Summer picnics are a truly fabulous way to get our kids involved in the kitchen. It is almost too easy if you stick with a simple, traditional picnic menu with trail mix, crudités and dip, sandwiches, salad and a simple dessert. The advantages of staying with a cold menu is that you can really get the kids involved, regardless of age, and mom or dad will have more time to relax, play and socialize at the actual picnic. Plus, you don’t have to think about grilling, starting a fire or transporting raw food.
Here are my top ten tips involving the kids and making picnics accessible all summer long!
- Keep a bag stashed in the car with utensils, plates and napkins and wet wipes.
- The kids can make trail mix and clean out the pantry by using up all of the extra bits of pretzels, goldfish, nuts and chocolate leftover from other projects.
- Make a crudités platter together. Kids can snap the ends off of green beans and take the tops off of cherry tomatoes. Adults can chop carrots and celery. Pick up your favorite dip from the deli or farmer’s market and you are good to go!
- Teach the kids how to make their own sandwiches by creating a sandwich bar on the kitchen counter. Pull out all of the ingredients that you want to include and let them make their own. This is a great way to encourage independence.
- Take berries and cream to the next level! Fill empty ice cream cones with berries and whip cream on site. Simply pour 1 cup of whipping cream into a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Add 3 tbsp of sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla to the cream. Screw the lid on tightly. Pack it in the cooler next to an ice pack. Take turns shaking the jar of whipped cream until it has thickened considerably but is still pourable. This takes about 6 to 10 minutes depending on who is doing the shaking.
Guest Writer – Phoebe Schilla
Phoebe dreamed of going to cooking school as a young child, and when she was 19, she was given the opportunity to study at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France. Needless to say she jumped at the chance and hasn’t looked back since. After her return from France she continued her education working in restaurants, and eventually found herself back in Culinary School, this time at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York. She spent two years there, and graduated with an AOS degree in the culinary arts.
The Cordon Bleu and the CIA couldn’t be more different. The two educational styles complemented each other and gave her a well rounded education. As a result, she knows a lot of minutiae about the culinary arts and feels comfortable cooking just about anything. There is nothing that pleases her more than to make something beautiful and fragrant to eat. This is what she was meant to do, and she loves sharing her cooking skills and knowledge with others.
More information and recipes can be found on Phoebe’s website, Studio of Good Living!