2009 July 4th Picnic in our Nations Capitol

Being in the DC area has been an interesting one, I am always amazed by all the different events that take place here and how well everything is done with the amounts of people that come here to visit and take part every year. So for this year we decided to venture out to area and check out all the folk festivals and listen to the music and then head out to my work’s rooftop to view the grand finale – Fireworks & Freedom!

First I got some plates to go with the theme of the day and something that I could use again and again for years to come.

Patriotic Plates and Glasses

Recipes for 2 people (It was very filling so maybe 3-4 people!)

This whole picnic came together as a combination of trying to utilize everything in our fridge before expiration and finish leftovers.  

Appetizer -The original plan was to make cheese puffs with some sausage meat. Well turned outI had left the pastry out to thaw for too long, so it was not easy to roll out into neat perfect puffs. So with whatever scraps I could put together I thought maybe a tart could work?

Cheddar & Tomato Tarts

 1 Packet Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastryhttp://www.puffpastry.com/recipes.aspx  (the best stuff and always fail proof unless you let it thaw too much where you can’t roll it out)

1 pound of Sharp Cheddar Cheese Shredded

1 Packet of Cherry Tomatoes

3-4 Tablespoons of Ranch Salad Dressing

Start with the puff pastry and take a little regular baking flour and place it on the counter or cooking board you will be using to roll out the pastry and roll out the pastry flat but not too thin  or else  it breaks apart . Cut into little squares enough to cover your Muffin sheet at the bottom & top of the tart. Then I took the cherry tomatoes and cut them in half, and shredded the block of cheddar cheese.  Next step, I placed the square pieces of puff pastry on my Silicon Muffin Sheet, put the shredded cheddar cheese, then the cherry tomatoes ,a little bit of ranch dressing  and another layer of puff pastry to cover most of the toppings. ( I ran out towards the end because it turned to mush but it still tasted great!)

Salad - This is always great to carry for picnics if you have a mini cooler so that when you’re out there in the hot sun, this will definitely cool you down and taste delicious!

Orange Jumbo Shrimp Salad

1-2 Lb of Frozen Shrimp -you can use fresh and devein each one and remove the shell

2-3 Tablespoon of Kraft’s Mayonnaise made from Olive Oil – It’s their latest product and it is great for salads and healthy too

2 Tablespoon of Orange Juice

2 Cloves of Garlic or some Garlic Powder

1/2 Onion White or Red

1 Sprig of fresh Coriander Leaves

1 Teaspoon of Capers

1 Teaspoon of Crushed Red Pepper (I use this on everything but it’s really optionally and regular pepper would do too)

Take the packet of frozen shrimp and put it in lukewarm water to take that frozen taste out and to remove the tail. frozen shrimp usually is deveined and also has the tail which you want to remove for the salad. Mix garlic, onions, capers, crushed pepper and orange juice and let it marinate till your about to leave and you can add the mayo in to mix in. This lets the flavors get into the shrimp for as long as you can and if you happen to have too much liquid, you can always dump it out and then add the Mmyo to get a creamery salad.

 Entree - This was truly last minute, I wanted to make something else but didn’t have any time. Then I opened fridge to see what else could I make and realized there were a lot of leftover’s and thought it would be a great casserole to make and take with us.

Spicy Beef & Eggplant Pasta Casserole 

This has 3 parts

1 Packet Ground Beef /Turkey

1/2 packet of frozen peas

Some Garlic ,1/2 Onion , crushed pepper, curry powder and alittle bit of soy sauce

I usually have several versions of ground meat, with peas, with an Asian flair or Italian one with Fresh Oregano & Parsley. The trick is to make beforehand and let the flavors sweep deep into the meat, trust me it greats even better than when its first made.

Eggplant – Chop into cubes and stir fry with garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil until cooked . This can be when the eggplant is soft and flavorful.

Pasta – 1/2 a box of macroni pasta or any kind you prefer to eat  and cook the regular way, boil water, cook for 15- 20 mins and drain.

The next step came about because I had alittle bit of all leftover and had a bottle of ricotta cheese that was going to expire in a week. And I had pasta sauce , that was also almost done so I mixed the ricotta cheese with the pasta sauce. Viola lets make a casserole! One layer of meat at the bottom, next ricotta cheese mixed with some pasta sauce , then some pasta and repeat till you finish or fill up the dish you use. Optional – on the top add a mixture of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese .Bake at 400 degrees for 30 mins . Check your oven at 15-20 mins to make sure it does not burn since every oven is different.

Dessert -  The goal was to make something light , sweet and easy to carry in any weather condition.

Strawberry Meringue

2 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 cup

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

4 teaspoon Fresh Strawberry pureed

Take the eggs whites and use an electric mixer to beat it until it is stiff so about 5 mins. Add  cream of tartar, sugar, vanilla extract, and strawberry puree.  Then take your cookie press or  spoonfuls of the mixture on the baking sheet with aluminum foil. Bake 40-50 minutes and top with some strawberry syrup or powder sugar.

To Go

How to carry these for the two of us? Well I thought little Aluminum reusable trays works best and at the Dollar Store you get 3 in one for $2.00. And you can either toss them after your done or reuse them for lunch or other picnics to come. For Dessert I just used a zip lock bags.

Grand Finale!

Tags: Cheddar & Tomato Tarts, Easy to Carry recipes, July 4th Picnic Recipes, Orange Jumbo Shrimp Salad, Patriotic Plates & Cups, Picnic recipes, Spicy Beef & Eggplant Pasta, Strawberry Meringue