On last Saturday, I took a much needed break from technology so that we could head out to our local park and have our very first picnic. The two of us created a list of 10 summer date night ideas and our goal is to cross every single one of those off by the time September rolls around. In order to cross having a picnic off our list, all we needed to do was pick a park and pack up some food.

We were both a little apprehensive about the park I chose for a few reasons. I drive by this park every two weeks on my way home but I’ve never actually visited it before. I was a little worried that the park would be filled with moms and their kids and we wouldn’t have much space to just take in the outdoors and enjoy our picnic together. However, I could not have been more wrong by thinking that!

This park I picked is not the place you’d want to take your kids because there is no playground. Instead it’s filled with trees, an overlook, and a few hiking trails. When we got to the park, there wasn’t a single person in sight! We had our choice of where we wanted to lay down our picnic blanket and we settled on a shady spot beneath a tree.


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When planning our picnic, I knew that I wanted to choose foods that were easy to prepare but incredibly delicious. Our picnic basket was pretty large but I still had to bring along a few things that wouldn’t fit inside. Q thought I overpacked but it’s better to be safe than sorry, right? After picking the perfect spot for our picnic, I kicked off my sandals and we began eating our delicious spread of food together.


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We started off our picnic by enjoying a glass of watermelon + mint lemonade (variation of this recipe) and some pasta salad. I’ll let you in on a little secret too…this is boxed pasta salad but tastes so good! Oh and aren’t those the cutest little mason jar mugs you ever did see?


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After enjoying the pasta salad, we moved onto our sandwiches. These were my favorite part of our picnic, aside from the dessert of course. I purchased these new flatbreads at the grocery store and we filled them with turkey, pepper jack cheese, spring mix lettuce, and caesar dressing! The combination of flavors worked perfectly and I’ve made a few sandwiches just like it since Saturday.


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No picnic is complete without brie + water crackers and it’s one of my favorite snacks. Some people prefer to top their brie with apple slices and others prefer jam. Personally, I love to top my brie with a sweet + spicy kick and love the Blueberry Jalapeno that our grocery store makes. However, recently I’ve really been loving this Raspberry Chipotle spread and it’s the perfect balance of sweet and spicy.


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Finally, we finished up our picnic with hazelnut wafers which were one of my favorite childhood snacks. I was only able to have them at my grandma’s house and they always remind me of her. I also make a really delicious raspberry trifle and Q requested that I make that since it’s his personal favorite.


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This trifle recipe has been passed down from my grandma to my mom, and from my mom to me. I can already tell you it’s one I’ll be making for my kids someday because it’s so simple but incredibly delicious. It’s the one dessert that everyone requests at our family Christmas functions and the one you have to make sure to get a big scoop of the first time, because it doesn’t last long! This Raspberry Trifle in a Jar will definitely be the highlight of your picnic.


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#### Recipe: The Perfect Summertime Picnic

16 oz. tub of Cool Whip, thawed
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 angel food cake
1 can of World Market Raspberry Curd (or raspberry pie filling)
Directions:

Combine thawed cool whip, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon juice in a large bowl. This will be your cream filling.

Tear angel food cake into bite size pieces and layer in the bottom of your mason jar. Next, pour about 1/4 cup of the filling on top of the cake and spread around.

Top the filling with a few spoonfuls of raspberry curd or raspberry pie filling. Spread evenly.


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Continue layering in this order (cake, filling, raspberry) until you reach the top of your mason jars or trifle dish. Garnish with fresh raspberries & refrigerate overnight.



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