"picnic" news and stories

The 4-star Storrs Hall Hotel in England's Lake District is offering what appears to be the UK's priciest picnic lunch. Chef Craig Sherrington put together a group of items that he thinks make up the ideal picnic - assuming that money is no object, since the picnic costs £1,566.60 ( $2,895 US). Picnicker's will dine outdoors on the shores of Lake Windermere on a meal that includes foie gras, Beluga caviar, British rare white beef, Scottish lobster, Waberthwaite Royal Air Dried Ham, Smoked Holker Venison Loin and Smoked Wild Lune Valley Salmon and an exotic fruit trifle with real gold leaf shavings. And since no picnic is complete without a beverage, the luxury meal will be accompanied by bottles of Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne and Chateau Lafite-Rothschild.

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This single-subject cookbook would have been a good one for our picnic day because, even though it's not necessarily the best idea to leave eggs out unrefrigerated on a warm, sunny day, deviled eggs are the must-have picnic food of many, many people. Just ask my grandmother. Deviled Eggs: 50 Recipes from Simple to Sassy is a collection of recipes that makes deviled eggs a little more interesting. It starts out with tips on making the perfect hard-boiled eggs, such as getting the yolks centered in the middle of the white (making the optimal presentation) and keeping the yolks bright yellow. Most of the recipes are short and can be made with ingredients that are already in your pantry or fridge, adding in sun-dried tomatoes, avocado or wasabi. Check out this recipe for "The Devil Made Me Do It" eggs, which are kicked up with habenero sauce and curry powder and are likely to be a hot dish at your next egg-making event.

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As soon as we can all arrange a day off together myself and the gang - all nine of us - are to hire a boat on the Thames and set off for a picnic on some remote bank. Hopefully next week, before the glorious weather we are currently enjoying ends in the inevitable thunder storm. I am going to take this salad along as my contribution to the picnic; it's a Thai Inspired Melon Salad taken from some Sunday newspaper or other. I thought it sounded interesting -

Thai Inspired Melon Salad

• 2 garlic cloves mashed with olive oil
• 1 tbsp liquid honey
• 2 tbsp Thai Fish Sauce
• Juice of two limes and the grated zest
• 1-2 red chillies
• 1 Gala/Ogen melon, peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes
• 2oz/50g unsalted roasted peanuts
• Garnish - plenty of chopped coriander and a little mint

No instructions were given - I guess you just mix the main ingredients together and top with the peanuts and garnish. As for a wine suggestion to accompany; assuming you cannot readily get hold of any Thai wine, I would go for iced water.... or a Singha beer.

These insulated six-pack holders are perfect for road trips. Unlike a cooler or ice chest, they take up no trunk space, but still keep drinks nice and cold. They'll retain heat for hot drinks, too, but I can't think of too many bottled hot drinks that you'd want to carry around. The totes ($20) can hold both bottles and cans, since the neoprene pockets are stretchy, and the ergonomic handle makes the holders to carry if you want to take it to a ballgame or on a hike.

But I'm sure you don't need my suggestions to come up with places that you'd like to take a six-pack to, right?

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I saw this recipe in an old issue of Cooking Light (from 2003) that I had lying around and it immediately caught my eye. Why I didn't make it the first time I saw it, I'll never know, but I'm glad I did it now.

Waldorf salad isn't something that you see too often, but the combination of apples, raisins, celery and walnuts is not only addictive, but crunchy and satisfying. Coleslaw, too, is crunchy and refreshing, which is why it is such a popular side to accompany rich and meaty meals. Of course, both salads are slathered in mayo, so they're not exactly healthy foods despite having low-cal ingredients. This is one of the reasons why I liked the Cooking Light recipe, since it eliminates a lot of the fat but still tastes great. Combining the elements of the two salads into Waldorf Coleslaw worked beautifully.