More On Picnicking, Vintage Style

We've got another picnic coming up. This one is in conjunction with an apple picking expedition. We pick apples every year, just the two of us, but I know this group is good fun and good company, so we're in. The place we're headed doesn't seem to grow heritage apples, so we'll be making a trip somewhere else on another day to pick up Rhode Island Greenings.

What am I covering this time? Food.

In detail, that is. With an apple picking theme, apples will figure in my menu plans. Here are some of my ideas so far: spicy pork & apple hand pies; pumpkin soup or pumpkin chili; orange-cocoa tea cakes; maybe an apple cake or torte. I make a mean apple pie, but it looks like other people will have that covered, so I'm choosing different things. Another idea is apple marmalade over cream cheese, to be spread on crackers.

Cookies are a picnicking staple. In keeping with the fall theme, crunchy, spicy molasses cookies would be ideal.

For drinks...water, and maybe a whisky cocktail of some kind. There will be cider at the orchards, if we care to buy some.

If you search the blog you'll find pumpkin soup and pumpkin chili recipes and ideas. A word to the wise: if you like a very savory pumpkin taste, allow quite a lot of time for cooking and mellowing of flavors. Vinegars, lemon juice and Worcester sauce are your friends.

As for the pies, cream cheese pastry always answers--I like the one from the New York Times Cookbook. For the filling, cook ground pork with minced onion, cumin, a dash of cinnamon, black pepper, and red pepper flakes; for additional heat, add a few dashes of Tabasco. Deglaze the pan with cider and cook down till the mixture is nearly dry. Allow this to cool before using in the pastry.

Layer this with thin slices of tart, firm apple and very thin slices of onion.

I am also playing with the idea of making a version of a raised pie, complete with jelly added in at the end. That will probably require a hot water pastry--I'll get a recipe from one of my British cookery books.

I haven't yet decided on what to wear but it will be casual, and plaid and wool will certainly play a part. I have great 1940s reproduction dungarees which I might wear, and green and white saddle shoes.

The other thing to remember is some sturdy (empty) baskets--we're bound to find a good farmstand or two, in addition to what's on offer at the orchard's stores.