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Posts Tagged "food"
We all know that summertime is all about outdoor parties and outdoor living. The Adventure School is all about both of those things too, and that can only mean one thing: PICNICS Bring a fabulous blanket - This can be anything from a classic Pendleton to a patterned sheet not currently in use on your bed. Also, consider bringing two; picnics have a tendency to grow. Pack it up – The obvious choice would here would be a picturesque wicker basket, but if you don’t have one on hand, try a big tote bag. We favor the L.L. Bean Boat and Tote model. If you want to get really fancy, you can even get the bag monogrammed as a picnic birthday gift. Use The Real Deal – Clunky plastic picnic sets and disposable dinnerware are for babies! Real picnicers bring real cups and plates from home. It makes a difference both aesthetically, environmentally, and gustatorily . No one likes to put those weird rounded forks in their mouths, and everyone knows those plastic knifes couldn’t cut babyfood. But, if you’re still not sold on the idea of lugging around ceramic and glassware, bring some plastic champagne cups that disconncet at the stem, which you can find at Cash n’ Carry as well as a set of cute melamine plates. Plan an Easy To Eat Meal – Pack food that’s both easy to assemble and consume: sandwiches, cheese and crackers, whole fruits, focaccia, hummus, vegetables, pita chips, cookies, bars…any self-contained item will do well. Accompanied by a simple garnish like good mustard or basil leaves, you’ll be set. But do bring a Swiss Army Knife all the same; you never know. Decorations – Doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but having a picnic centerpiece is always nice. Bring flowers or pick some along the way. You can transform an empty bottle into a vase, or bring one along. If you plan to picnic under a tree, bring things to hang from the branches like paper lanterns or garlands (Aviva’s favorite). And obviously, if your picnic will stretch into the dark hours, you’ll need some candles. Tealights work well, but you can also make on-the-cheap taper holders out of individually-cut egg carton compartments turned upside down. Just cut out a small circle in the cardboard, wrap some cellophane around the taper, and viola, instant mood lighting. The outdoors are also filled with natural centerpieces waiting to be born. Rocks, bark, pine cones– the world is your oyster. Group Activities! – Plan some! Cori and Aviva recommend animal spirit card readings for all. I recommend interpretative dance-off contests, Iron Chef style. You collectively pick one item from the picnic and each team creates a dance around that item. We did this at a birthday picnic with balloons a few years back. My team won with an inspired interpretation of a birth cycle complete with water breaking, painful child labor, nurture through childhood, and the eventual release of our balloons-babies into the atmosphere to strike out on their own. That dance was pretty much the highlight of my life. * On a related note, bring a picnic to the Cal Anderson 4th of July party this Saturday! Or rather, bring your own victuals and supplement them with viands from Wandering Weiners or Via Tribunali, who will both be in attendance.
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At the Adventure School we are on a never-ending quest to become greener, cleaner, and generally more conscientious beings. We also like to give credit when credit’s due to the people who are doing cool things to help all of us become better inhabitants of the planet Earth. Buster McLeod (also the author of one of our favorite blogs, Enjoymentland) is one such person. Buster’s contribution is ultra-modern and ultra-cool because it comes in the form of an iPhone application. His application, called Locavore, helps users figure out what produce is in season on a state-by-state basis. Buster got the idea to create Locavore from Barbara Kingsolver’s bestseller Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, an account of the year when Kingsolver and her hardcore family ate only locally produced food or food they’d grown themselves. Buster’s app comes in handy if you ever find yourself in Pike Place Market looking at a colorful array of beautiful fruit, but have no idea which ones were grown in Walla Walla and which were schlepped all the way from Honduras. Locavore finds information about the goods at farmers’ markets near you and general food availability data by collaborating with organizations committed to promoting local food like LocalHarvest.org and The Natural Resources Defense Council. Locavore has the ability to show you what’s coming into season and how much time you have left to buy currently seasonable produce. You can also search by fruit and figure out where you need to go to get a real, honest to goodness, in season pear. Intrigued? Totally sold? Good news. Locavore is available at the iTunes App store for $2.99.
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