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Life’s a picnic
For your next meal, get yourself outside and onto a blanket
BY NINA MACLAUGHLIN

Winter in Boston lasted roughly nine months this year. Forget SARS and the flu — cabin fever has been the real epidemic, and we’ve all suffered some of the symptoms. There were times over the past few months, admit it, when you would’ve sooner given someone a swift kick in the shins than a smile. Paranoid and pissy, hot tempered and cold nosed, caged in and cooped up — indoors made us all a little crazy. But finally, cabin fever has given way to spring fever. We’re coming back to life, just itching to be outside. And what better way to celebrate the return of warmth than with food, friends, and an afternoon or evening spent barefoot in the grass or on the beach? It’s warm again. Have a picnic.

There’s something relaxing and romantic, informal and elegant about taking a meal from the table and spreading it out on the ground. Picnics are the stuff of lazy days, when watching the clouds is your only responsibility. The proverbial picnic basket serves as the base of any déjeuner sur l’herbe. Hanging from the ceiling of Bowl and Board, you’ll find wooden market baskets ($18–$40) of every size and shape, some just big enough for a baguette and a wedge of Brie, others large enough to hold a full-blown feast for five or six. All open-topped, single-handled, and wooden-woven, these baskets suggest rustic romance. Restoration Hardware’s Woodstrip Picnic Basket ($39), lined with plaid cloth, brings to mind the type of basket Little Red Riding Hood might’ve carried — simple and straightforward, with a wooden top and lots of room for sandwiches and salads.

Once you’ve got the basket, the fun part is filling it. Before the food and drink, there are the picnic practicals: plates, cups, knives, matches, containers, a cutting board, a corkscrew, and everything else you need to make a meal happen. Stash the artichoke salad and pesto chicken in 48-ounce Glad Ware containers ($2.79/five) from Kmart, which also has paper plates ($1.29/100) and Chinet 20-ounce plastic cups ($1.69/20). Carry the lemonade in a Rubbermaid one-gallon Push ’n’ Pour Decanter ($7.29) from Dickson Bros. And a one-liter TherMax Thermos ($29.99), also from Dickson, will keep the clam chowder hot or the gazpacho cool for up to 24 hours (and floats even when full). For picnic-provisions inspiration, check out DeeDee Stovel’s Picnic ($9.95), with 125 recipes, at Crate & Barrel.

You can cover lots of ground with Bowl and Board’s plaid tablecloth ($40), which adds another element of picnic traditionalism. For a harder-wearing, keep-your-bum-dry blanket, there’s C&B’s Ravenna Picnic Blanket ($29.95). The creamy, hand-woven green, blue, and orange stripes are backed with moisture-resistant PVC to keep the damp from soaking through. For added outdoor ambiance, toss some Crate & Barrel tea-light candles ($4.95/50) into the basket.

There’s more to be done at a picnic than sit and eat (although those happen to be our favorite parts). To provide a lo-fi soundtrack for an afternoon spent lounging on the ground, grab a Schylling Harmonica ($4) from Black Ink. If you’re looking to stretch your legs after a sedentary winter, slip a mini-kite in with the feta and lentil dip. The Ireland-based Kite Company handcrafts World Smallest Kites ($16/three, $22/seven) in a variety of shapes and colors, from the classic form to Christmas trees and eagles. To keep bugs away (and the kids busy), try Restoration Hardware’s semi-vicious Zap ’Em Bug Zapper ($15). In between the size of a ping-pong paddle and a badminton racket, the Zapper has a trigger-activated pulsing field that instantly electrifies bothersome bugs and beetles. "No mess, no smell," and bugs are bagged with a quick forehand swipe. And don’t forget a glow-in-the-dark frisbee ($9.50) from EMS.

For those who can’t be bothered with keeping track of all the incidentals, REI has a fully loaded picnic package that eliminates the risk of forgetting the plates or, worse, the corkscrew. The Picnic at Ascot 4 Person Hiker Pack ($115) includes a front compartment with plates, flatware, wine glasses, a cutting board, cheese knife, salt-and-pepper shakers, and checkered napkins, all held in place, in typical outdoor-adventure style, with straps, pockets, and pouches. Because wicker baskets aren’t the most conducive to hiking up mountains, you can toss this pack over your shoulders for comfort and convenience. It’s tidy and complete — all you need to do is come up with the menu.

Where to find it:

• Black Ink, 5 Brattle Street, Cambridge, (617) 497-1221.

• Bowl and Board, 1063 Mass Ave, Cambridge, (617) 661-0350.

• Crate & Barrel, various locations; www.crateandbarrel.com.

• Dickson Bros., 26 Brattle Street, Cambridge, (617) 876-6760.

• Kite Company, www.kitecompany.com.

• Kmart, 400 Western Avenue, Brighton, (617) 562-4492.

• EMS, various locations; www.ems.com.

• REI, 401 Park Drive, Boston, (617) 236-0746.

• Restoration Hardware, various locations, (617) 578-0088; www.restorationhardware.com.



Issue Date: May 9 - 15, 2003


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