Salmon Skewers: Posh Picnic Fare

My mind is swimming with recipes that I want to try, experiences I want to have, things that I want to photograph. As a day or week develops, I try to think of a good fit for the circumstances to make the most out of life.

For example, we were expecting a beautiful day in the low 70's last week and we had been eating indoors at home a lot lately. I wanted to get us out into the fresh air and I wanted to eat outside. Grilling at home is fun, but if we went to a local park and used their grill, we could enjoy a few hours of cooking and relaxing.

I keep a stash of disposable grill toppers in my picnic supplies. Have you seen these? It lets you use a grill in a public park while giving you a clean surface to grill your food on. 

At home, I cut fresh salmon into equal-size square pieces (so that they would cook at the same rate) and placed them on Press n Seal cling wrap. I put another piece on top and sealed around each piece of fish so that it wouldn't dry out. That way I could bring everything to the park on ice and assemble the skewers on site.

I threaded pieces of lemon, cherry tomatoes and salmon onto cedar skewers that I had soaked in water (so that the wood doesn't catch on fire). On other skewers I threaded fresh mushrooms, zucchini ribbons (cut carefully on a mandolin at home and doused in olive oil) and cherry tomatoes. These vegetable skewers cook faster so I placed them on the grill after the fish had started to cook. I covered the cooking area with non-stick Reynolds Wrap foil to keep the heat in and speed up the cooking. When the fish was cooked, I basted it with a mixture of Dijon mustard and apricot jam. The flavor of the glaze combined with the grilled lemons made the salmon even more delicious.

I brought cooked asparagus from home and placed it in a foil packet on the grill to reheat. I also brought a cold salad of drained canned beets (cut in quarters) mixed with 2 cans of drained mandarin oranges, a splash of olive oil and a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. I transported the cold beet salad double-bagged in gallon Ziploc freezer bags in the cooler on ice. It was a great addition to our meal.

Yes, I brought along a set of melamine dishes, wooden silverware and paper napkins to make the meal look pretty and give us a stable surface to eat from. I always bring along a kitchen trash bag to transport the dirty dishes back home and it works out just fine.

We had such a nice time in the local park listening to the birds chirp and the children squeal from the nearby playground. It was a great start to a summer of fun.

#picnics #seattle #salmononthegrill #momentsofdelight

A Picnic with "Family" at Fort Worden on Olympic Peninsula

We had heard that the Lavender Festival in Sequim, WA was very popular and decided that we would bring a picnic lunch with us, so that we didn't have to rely on a hot dog vendor for lunch. When a town is inundated with tourists, it is hard for the vendors and restaurants to keep up with demand. Our plan was to find a park on the water and eat a nice lunch. 

Our new favorite way to picnic is buy a combo (main dish and 2 sides for $7) at the grocery deli and pack it in my new cold food traveler from Crate and Barrel. We put the grilled chicken breast and cold turkey in a Tupperware container and the rest of the sides (potato salad, pasta salad, brussel sprout salad and beet/orange salad) in the food traveler with ice in the center. Perfect! 

I also brought along tiny oil & balsamic vinegar bottles and a packet of spiced Love olives that I bought at Cost Plus World Market. These items are picnic ready.

We were lucky to find a picnic table in a great spot looking at the water at Fort Worden. A grouping of picnic tables were just outside of a kitchen pavilion. As we were setting up, a women came out to introduce herself and let us know that she had rented the pavilion for a family reunion. We immediately offered to pack up and move when she said, "No, no, I just wanted you to know that more people are coming and that you should play along as a cousin." She was so very nice and ended up giving us maps to the area and encouraged us to return to Fort Worden to explore when we had more time. She works at the park and expounded on all the things there were to explore. There is a marine science center, a gift shop (!) and visitor center. I would love to go back.

As we were finishing lunch, the clouds broke up and we could see the beginnings of some blue sky. A day that was not too hot; just right for an outdoor festival. We packed up and as we left the picnic area, our new relatives waved goodbye and wished us well. We felt like part of the family.

We were expecting to have a long day and looking back now, I can tell you that we left our apartment at 10 am and didn't return until 11 pm - now that's a day trip! A healthy lunch in a peaceful place (and a brand new restroom across the lawn) was just what we needed before we headed into the busy festival traffic. I'll tell you about the lavender festival next.

Leisurely Lattes: Enjoying Marina Beach in Edmonds

After a great Memorial Day picnic in Carkeek Park near Seattle, we decided to "make it a progressive" and drive north to Edmonds and find another park to enjoy our coffee and experience another view. This park is called Marina Beach.

We opened up our 2 camping chairs, poured ourselves some lattes and enjoyed spending time at this this relaxing family beach. The kite boarder was flying in the brisk wind!

This time, the boat traffic was mostly Washington State Ferries. We have plans of taking a ferry on that very route the next weekend to visit a peony farm in Sequim. Stay tuned.