Packing a Picnic

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The weather is just absolutely perfect right now to get outside and enjoy a lovely picnic with your friends and family.  Here are a few tips for packing that picnic basket:

Choose foods that travel well and don’t require more than one utensil to eat

Pack the plates and utensils

Pack last what you will need first - like the picnic blanket

If your food requires cutting – do it at home and then wrap tightly

Pack cold foods in a small cooler so they stay cold

Remember:

Cups and glasses

Napkins

Salt and pepper

Trash bags

Citronella candles

Corkscrew

ENJOY!

Going to the lake...

Friend: "What are you doing this weekend?"

Me: "Going to the lake"

Friend: "AGAIN?"

But a weekend at the lake is something special - even if it is every weekend. A Saturday at home is very different than a Saturday at the lake. A Saturday morning at home is heading to the grocery store with a list and then Target, maybe even Home Depot. Saturday morning at the lake is getting out early with the fishing poles or just taking your coffee down by the water in the adirondack chair.

Saturday afternoon at home is watching your kids run out the door to be with their friends for the day and probably the night. Saturday afternoon at the lake is packing up the boat with the cooler, snacks, rafts, noodles, snorkel masks and most importantly the kids.

Saturday nights at home are in the kitchen preparing dinner or maybe ordering a pizza. Saturday nights at the lake are picking up fish and chips from town and bringing them down to the beach to watch the sunset or having long alfresco dinners on the deck until its time to start the bonfire.

Sundays at the lake are pretty much the same except with maybe the added benefit of bloody mary's and long bike rides- so Target and Home Depot will have to wait - this weekend I am "going to the lake".

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Fresh Flowers

Is there anything more beautiful around the house then fresh flowers? Whether you are picking your own or buying them from the market, here are a few tips to keep them looking fresh and gorgeous.

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From your cutting garden:

1. If you are picking your own try to do it in the early part of the day before the sun starts to drain them.

2. Bring a bucket of water and put the stems in as soon as you cut them.

3. Pick the flowers that haven't bloomed completely yet so they will last longer

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From the market:

1. Cut all of the stems on a diagonal

2. Take off any leaves that will be under the water line in you vase

3. Snip off thorns and remove damaged petals

Use tepid water

Add floral nutrients

Change the water regularly

Before Summer is Over...

There is no denying that summer is fleeting but before it is over why don't you...

  

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Go Outside and Read an Entire Book

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 Dip Your Toes in the Water

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Go For a Bike Ride

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Listen to the Ocean in a Seashell

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Eat an Ice Cream Cone

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Go Skinny Dipping

"Summer's lease hath all too short a date"

- William Shakesperare

Grilled Corn

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Is there anything better than fresh corn in the summer! Nothing completes a summer meal or barbeque like grilled corn and here is a great way to add some zip to yours:

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Need:

Fresh ears of corn

Lime

Butter

Sea salt

Chili powder

Ice cubes

1.  Shuck the corn. Put the ears in pairs on pieces of foil and fold the edges.
2.  Put a piece of lime and butter on each ear and then sprinkle with chili powder and sea salt.
3.  Put two ice cubes on each pair of corn and fold up the foil into a packet.
4.  Place the packets of corn onto the grill and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

ENJOY!

Adirondack Chairs

Photo by Rare Brick

The first Adirondack chair was created in 1903 on the banks of Lake Champlain near the Adirondack Mountains by a man named Thomas Lee who wanted his family cottage to have comfortable lawn chairs to sit on in the summer. 

One of my favorite memories of our summer cottage was the original white Adirondack chairs that were perfectly placed - looking out to the lake.  I spent hours reading and daydreaming in those chairs and I remember my parents and their friends taking them over at cocktail hour.   

The Adirondack chair has certainly gone through some changes in the past 100 years but it is still the same recognizable, comfortable chair that almost anyone would want to relax in at a summer cottage, by the water with a book or in a circle with friends watching the sunset.

Photo by Rare Brick

Watermelon Sorbet

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To me melons are the official fruit of summer as nothing tastes better or keeps you nutritionally hydrated on hot days since they are water saturated.  My personal favorite is watermelon and here is a fun way to enjoy it and keep cool:

 Watermelon Sorbet

Half of a watermelon sliced lengthwise
Small can of frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed and undiluted
Large can of crushed pineapple, undrained
Sugar to taste
Fresh mint sprigs for garnish

1.  Scoop the watermelon flesh and put it in a blender or food processor.  Process it until it is smooth.
2.  Pour the puree through a strainer into a bowl, discard the pulp and seeds.
3.  Measure out 8 cups of juice.  Add the lemonade concentrate, pineapple and sugar.  Stir until sugar dissolves.
4.  Pour the mixture into a 13 X 9 inch pan.  Cover with platic wrap and freeze until firm.
5.  Break the frozen mixture into chunks.  Place half of it back in the blender and process until smooth.  Repeat with the second half.

Garnish with fruit or mint and ENJOY!

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