Guest Post ~ Anu Gummaraju's Picnic Menu

Please welcome back Anu Gummaraju of Scatter the batter. You saw her wonderful kitchen in my previous Heart(h) and Home post. She is among the most enterprising and enthusiastic momz I know. I am glad she responded to my request for a guest post. I like her ideas and simple tips to make even a simple breakfast real hit!!. For the guest post, she sent in her cool tips and ideas. I loved her write up..I am sure you will too :)


Over to you Anu....
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For some, it means mangoes. Nimbu paani (fressssssshhhhh lime juice) to others. Iced lollies to kids (to me too, matter of fact). Sliced cucumbers sprinkled with salt and chilli powder to still others. Tall cool glasses of iced tea or chaas (flavoured, spiced buttermilk).. well, you get the drift, it's summer time!

Hi,  this is Anu from Scatter the Batter, very sheepishly writing this guest post for Sudha, who's the most patient blogger friend I have . I connected with Sudha over, what else, food! And I was amazed at the other passions that Sudha has and is so committed to. Her green crusade is inspiring. Her design blog manna for the design-soul.  Took me a while to get this down for Avial and Rasam, but I do hope you enjoy it.

I thought and thought about what to write and then said, why not a full fun menu for a summer picnic? We just had one today and it's cool to be sharing some of what we enjoyed picnic-ing on today.

No fun in the sun is complete without ice candy! In fact, it's great to start a picnic with this. Gets the kids in a happy mood. I'd found just the ideal popsicle makers at Howards Storage in Bangalore. The straws are great for slurping up all the melted candy juice. 

Decided to make double flavored candy for double the fun! Poured in litchi juice up to half the level of the Popsicle holders. Froze that. Chilled watermelon juice and poured that over the frozen litchi. Then stuck the sticks in. Froze again. (Tried semi-freezing the litchi first, but this didn't work. When I poured in the watermelon, the litchi part just came floating up, coz it wasn't firmly frozen I guess!) 

Try some fun combinations with contrasting colours like orange and purple grape, litchi and cola.. you get the idea!

For a quick starter, try a light egg scramble on french bread. Saute some onions, add salt and spice according to your taste, then add the eggs and scramble. Finish off with chopped coriander. Keep the french bread ready and sliced, top with the scramble and watch the kids scramble to get their hands on it!

Salads are great starters for a picnic too. Chunks of cucumber and tomatoes - any cool summery veggie you can think of will be great! Use chilled yogurt mixed with a mild spice like a dash of paprika or pepper for the dressing.

Pasta tossed in olive oil, chilli flakes and crushed garlic make a great main course, Also pasta with a mild tomato sauce. I find that loading a picnic basket with cheesy eats makes everyone go off to sleep right after that course on the mats...leaving the rest of the spread badly neglected. It's nice to keep it light!

A dessert of flavored yogurt again would go really well. But we had instant chocolate mousse! You can find the recipe here (http://scatterthebatter.com/2010/07/25/instant-chocolate-mousse/).

The temps did reach the high 30s methinks (C, not F!), but we kept our cool with all the coolness that comes from a perfectly planned picnic basket! Here's to a great summer to ya'll!

And thank you Sudha, for this awesome opportunity to chat with your readers :).

:)

Anu

http://scatterthebatter.com


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Thank you for the lovely post Anu. I am sure the picnic was wonderful :). I am glad you shared your recipes on Avial and Rasam