The Picnic Game

Louise over at Months of Edible Celebrations  is hosting the Picnic Game again this year and I’m joining in.  I’m going to a picnic and I’m bringing:

A - Artichokes Steamed & Dressed w/ Mayonnaise

B - Baked Beans

C - Cauliflower Tabbouleh

D - Dunkin' Donuts - With Maple Syrup & Honey Frosting

E - Eggplant Casserole

F - Frosty Summer Salad with Cranberry, Pineapple & Beets

Frosty Summer Salad with Cranberry, 

Pineapple & Beet

1 16-ounce can jellied cranberry sauce

1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained

3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup heavy cream

1 3-ounce package Philadelphia cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup mayonnaise

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

1 cup pecans, chopped

2 Melissa's Peeled and Steamed Red Beets,

each sliced into four ½” circles

Leaf lettuce

Put cranberry sauce into a medium bowl and crush with a fork.  Stir in pineapple and lemon juice; mix thoroughly, set aside.  Whip cream until stiff; blend in cream cheese, mayonnaise, sugar and nuts.  Beginning with cranberry mixture, alternate layers of cranberry and cream mixtures in 8 5-ounce paper cups (I used Dixie bathroom cups). Place cups into a 9” x 9” pan and place in freezer, freezing until firm. 

When ready to serve, place a cleaned leaf of lettuce on each serving plate.  Using a 2” biscuit cutter, cut a circle out of each beet slice, and place on lettuce leaf.  Remove frozen salad from the freezer and peel away paper cups.  Invert on top of beet slice, pressing down lightly.  Garnish with a spritz of light cream and a sprig of mint.  Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.  Yields: 8

Emeril's Strawberry Lemonade

Louise at Months of Edible Celebrations blog is hosting a picnic, inviting bloggers to celebrate by bringing a full alphabet of picnic treats.  Louise assigned me the letter E for which I'm contributing Emeril's Strawberry Lemonade, an easy, refreshing, and delicious summer beverage.

I'm going on this virtual fantasy picnic, and I'm bringing:

A - Apricot Cobbler from Mae 

B - Banana Cream Pie from Marjie

C - Cherry Bars in a Jar from Barbara
 D- Diva Doggie Bites from Channon
 E - Emeril's Strawberry Lemonade

Other bloggers will be bringing foods from F through Z. Hope you'll stop by and join in the fun.

I love this time of the year when the strawberries are plentiful, and driving up to the farm stand is fragrant with the ripe scent of the newly-picked berries.  Of course, as it's also in the upper nineties with heat indices around 100, I've found one of the best ways to consume the strawberries is in liquid form.  Emeril's Strawberry Lemonade is nectar for the Gods during weather like this; I seriously wanted to dive right in!  Knowing I had a tall glass (okay three glasses, if you must know) waiting for me after spending so much time working in the yard, was incentive alone to keep on going.  This was so delicious that I'm going to serve it at my Ladies' Luncheon later in the month - they will LOVE it!  I'm also going to experiment with raspberries and blackberries, in place of the strawberries. I'll let you know how that works out.  In the meantime, whip up a batch of this.  You can't go wrong, I promise you.

Emeril's Strawberry Lemonade
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
2 cups cold sparkling water or club soda
Ice
Mint sprigs, garnish
Whole strawberries, garnish


In a medium saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon peel and lemon juice, stir, and remove from the heat. Let cool completely, then strain into a clean pitcher.

In a blender, puree the pint of strawberries and add to the pitcher with the lemon juice. Stir well to combine and refrigerate until well chilled.  Add the sparkling water and stir well. Pour over glasses filled with ice and serve, garnished with mint and strawberries.

This post is linked to: 
Tuesdays at the Table, Tasty Tuesdays, Made from Scratch Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits, and Celebrate Summer Seasonal Party