Summer Picnic - with recipes!

Aubrey is one of my ¨forever friends¨ - we met as little-littles, and have supported each other through nearly every ¨first¨ possible. Even though nowadays life steps in to keep us from going over to each other's houses every day (our frequent refrain as children, ¨Mom, can I go over and play???¨), we still connect regularly. After a few canceled dates, due to illness, work commitments and Mariner's traffic, we were finally able to connect last Monday, my day off for working Sunday.

Though Aubrey had a restaurant gift certificate to use up, we opted instead for a picnic. I love an opportunity to use our picnic basket and I wanted to cook/prepare something that would not increase the heat of the 85 degree kitchen nook. The solution? Sandwiches, cherries, Perrier and a white bean salad. I decided to go a little bit fancy with Boursin Roast Beef Sandwiches and Tarragon-Parsley-Thyme Chickpea Salad. So yummy - I was glad that I had leftovers to prepare for Trent and to eat myself the next day.

The sandwiches, inspired by the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, were simple and elegant - spread Boursin cheese over sourdough bread and top with thinly-sliced red onions and deli roast beef. While the ¨recipe¨ called for arugula, I substituted spinach, since I both had it on hand and prefer it to the bitterness of arugula.

The chickpea salad was inspired by this recipe from Simply Recipes (one of my favorite recipe sites).

Dice 2 T red onions. Squeeze half of a lemon over them to cut the sharpness. Drain (but don't rinse) 1 can of chickpeas. Add to the onions. Add 1 T extra virgin olive oil, 2 t red wine vinegar, 1/2 t tarragon, 1/2 t thyme, 1/4-1/2 c chopped fresh parsley and salt and pepper to test.

While I live about a 15 minute walk away from Green Lake, we opted for the shorter 10 minute walk to Meridian Park, where we spread out a Mexican blanket, toasted our over 30 years of friendship and caught up with neighborhood gossip and each other's lives.

I'm thinking there will have to be a lot more picnics in my future!