meats menu. Thank you to my readers for the menu suggestions, this is what we have decided on:

Easter Picnic Menu

Shortbread Cheddar Crackers 

Smoked Gouda, Sharp Cheddar, Sliced Baby Swiss & Brie

Grapes, Olives, Figs & Salami. Grape Tomatoes & Marinated Mozzarella Balls.
Colored Deviled Eggs

Sliced Baked Honey Ham

 Boneless, Cold Fried Chicken

 Cole Slaw 

Macaroni salad

Baked Beans (hot)

Assorted condiments, Rye Bread and Rolls

Treadmill Worthy Brownies

Lavender Lemonade with fresh mint sprigs

White Wine, Bottled Water. Coffee (Thermos)

In order for me to make this picnic as relaxed as possible I must consider my own stress level. If I'm on edge the whole scheme won't go well. You know it's true, if Mom's in a bad mood nobody will have fun. So, a timeline for preparing the dishes in advance is needed:

3 weeks - cheddar crackers - make and freeze. 

2 weeks - bake and slice ham, freeze

 1 week - grocery shop for everything but the bread. Make lemonade, put in mason jars with mint sprigs and freeze.

4 days - pack picnic necessities. Blanket, chairs, dishes, non perishables (see your lists)

         WINE OPENER !!!

3 days - make brownies, slice and wrap in parchment paper and freeze.

Soak chicken in buttermilk (up to 36 hrs)

2 days - start Mac Salad.  Make beans, put into small crock pot in fridge.  Make Cole Slaw.

Day before- buy bread and rolls. Fry chicken, pack in container with paper towels. Remove freezer items in time to thaw. Finish Mac Salad. 

Early morning - plug in crock pot filled with beans. Heat on high for 3 or 4 hours. Make coffee for thermos.

Pack cooler with chilled items, and basket with dry items. 

*Secure lid on beans for safe travel*

The Cheddar Shortbread--

For Christmas my Aunt sent me some delicious herbed shortbread crackers. We loved them so much! I've been researching recipes ever since and 

 I practiced 3 different recipes before I developed my own. I based it off of a recipe I found on dirtygormet.com if you'd like to check out the original you can find it there. We didn't care for quite so much blue cheese so we substituted sharp cheddar, but had to adjust the other ingredients to accommodate the fact that cheddar isn't as mushy as blue cheese. Also, we have big appetites, so I doubled. 

Here's my version:

Cheddar herbed shortbread's

Hippie Crackers

2 sticks butter

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp coarse ground pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp minced rosemary

1 tsp dry minced parsley

2 tsp dried sage, minced

1 tsp dried thyme, minced

2 cups AP flour

                                                 1/2 cup corn starch

                                                 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Mix butter and cheeses in mixer until creamy. Add herbs salt and pepper. Combine. Add flour and corn starch. Pulse to combine. Mixture should be crumbly, but shape able. If its too crumbly add a little butter,  Transfer to work surface and firm into 2 logs Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. Slice into 1/4 inch cookies and press into  grated Parmesan. 

Bake  at 350 for 10 minutes, remove from oven and carefully flip each cookie. Return to oven and bake for 10 more minutes.

The Mac Salad--

This recipe is passed down from my mother-in-law, from her mother-in-law. This was the original macaroni salad recipe used in the family owned deli in the 60's & 70's, The Hilltop Deli, in Sayreville NJ. It's very authentic to what you'd expect to find in a deli. If you're from NJ you know what I mean. If you're not, please trust me, its yummy. 

1 lb elbow macaroni, cooked al dente

1 c white vinegar

1 c white sugar

1 c finely diced bell pepper

1 Tbsp celery seed

2 or 3 big globs of mayo

1 . heat vinegar and sugar on stove until sugar is dissolved, cool

2. toss vinegar sugar mixture with macaroni. refrigerate in freezer bags for several hours, or over night to allow it to set

*NOTE* After soaking its possible for there to be some liquid left, drain out the liquid before next step

3. toss macaroni with peppers and celery seed, add mayo to taste. yummmo!

The Fried Chicken--

Boneless chicken breasts, quartered

And soaked in buttermilk overnight (up to 36 hours)

Remove from buttermilk and shake the following mixture on all pieces both sides. Set on rack for 10 minutes. 

Shake-- 

                 2 Tablespoon Paprika

                 1 T garlic powder

                 2 tsp salt

                 1 tsp cayenne pepper

                1/2 tsp parsley

                1/2 tsp thyme

Dredge in flour and fry in Crisco at 325 for 7 to 9 minutes. Set on rack to dry. 

The Baked Beans --


1 lb dry Navy beans
2 Onions, diced
1 lb Bacon, plus the pan drippings
1 Green Pepper, diced
1 Onion, diced
2 Jalapenos, diced
2 cups ketchup
1 1/2 cups BBQ
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup Honey Mustard
1/2 cup Dark Brown Sugar


My mother in law taught me to make beans from scratch. We use 1 pound of dry navy beans, sorted of rocks and soaked in water overnight.

Drain and rinse the beans well in a colander then set on the stove in a thick bottomed pot with enough water to cover the beans by at least 3 inces. Bring to a gentle boil then reduce and simmer until tender with 2 diced onions. This can take between 2 and 3 hours.

They are done when they're soft

*It is very important to understand that the beans must be completely cooked by the boiling method. They will NOT continue to cook when they're transferred to the baking pan*

Meanwhile, fry a pound of bacon until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and add 1 diced green pepper, 1 diced onion and 2 diced jalapenos. Saute a few minutes until they begin to get soft. 

When beans are done drain the liquid above the beans, leaving the liquid at the level of the beans. Add 2 cups ketchup, 1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup honey mustard 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, 3/4 of the bacon (crumbled), the onion and pepper sauté (including the bacon fat).

Mix well and pour into large baking dish. Top with remaining bacon (crumbled) and bake at 325 for 1 hour or until bubbly. Omg. That's all, just omg.

You can make that in advance, then spoon into your small crock pot insert and refrigerate. Freeze or eat the leftovers. 

The Treadmill Worthy Brownies--

 A few years ago I stumbled across a brownie recipe with a funny name. Treadmill worthy brownies! Funny enough to pique my interest, so I gave them a try. They turned out to be one of those "best kept secret" types of recipes that everyone asks about. They are moist and chewy and reminiscent of an old fashioned bakery style. I cut them into individual servings, press them into course sugar, and wrap them in parchment paper and plastic wrap. For a picnic they are neat, with no cutting needed on site. You can get the recipe, by Gail Welch, at the cooking website, Justapinch.com. 

Treadmill Worthy Brownies


The Lavender Lemonade--

I love this stuff! I cant get enough of it, its pretty, its delicious, its refreshing, and it mixes well with alcohol!  The recipe I use is one that I found on the internet, on a site called Thug Kitchen. If you're offended by foul language DO NOT click the link. If you can look past the cursing, or even enjoy that kind of thing then you can find the recipe here: Thug Kitchen - Lavender Lemonade

Happy Easter!