Calendar says: Spring picnic

Grand Island Dispatch, April 20, 2007

The yard was typically water-soaked on a bright spring morning. The clay soil on much of Grand Island makes for longer indoor days for the youngsters today, much the same as it was for our kids as they were growing up here.

I had set a pot of water out to soak some Great Northern beans. It would take all day before they would be plump enough to parboil. Then while we slept, the beans would bake. They would be ready to eat early Saturday morning.

I hoped for another bright morning. Everyone did.

We got one.

The beans smelled wonderful. I set up the ketchup, mustard and pickle relish and put everything the family needed for the day’s outing into the wicker picnic basket. I wrapped the brown-and-tan ceramic bean pot in a dozen layers of newspaper, and all eight of us were off for a day of fun.

Destination: Beaver Island State Park – a stone’s throw from home.

It was, most likely, a Saturday in late April or early May. The majestic trees were just beginning to leaf out. The air was chilly with no breezes blowing.

Everyone carried something – a jug of water, charcoal, the bean pot, the picnic basket, a bottle of soda or the baseball equipment.

As I sat on the bench, looking at the river, ice chunks drifted by. The family had set up bases and a ballgame was in progress.

From the parking lot, a man in uniform headed toward the ball players.

“Stop! Stop! he called out. “No ball-playing in the park.”

“What are you saying?” I asked. “There is not another soul in the park today.”

“It’s the rules, ma’am,” he answered.

I sighed in disbelief. “Will wonders never cease?”

In that era, there were no ball diamonds at Beaver. Today, we could commandeer one – all of our own – and have done so. Is there anyone as starved for respite from the endless winter or soggy spring who will meet us there, this Saturday?

There are other ways to picnic, you know. How about a mall picnic? Any mall that has a good food court will do. You start by packing enough food for your whole family, but leave out one part of it. Do sandwiches and drink boxes, but don’t take dessert. Or take dessert and drink boxes and leave the sandwich stuff in the refrigerator.

When you get to the mall, walk around to see your favorite storefronts – maybe even buy something. Work up an appetite before you find your table at the food court. Get the fixings out and say, “Oh, dear. I forgot to make sandwiches. What do you think we could do to fill in? Pizza? A hot dog? A salad? Your choice.

“Everyone decide what you want. Come back and tell me how much money you need, then we’ll eat.”

You’ll have fun, and no muddy boots to track yard dirt into the house.

We have a camp in Cattaraugus County that has a no-frills cabin on a wooded hillside. Out front, there is a quarter-acre pond. Summer we swim. Winters we can ice skate. If it gets cold and blustery, we can trek up the hill to the small cabin and sit by the wood stove to warm up and eat lunch.

There are some healthy snacks we have eaten on some outings that were borrowed from Scouts, mostly Girl Scouts, I think.

Campers’ Stew

Utensils:
Heavy duty aluminum foil

Ingredients:
Hamburger meat (1/4-pound per person)
Chopped onion (about a tablespoon per person)
Peeled and sliced carrot (half cup per serving)
Peeled and chunked potato (one each)
Salt and pepper to taste
Water (2 tablespoons per serving)

Start by building a campfire or a barbecue (charcoal or gas-fired)

If it’s a campfire or a charcoal fire, let it burn down to embers. If it’s a gas-fired grill, heat the grill on high, but reduce the heat to low to cook.

Meanwhile, get everyone involved at putting their own packet together, if possible, as follows:

Lay out two sheets of aluminum foil or 15 or 16 inches in length.

First, crumble a portion of hamburger meat in the center of the foil.

Add onion, salt, pepper, carrot and potato. Salt a second time.

Sprinkle your portion with water.

Putting the packet together is crucial. It should be sealed so that it cooks in its own juices and the added water.

So, fold the packet lengthwise in two fold-overs. Then fold the ends in as you would with any package - and do it twice, too. You will end up with a rather compact packet.

Using tongs, place your packet, folded sides up, on the embers. It will cook for about 45 minutes.

The only way to find out if your stew is cooked is to hook it out and, using a hot pad, open it and see.

Often, someone’s packet will leak. Theirs will lose liquid and could brown a bit. Also, if you can smell the stew, it is cooked.

We love it.

Have you had a Walk-Away Salad or Stuffed Celery Sticks? They’re a longtime favorite in our family.

Walk-Away Salad

Per serving, you will need:

1/2 apple
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon raisins or walnuts

Run each apple under cool water. Remove stem, if any.

Cut apple in two. Using a melon-baller, scoop away the blossom end of the apple, then scoop out the core. In the cavity, press in the brown sugar, then the raisins or nuts.

If you will be picnicking, cover each half-apple with plastic wrap and put in your cooler. They are just fine for eating right at home.

For stuffed celery sticks, you must rinse each stalk, pat dry and stuff with softened cream cheese, flavored or plain. I like mine with sliced ripe olives or spread with peanut butter.

And now comes the heart of any picnic – baked beans – though I doubt that your bean put would be welcome at that food court picnic. You might want to do this one this summer.

Boston Baked Beans

1 pound (2 cups) Great Northern Beans
1 small onion, minced
1/8-pound salt pork, scored, or 3 to 4 slices of uncooked bacon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2-teaspoon dry mustard
2 to 4 tablespoons molasses

Rinse and look over beans for any small pieces of stone or dirt

Using the quick boil method to precook the beans, add beans to 8 cups of boiling water. Bring back to a boil for 2 minutes. Take off the burner, cover and let stand for one hour.

Drain off water and rinse beans.

Put beans back into the pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until beans are tender.

Pour into a bean pot or a casserole dish. Put salt pork into center of pot, covering it with beans. Cover pot.

Mix onion, salt and dry mustard in a bowl, adding a cup of hot water and then the molasses.

Bake at 300 degrees for six to eight hours, adding more water, if needed.

Uncover pot for the last hour, bringing the pork to the top of the pot.

Serve hot with chili sauce or ketchup.

Have some fun. Go on a picnic soon.