Celebrate the Summer with a Picnic in the Park.
The first warm summer rays are calling you outdoors to have some fun in the sun. Those glorious summer days has us all yearning for a picnic in the park, by the lake, to the outdoor concert nearest you, or at the beach. Over the weekend, we decided on an impromptu picnic in the park. This particular park brought back a wonderful memory – it was where you took our engagement photos. It was nice recalling that day – two years ago.
I whipped up tasty sandwiches, perfect for a summer picnic. I had ciabatta rolls I had bought from Trader Joe’s and included tasty ingredients like sun-dried tomatoes, a thick slice of mozzarella, cheese, and spread some basil pesto. I used my panini maker to make this sandwich warm and toasty – melting all the ingredients together for the perfect picnic sandwich. If you don’t own a panini maker, you can light spray olive oil into a frying pan and grill your sandwich the same way you would a grilled cheese sandwich. To pack our light summer meal, I wrapped the sandwiches in parchment paper. This sandwich is so customizable…you can add spinach or arugula, you can use focaccia bread instead of ciabatta. I thought about using roasted red peppers instead of sun-dried tomatoes but I was concerned the sandwich would turn soggy during the transport.
What else was in our picnic basket? I packed some pita chips, lightly salted with sea salt and to accompany it, I brought some hummus. For our beverage, I brought a bottle of sparkling lemonade. A tip on how to keep your beverages cold is to fill your mason jars with ice cubes. Mason jars with lids are wonderful jars to use and they make transporting items easy and secure.
Enjoy the warm and sunnier days ahead!
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