Memorial Day reminds me of the sight of an old car polished with old Mrs. Whalen along the centerpiece of Main Street, the annual parade in my hometown in the 1980s and 1990s. She had lost her children in World War II, in Korea and Vietnam.
The day that officially honors the infants who died in the war also unofficially marks the start of the summer picnic season in the Northeast. His technique makes me need the picnics of my youth. There were enough cousins to box kickball groups and enough food to feed a child. army. There were enough folding chairs for the aunts who prepare all this food and the uncles enough so that the kids didn’t have to lift a finger to organize or disrupt the festivities.
As a picnic planner and environmentalist sergeant-at-arms from my circle of relatives, I’ve compiled a list of brain marks to organize the largest picnics with the least environmental impact. I wrote this list here for advantages and mine. I can safely remember the air of solemn silence when Ms. Whalen’s car passed by my circle of relatives sitting on the sidewalk in Lee, Massachusetts, 40 years ago. I regularly why I went down to the basement of my existing house in Brunswick.
Ah, okay, now I do. It was to take out the picnic basket!
Site selection: a position close to public transport or along a greenway so picnics can take the bus or bike. Consider an environment that has sustainable design elements such as rain gardens and local plantations that help reduce runoff and provide habitat for wildlife. you may have staff or volunteers on site to communicate to your organization the benefits the park provides to surrounding ecosystems.
Paperless invitations: While I love receiving mail, in the virtual age, paperless invitations are the most environmentally friendly option, from loose organizational emails or SMS to paid virtual stationery, such as Greenvelope, which offers an exterior-inspired design, calendar synchronization, and meal sharing. RSVP coordination and follow-up: Simplify your paperless group meeting.
Menu planning: It’s convenient to pick up and take ready-made pieces to the grocery store, but those pieces can generate a lot of waste. Instead, make a stop at the farmers market, which will not only produce the most up-to-date products possible, however, it can also offer pieces like oysters and cheese to start the meal, attractive sausages for the grill and cookies and cream for dessert. The growing variety of suppliers in Maine markets has amplified the success of many farmers markets and means you can avoid unnecessary plastic packaging at your picnic.
Greener grills: If your outing is about grilling, you’ll most likely use a charcoal barbecue on site. Cooking with charcoal can release more than 10 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air in an hour. Try greener charcoal briquettes without poisonous additives like charcoal, sodium nitrate, and borax. Coal qualified through the Forest Stewardship Council comes from sustainable forestry or consistent with functions. Use a charcoal home or an electric charcoal lighter instead of a lighter liquid to run your grill.
Beverages: Aluminum cans are larger than plastic bottles for single-portion soft drinks, but bulk hydration is your choice. Fill giant fridges with ice water, tea, lemonade or homemade cocktails, and if you serve beer, use growls or press a keg.
Equipment: Ask your visitors to bring their own reusable utensils, plates, cups and cloth towels, as well as food delivery equipment. If you want to use disposable items, use compostable dishes and utensils.
Decoration: Decorate the tables with reusable tablecloths and fresh flowers in jars of jam and sauce for reused pasta.
Entertainment: Think frisbees made from recycled materials, cornhole sets made from reclaimed wood, and binoculars for bird watching. Create a treasure hunt list and ask participants to take photos on their phones to take items from their surroundings, unless the items are trash. Of course.
Cleanliness: the waste of your picnic will be minimal. But bring a compostable garbage bag to pick up the leftover food, as feeding the local is a bad idea. However, leaving the position in better condition than you discovered it is a wonderful idea, so pick up the trash you see, even if you didn’t put it there in the first position.
Christine Burns Rudalevige is a food writer, recipe developer, tester and cook in Brunswick, and “Green Plate Special,” an Islandport Press cookbook based on those columns. You can contact her at: [email protected]
Poke Cake with raspberries and lemon
Here’s my original edition of the Jell-O and Duncan Hines Poke cake my mother prepared for the summer picnics when I developed. It’s light, refreshing and reminiscent of incredibly satisfied mothers. If I have a suitable jam on hand, I will spread a layer over the cake before glazing it with whipped cream. Find the recipe for undeniable raspberry syrup and thyme in my April 18, 2021 column.
Serves 12 widely
FOR THE CAKE:
FOR GELATIN SYRUP
FOR ICE FORMATION:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and enharina a mold of thirteen x nine inches.
To make the cake, flour, yeast, baking soda, salt and zest in a bowl. Mix the milk, vegetable oil and lemon juice in a measuring cup. Beat and book.
In the drummer’s bowl at the base with the paddle, whisk the softened butter at medium speed until smooth. Gradually increase the sugar while the device is running. Once all the sugar has been loaded, increasing the speed up and beating until the aggregate is smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until the yolk of the yolk disappears into the dough before loading the next.
You can also load the added flour and the aggregate of milk into a bowl, churning to mix after loading.
Pour the dough into the ready mold through the most sensitive ling with the back of a spoon, cook in the preheated oven until a stick inserted in the middle comes out white and the most sensitive is golden, for 27 to 30 minutes. cool to room temperature.
To make the gelatin syrup, pour the undeniable syrup into a measuring cup and sprinkle gelatin. Let the jelly bloom. Whipped in hot water until the aggregate is soft. Use a skewer to drill holes in periods of 1/2 inch over the entire cooled cake. Slowly pour the gelatin syrup over the cake, taking care that it leaks a little into perforated hole Refrigerate the cake for at least four hours.
To glaze the cake, beat the cream in a bowl without blood to form fluffy peaks, add the mascarpone and sugar and beat until the cream has compact peaks, spread the cream in a uniform layer on the most sensitive part of the cake. Berries. Refrigerate until the time of serving.
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