I was thinking this week about my own wedding because it was our tenth anniversary! We planned to go back to where we had gotten married every year but that turned out to be only a few times over these past ten years. So, I planned a sweet picnic supper for us to take to the Fort Roberdeau. I actually planned this for my whole family and thought it would be special for the boys to see one of our favorite spots on earth. 

I was also thinking about my wedding couples. Those weeks leading up to a wedding have so many last-minute details and plans and emails being sent and checked that the thing that brought you together (the reason for the wedding) often gets put on the back-burner. So, I encourage my couples to have a date in that week or two leading up to the wedding when no wedding plans are allowed to be discussed. This would be the perfect romantic picnic lunch plan for this very situation!

The Menu:

Bruschetta toasts 

Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella, Balsamic appetizers

3-vegetable mini-tray with Ranch Dressing

Pita Bread cut into triangles

Hummus

Deviled Eggs

Fruit platter

Action Plan:

In order to prepare everything as quickly as possible, I worked in a certain order:

1. I cut my French Baguette and my Whole Grain Baguette on a bias, brushed on olive oil and popped them into the oven to toast on baking sheets.

2.  I have an egg steamer, so I put in 6 eggs and ran the steamer.

3. Meanwhile, I washed, cut, and assembled vegetables and ranch dip. I chose these simply - a cucumber from our garden, carrots for the children, and snap peas. I really love the crunch and texture of snap peas for an outside picnic!

4.  Check and alternate trays for the toasts!

5. Wash and cut fruit. I chose cantaloupe for its texture and ability to be cut into larger pieces for size variety in the platter and for aesthetics. The grapes and cherries worked. Blueberries go really well with cantaloupe too. 

6.  Take the toasts out of the oven and allow them to cool a bit on the baking sheets.

7.  Take the eggs out of the steamer. Let them cool a bit.

8. I purchased hummus and placed it into a nicer dish that could travel. Then, I sliced pita bread into triangles and placed that in a dish that could travel.

9. Peel garlic and rub the garlic onto the cooled toasts. Place finished toasts in a dish for travel.

10. Return to the eggs and assemble the filling. I use this recipe. I placed these onto a deviled egg tray, which we had received as a wedding gift and was really special to pull out for this anniversary!

11. Wash basil and tear the leaves. Wash and slice tomatoes. Slice mozzarella and place pieces over the tomato slices. Sprinkle liberally with basil leaf pieces. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic oil around these. Salt and pepper. Cover the dish for travel.

12. Pack up that car (in a box!). Its time for a picnic!

Set-up:

I spread everything out overlooking the landscape. We had actually gotten married in a little clearing of the trees behind where I set up our picnic, but it was 6:30 and I didn't want it to start to get dark where we set up, so we opted for open sky.

Our picnic blanket was a gift not only from someone who was at our wedding, but also was the person who sold us our first house. It was a lovely symbol to carry through this anniversary picnic.

Picnic Time!

While I set up, Brady took the boys over to the spot where our ceremony had been set up and they asked lots of questions about where things would have been. They loved it!

They excitedly came over. I brought real plates and glasses and pretty napkins. I also recommend some type of tray so that you don't have to worry about spilling drinks. The little boys dove in and Brady and I snapped a few photos of us enjoying the evening together. 

Thankful:

We packed up our picnic into the car and enjoyed some time together. We are so thankful to have found each other, so thankful to have these two boys in our lives, so thankful for what the world and our faith has taught us, so thankful to be able to keep working on our marriage, and so thankful for this time away from the daily hustle to remind us of it all.

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