Gray Ajah Midsummer Festival : Picnic food discussion on favorite food and drink recipes for a picnic

[Cairos]

Welcome to the Gray Ajah Midsummer Festival!!!

I am Cairos Sedai and I am the offical chef of the Gray Ajah! This week we will be having a DM picnic discussion on favorite food and drinks for a picnic. You can be simple or complex with the recipes. The scene is ready for a lovely picnic! We are out in a big open park with green grass and bright blue skies. The blankets are on the grass all laid out in all 7 colors for each Ajah.

Please provide your favorite food and drink recipe for a picnic!!!

I'll start off!

Pesto Chicken Rolls
Season and grill chicken cutlets. Brush lavash or any other wrap-type bread with pesto; layer with the chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and arugula; roll up and cut on the bias.

Grown up limeade
12 limes, 10 roughly chopped, 2 sliced
200g caster sugar
1l bottle soda water
vodka or rum, optional

Lay the lime slices on a tray and freeze for at least an hour. Put the remaining chopped limes (including the skin) in the bowl of a food processor or blender with the sugar and 100ml water. Whizz until really juicy and completely broken down.
Pour the mix through a sieve, so that all the pulpy bits remain and you have lots of juice. Have a taste – if it’s too sour, add a bit more sugar. This can be made 2 days ahead and chilled. Pour into a big jug with lots of ice and the lime slices, and top up with soda water. Serve with a shot of vodka or rum, if you like.

[Elaevia]

I like the sound of that Limeade Cairos - particularly since it can be made ahead1

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

I like to make hobo stuffs like hobo potatoes and meatloaflets, but my favorite is shrimps.

 

you make a good double heavy duty foil envelope, fill it with easy peel big shrimps, a lot of old bay, a bit of butter or bacon grease, a glug of beer or water, seal it up and cook it in the coals of your fire about 5 or 10 mns a side (you can cut a hole to peek for doneness).

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

I also really like marinating tiny filets in garlic and pepper and olive oil and grilling them, and serving on grilled garlic buttered rolls nommy noms.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

oh and this us the blueberry boy bait I showed you, via. I made it this morning substituting namaste gluten free flour fir the flour. is very good.

 

I've see fancy modernized versions of this with butter, and putting it together like a shortcake and using a streusel topping, but to me the beauty if this recipe is the simplicity, cause I can make it in my sleep and any child of 8 could make it, too.

 

 

For the Cake

Ingredients:

Butter for the pan

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon table salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup milk

2 large eggs

3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350° and butter a 9x13-inch baking pan.

 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the oil, milk, and eggs. Mix with an electric mixer for 3 minutes.

 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then evenly sprinkle the blueberries on top.

 

Additional Notes:

If using large frozen blueberries 2 cups works best. If using small (wild) fresh or frozen blueberries, use up to 3 cups.

 

For the Topping

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions:

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle over the blueberries. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes.

[Elgee]

Some Humus would go lovely with salty biscuits or chips (crisps) or raw veggies or basically anything that you want to dip in it. It's quick and easy to make too:

 

Blitz together 2 x 410g tins of chickpeas, 3 cloves garlic, about 1/2 cup of parsley, juice and zest of 2 lemons, 5 ml ground cumin (roasted), about 125 ml olive oil and about 2 tablespoons of tahini. Spoon into a container and make a slight hollow in it. Drizzle some more olive oil in there, and dust with paprika.

 

I like to first blitz together the garlic and some of the lemon zest and juice before adding the rest of the ingredients. The movement and the lemon juice cooks the garlic a bit, and also it lessens the chances of accidentally getting a big bit of raw garlic in it somewhere. I then toss in the stalks of the parsley (never throw that away - it contains most of the taste!), and then everything else.

[Ryrin]

I'm watching this. >.> <.<

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

since we have the blenders out....

 

all the fruit you like, berries, pineapple, mango, peach, banana, anything like that, some frozen nor add ice cubes

 

a little juice, a bit if lime

 

some grenadine is nice

 

way more rum than you think is healthy

 

curaçao is good too

 

a touch of extra sugar to taste

 

blend smooth

 

drink up

[Rasheta Ardashir]

THe lime drink sounds awesome! I have an adult Marshmallow shots 

 

Items needed: 

Marshmallows (the big kind) 

Kahlua or Bailey's

 

What to do

Roast the marshmallows, hallow out the inside, you need to create a cup...pour the Kahlua or Bailey's in the marshmallow...enjoy. :)

 

 

[Harry Potter]

Mini Asparagus Fritters

 

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed, thinly sliced

1/4 cup chopped semi-dried tomatoes

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1 quantity Basic frittata mix

2 tablespoons basil pesto

 

 

Preheat oven to 190°C/170°C fan-forced. Grease two 12-hole, 1 1/2 tablespoon-capacity round-based patty pans.

 

Combine asparagus, tomato and onion in a bowl. Spoon evenly into holes of prepared pan.

 

Make Basic frittata mix. Stir in pesto. Pour over asparagus mixture. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden and set.

 

Easy to prepare, fast cooking time, can be made the night befor or day of

[Cairos]

Dang some of these recipes sounds so yummy right now!

[Elgee]

...

 

way more rum than you think is healthy

 

...

 

Ma likes

[Elgee]

For us, no picnic is complete without little frikkadels (aka little meatballs). Our "normal" type is just beef mince, bread soaked in milk, grated onion, chopped parsley and some spices all mixed together, formed into little balls and then stuck in the oven for a bit, but one of my favourites is the "mystery balls". We call them that because everyone always wants to know what's in them, but we don't tell

 

I'll go get the recipe and post it just now.

[Gudrean]

this thread is making me gain weight just reading it, sounds so yuuuuummmmmy

[Cairos]

I agree with you Gud! All the recipes will go into our recipe book for everybody to use!

[WildTaltos]

i like frikadellen, learnd how to make them when in germany and its prety much first thing now i thinkk to make, that and black pudding, when i have bits of meat to get rid of since conceppt is simple and prety much foollproof. ill usually mix gruond up venison with littlle beef just to add some extra fat to it and throww them together with onions, oats, egg, annd whatevre spices feel like adding. frying them on pan usully makes them more juicy but if im makin alot ill just put them in the oven, they get drier but stilll delicious and plenty greasy to me. i usualy just eyeball everything dependin on how much meat ive ground up, reallly no way you can screw up unlless do somethin insane like put more oats thann meat or thriow ton of eggs in it.

 

anyway iv not gone on many picnics - i eat uotside alot but i dont call it picnic, its just eatingh...that happen be outside. few that might be qualified as a i picnic, usualy simple things, like bring some bread, honey, some sortt of jam, sausage, and cheese, lot of times things iv made my sellf (except for the honey, bees made that). i brought bachstaí once and those are nice to have and relativly easy to make. i usually leave out the grated bits becaus i like them having completly smooth cake-ish consistency so just use mash.

 

i put it togethre using common sense so im not suer measurements, i make my own mash but i gues yuo could buy some if you dont want to try making any yuorself, would save time thogh i dont think would taste as good. basically once have mash i mix in some fluor (usualy about enough to fit in my cupped hand) and an egg or two depenidn on how much mash i have and some onions and spices (usualy i put the spices in to the mash i made alredy, like garlic and pepper). then you just cook them like flour pancake, couple minutes each side on any heatted greasy surface. its prety straightforward so not sure how cuold mess it up even if you dont have exact mesaurements - what you dont reallly want to do is put so much fluor in your mash that it becomes like bread dough, because then it willl become more like potato bannocks than bachstaí lol

[Basel Gill]

The blueberry boy bait is delicious. I had three slices yesterday. Today we brought a whole one to my parents and they also enjoyed it.

[Elgee]

Mystery balls:

 

about 500g (just over a pound) of pork sausages (it mustn't be the over processed, smooth kind - get "farmer's" sausage if you can)

 

1 packet bacon bits, diced small

1 tin water chestnuts

crushed garlic (to taste, but not too much. About 1 or 2 large cloves)

dried bread crumbs (about 2 average slices of bread's worth)

lots and lots of parsley

1 egg, beaten

sweet port or sherry (to taste, really)

Good amount of pepper

If you like salt, add a tiny amount. Just remember that the bacon is already salty, and the pork sausages will be salted too.

 

Blitz all the above except the pork sausage meat together until fine. Squeeze the meat out of the sausages, mix through. Don't overmix - that will give it the texture of rubber balls, not mystery balls, but do make sure everything is mixed through. Let stand in the fridge to develop overnight, preferably, but a good few hours at the least. Form into little bite sized balls and shallow fry or for a healthier and less oily version (haha), just roll in a bit of oil in an oven pan and stick it in the oven at about 180 C for 20 minutes or so (depends on the size of your balls).

[Harry Potter]

Feta and Oregano Muffins

 

2 cups self-raising flour

180g feta, crumbled

1/2 red capsicum, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

 

 

Preheat oven to 210°C. Grease 12 x 1/3 cup muffin pans. Sift 2 cups self-raising flour into a large bowl. Stir in 180g feta, crumbled, 1/2 red capsicum, chopped, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves

 

Combine 1 cup milk, 2 eggs and 1/4 cup olive oil in a jug. Season with salt and pepper. Add to the flour mixture and use a metal spoon stir until just combined

 

Spoon evenly into the pans. Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely

 

Another easy recipe.

[Cairos]

Omg that sounds so yummy right now! I'm so hungry!!!

 

*starts drooling*

[Elgee]

Omg that sounds so yummy right now! I'm so hungry!!!

 

*starts drooling*

 

I echo this! I would eat almost anything if it came with feta, but that really really sounds yummy *grins*

[KassidyRose DaiShan]

Theses ound yummy. 

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

empanadas are very nice for picnics, savory or sweet. no muss no fuss.

[Cairos]

Yes I totally agree and also empanadas are yummy. They are fried and so so delicious.

 

So what would a perfect picnic be?

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

Whatever someone else makes and cleans up after is good :)

 

There should be tables and comfy chairs without torture.

 

There should be icy beverages and a cool pace to nap.