Patriotic Picnic

 

Although I've lived in the city for twenty plus years I've never been to any of the free outdoor summer concerts at Stern Grove, mainly because I was normally abroad.   But this year was different since I wasn't going overseas for the summer...thanks COVID.  The San Francisco Symphony was performing at the festival this year on the 4th of July and luckily I was able to secure some tickets.  

 

 

 

Stern Grove is one of those venues where bringing a picnic is expected and encouraged and I was totally on board with that.  Lately I've been really into picnics and I love planning out the different kinds of food and drinks that can be enjoyed outdoors.  Food always seems to taste so much better al fresco, doesn't it?   While yummy food and drink is a requirement I also like to make sure the picnic is visually appealing by using nice serving ware.  As the saying goes, we always eat first with our eyes. 

Since the concert was on the 4th of July I wanted to create a Patriotic Picnic to celebrate the red, white and blue holiday.  [Full disclosure: the food wasn't necessarily red, white and blue, but the decor was!]  When assembling a picnic I like to bring a mix of homemade and store bought items and have a variety of offerings.  Tuna fish sandwiches and some of the desserts (buttermilk panna cotta, Mackles'mores  cookies) were made by yours truly and the rest of the foods (cheese, charcuterie, dip, fruit, crackers) were store bought. 

 

 

No picnic is complete without a cocktail and the one that epitomizes summer to me is a Pimm's Cup.  A British classic, it's one of my favorite summertime drinks and always reminds me of England and Wimbledon.  If you've never had it before it's made with Pimm's, a gin-based liquor, which is mixed with lemon-lime soda, fruits and ice.  I usually tell people it's like a British sangria because it's so light and refreshing.

 

The symphony concert and patriotic picnic were a great success (several guests sitting nearby even commented how impressed they were with the spread!).  If only the temperatures hadn't been in the low 60s and overcast, but that's a typical San Francisco summer for you!

Picnic Basket: Anthropologie

Picnic Blanket: Old Navy

EnamelWare: Cost Plus  

Patriotic Pound Cake

I think it's safe to say this Memorial Day Weekend is unlike any we have ever known due to shelter in place and, of course, the Bay Area weather is forecast to be glorious and sunny.  But hey-ho, no use getting down about it, right?  I'll still enjoy the lovely weather, albeit from a safe social distance!

 

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of the summer season here in the US and I wanted to make something patriotic to celebrate the holiday.  In the past I've made blueberry pies with a star cutout crust or Ina Garten's festive flag cake.  This year I decided to try my hand at making a Patriotic Pound Cake.  I love a good marble cake with swirls of different colored batter so why not try it in the iconic red, white and blue?

I started with the Martha Stewart Living recipe for three-layer pound cake because it has the most delicious texture and crumb using the reverse creaming method.  I omitted the chocolate ingredients and tinted 1/3 of the vanilla cake with red or blue gel food coloring.   To create the marble effect there are quite a few different techniques, but for this cake I used small ice cream scoops to portion each of the colored batters into the loaf pan.  Use a sharp knife to slice the pound cake and I guarantee you'll be delighted with the patriotic swirls!

Hope everyone has a fun, safe and healthy Memorial Day Weekend!