Hi, I’m Britta from TrailerChix, and today we are traveling up the Columbia River Gorge and we’ve landed at this beautiful vineyard, the Grande Dalles vineyard. The first picnic I’ve put together has a French theme. So I made these delicious sandwiches. They are made from a baguette and then layered in there we have some really nice vinaigrette, some hard- boiled eggs, canned tuna in olive oil, fresh basil, some red onions, red peppers. If tomatoes are in season, those are also good. So then you layer that, wrap it up tightly, and then put heavy weight on it for a couple of hours. And these can be wrapped up for 12 hours. They’re good to go.

When most people think of potato salad, they think of mayonnaise. This is actually a vinaigrette, and it’s really nice fresh tangy flavors. It’s got lots of fresh thyme, a little Dijon mustard, garlic, olive oil; and I packed it in this great Mason jar. And then to finish it off I have some grapes here, which are nice cold refreshing dessert, or you could get some cookies or whatever you like for dessert; a brownie, something delicious. So that’s a great easy picnic, just three things; and it goes perfectly with a nice dry Riesling.

Our second menu is an Italian-themed menu; and it’s going to start out with some olive ciabatta, and I’ve made a white bean and rosemary dip to go with that. And then the entree is going to be a really nice chopped salad. Everything is chopped nicely. It’s something you can prepare ahead, and I’ve layered it in this big jar; some lettuce, red peppers, some cucumbers and celery, marinated fresh mozzarella cheese, some little cherry tomatoes, and at the top there’s a mixture of salami and prosciutto and some black olives. For the salad, all I’m going to do is just pour the vinaigrette on it, kind of shake it around, and then you can toss it a little bit in the jar when you’re serving it. For dessert I’ve brought some nice fresh fruit that’s in season and some mascarpone, which is a nice creamy cheese to dip it into. We just have some strawberries, some apricots, and some fresh bean cherries.

The third and final picnic menu is an Asian-inspired menu. I made some grilled steak last night and I had some leftover, so that goes really nicely on top. It’s a noodle salad with rice noodles, cucumbers, carrots that you peel, radishes, cilantro, some big hit of mint, and some nice salted peanut. And then the dressing is really simple. It’s got the classic components of Vietnamese food that’s salty, sweet, sour, and hot. And you can just pour that on, toss it to eat. It’s perfect.

And then for dessert I just cut up some tangerines and some melon, and this melon has a little extra added deliciousness. I took a little coconut milk and chilled it and mixed in a little lime juice and some brown sugar. So that’s just drizzled on top with a little mint, and that is a beautiful Asian-inspired picnic lunch great with a dry soda. If you don’t want to drink–maybe you’re on the road and you don’t want to drink and drive, it’s always great to have this soda. It’s specifically made to pair with food and not too sweet. So that’s a really nice pairing.