Life's No Picnic
Written By Ann Hodgman
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The key to a spontaneous outing? Plan ahead.
Recipes
I've never been one of those moms who really knows how to "do" picnics. You know the kind of person I mean. One morning she calls before you're even dressed and says, "It's such a beautiful day — let's take lunch to the playground! We'll meet you there in 20 minutes." Exactly 18 minutes later, she and her children are at the playground unpacking a cooler embossed with the family crest. She's managed to toss together a three-course meal complete with cloth napkins, cheery flatware reserved just for picnics, and a thermos of homemade lemonade. Meanwhile, I'm still at home trying to find something we can sit on. (Do plastic place mats count?) Just as my friend is leaving, my children and I straggle to the playground clutching a paper bag containing a jar of peanut butter, half a box of stale crackers, and one juice box for all of us to share. It's not that I don't have a nice picnic basket. I do; it was a wedding present. But I use it to store old letters, because the thought of combining expensive British wicker, china plates fastened down with leather straps, young children, a diaper bag, and food makes my hair fly off.
How can people say picnics are a carefree way to spend time with your friends when they're so much harder than staying inside your nice safe house talking to your friends on the phone? First, there's the trauma of getting everything packed and unpacked and packed up again.
No, wait. First, there's the trauma of coming up with food that you're going to eat in public, where other parents can judge you. Unfortunately, it's not a picnic without food. And as much as I hate to admit it, the solution is to forget about improvising and do it all ahead of time.
Preparing a picnic in advance may seem like more work, but I've found it's actually easier than being spontaneous. It separates the tasks of cooking and packing into two chunks. When you know the food is all ready, you can devote your attention to digging out those straw plate-holders you were so happy to find at the supermarket last summer. You can get the kids sunscreened up. You'll even have time to mix up a batch of "homemade" lemonade if you want. (Use frozen concentrate, substituting fresh lemon juice for half a can of water and adding some sliced lemons.)
The Ham and Cheese Scones and Lime Squares can be prepared whenever you have time, then tossed in the freezer and pulled out when you need them. Scones are always more fun than a sandwich — they're kid-friendly but show-offy enough to impress adults as well. If, however, you're a die-hard sandwich person, go with Veggie Pinwheels that you can make the night before.
With all this food lying in wait, you're free to call your picnickiest friend and pretend you just came up with the idea of taking the kids to the playground for lunch. When she says she'll meet you in 20 minutes, tell her you can be there in 10.
