Summer Picnic
As many of you may have seen on social media, a few of my blogger pals and I got together for a cute picnic last week! We had bubbly, delicious recipes with groceries from Jewel-Osco, adorable plates from Elliewood Collections, and tons of monogrammed goodies courtesy of White Elephant Designs.
Erin from Color Me Styled, Jess from The Golden Girl, Kit from The Kittchen, Maya from Charmingly Styled, (Me!), Blair from The Fox & She
How cute are these ice buckets and napkins?!
In true girls night fashion, we popped open the champagne pretty quickly – mostly because my friend Erin made fruit and juice ice cubes that melt right into your drink. What?!? Genius!
You can find out how to make those ice cubes, plus her perfectly summery rose granita on her blog Color Me Styled today!
As for the food, I made one of my favorites – Panzanella Salad. Not only is it super easy to make, but it’s always a crowd pleaser. Plus there’s no cooking involved, so you don’t have to worry about keeping it warm at the picnic.
Ingredients
1 baguette (1 day old)
5 tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 tbsp capers
1 ball of fresh mozzarella
8 large basil leaves
1/4 small red onion
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lemon
salt and pepper
If you bread is fresh, cube it and toast it in the oven – it works just as well! Chop the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, mozzarella and basil. Whisk lemon, balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add your toasted or day old bread cubes to a bowl. Toss with the chopped vegetables and then add the vinaigrette. Add more balsamic if the salad needs more moisture. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes (or your walk to the park) and serve at room temperature!
The salad looks cute on these flamingo plates, right?!
I also made this delicious “caramel” dip, that happens to be raw, vegan, sugar free, dairy free… and, well, healthy! I gotta give credit to The Detoxinista who inspired this perfect picnic addition!
Ingredients
1 cup of soft pitted dates
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp coconut oil
Soak the dates in water for about 20 minutes to soften them – this will make them easier to blend. Drain the dates and add them to a blender with all of the other ingredients. Blend until the mixture is smooth. Chill before your picnic and serve with apple slices!
The perfect snack! Mmm!
The other girls also made some amazing things! Jess made these French picnic sandwiches called Pan Bagnet – isn’t this presentation adorable?!
She made one with ham, swiss and avocado + this caprese one!
She also brought a beautiful blanched crudite and delicious watermelon salad. All of these recipes can be found on her blog, The Golden Girl!
Not only did Erin pick up the booze, she also made an Avocado Pea Spread for Garlic Toasts. You’re gonna want the recipe for this one…
And no picnic is complete without dessert, right?! Maya made this amazing trifle that we all couldn’t get enough of – strawberries and angel food cake and mascarpone cream?! Yes, please! Get the recipe on Charmingly Styled now!
And finally, of course Kit made the most adorable patriotic cookies that tasted just as good as they looked! These creative little beauties are exactly what you should bring to your BBQ this weekend, and you can get the recipe on The Kittchen right now.
In addition to all this amazing food, White Elephant Designs really made the night special. Seriously, everything is gift worthy – especially our new monogrammed napkins!
And how cute are these flamingo and cactus trays?!
Every girl needs GoVino wine glasses. Extra points if it’s monogrammed.
Cheers to a successful picnic!
Thanks again to Jewel-Osco, Elliewood Collections and White Elephant Designs! And of course, thank you to these ladies! If you aren’t following their blogs, start NOW!
Photos by myself, Jess Keys and Mary M Cinema!
June 29, 2015 @ 12:23 pm
This is SO CUTE! Gorgeous photos, delicious food, and I need some of those fun White Elephant Design things. Love!
Annie Reeves
June 29, 2015 @ 12:47 pm
All of the food looks absolutely fabulous!
Alyssa | Glitter and Grey
June 29, 2015 @ 2:06 pm
i'm SO sad i missed this but so happy champs was poured out in my honor in my glass haha! these recipes look AMAZING & i can't wait to use these this weekend! miss you, see you wednesday?! xo
June 29, 2015 @ 8:30 pm
What fun! Your recipes all look amazing 🙂 Especially that dip…YUM!!
June 30, 2015 @ 12:34 am
I miss it already! Lets do it again, yes? xx
July 5, 2015 @ 11:53 pm
Cool post.
the-renaissance-of-inner-fashion.blogspot.co.uk