I'm not doing much cooking these days. It's just so hot that I'm not very hungry also the kitchen is too hot to spend much time in. One way to enjoy the summery weather is to get outside. This weekend I went to Golden Gate Park to see one of the last performances of Free Shakepeare in the Park. This year they performed Love's Labour's Lost. Performances begin at 1:30pm so though I didn't feel up to cooking, preparing a picnic was in order.
Picnics are great. Lee and I sometimes go down to a park only four blocks away and have a picnic on the weekend. We have no fewer than three picnic baskets! We also have about three designated picnic blankets. The best one by far is fleece and lined with a waterproof tarp on one side so picnicing on damp grass is never a problem. If you want to get one of these fabulous blankets, go to Sunday Afternoons
For a picnic you can just buy stuff like cheese, salami, fruit, bread and sodas or you can put together some salads. This weekend I made a "mini salad Caprese" I say mini because all the ingredients were in miniature. Cherry tomatoes, mozzarella bocconcini and tiny basil leaves all mixed up with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar and pepper. I also made a pasta salad. I was inspired by the red, yellow and green pasta and so I added green olives and capers, roasted red onions, roasted red and yellow peppers. I dressed it with a sweet onion dressing. I also packed chunks of watermelon. Food just tastes better outdoors. It's a well known fact. And making food for a picnic just seems less like cooking somehow. But it sure is fun.
