Food

How to Plan 

   Mobile meals require little planning and can be as simple or as elegant as you’d like. For outdoor dining in a dash, choose cold deli chicken, crusty bread, fresh fruit and a wedge of cheese. If you have a few minutes to spare, assemble a lunch of savory turkey subs, chilled salad skewers and sweet home-baked treats.

Picnic Pointers:

• Consider packing two containers—a picnic basket for tableware and nonperishable items and a cooler for cold food and beverages.

• To make it easy to get at the items you need when you arrive at your picnic site, pack your basket in reverse order. Place nonperishable food on the bottom, then serving items and tableware, and finally the tablecloth on top.

• No basket? No worries! Load your goodies into a sturdy cardboard box, plastic bin or even a backpack.

• Closely estimate how much food your group will eat to avoid leftovers. Unless they can be kept very cold or very hot, leftovers of perishable items should be thrown away.

• Save extra condiment packets from fast-food restaurants to bring along on your picnic—the packs are ideal for easy outdoor meals.

• Bring along plastic bags to cart home dirty dishes and silverware, and for garbage in case there are no trash barrels at the picnic site.

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Deoca’s Decadency

By: Maren Deoca

Marqued Catering Co.

Often, we pair the flavors of spring with fruits and light desserts that will cool us off as the summer begins to make it’s way towards us, chasing back the moon so that we may play a little bit longer in the sun’s warming rays.  I myself, must admit a partiality to spring and fall, the planting and harvesting seasons offer so much in the way of food.  Today though, I bring a mixture of salty and sweet, light and fruity….to your tables.  Enjoy….and remember it is strawberry season…

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups crushed pretzels (I used the checker shaped ones but you can also use sticks)

¾ cup butter, melted

3 Tbsp. sugar

12 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

12 oz. cool whip, thawed to room temperature

1 (6 oz) box Strawberry Jello

2 cups boiling water

3 cups strawberries, sliced

Directions:

1.Combine melted butter and sugar. Stir in the crushed pretzels. Press evenly on the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Bake at 375 degrees F for 8 minutes. Let cool completely.

2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and cool whip. Beat until smooth. Spread over pretzel crust. Make sure to get the cream mixture tight against the edges of the pan to prevent the jello mixture from seeping through.

3. Dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water, and allow to cool slightly. Add sliced strawberries. Pour over cream layer and put in the fridge for at least 4 hours.