Our friend Holit has had a visitor from the mainland for a couple of weeks and they've done the island in style during this time, but had not had a picnic in a park, so last week we all decided we would meet this weekend for a picnic at Kolekole Beach Park.
My son and I decided to go a bit earlier to see if we could snag one of the smaller pavilions, but the park was full and every pavilion was taken...just as we had decided to 'suck it up' and grab one of the tables in the sun, a family that had been using the smallest pavilion started gathering their stuff to leave, so we grabbed it as they were barely leaving it ;-)
We set the table and Anthony grabbed some newspapers to read while I pulled out my current book to read, and just a few minutes later, Holit and Chuck drove up.
The picnic quilt was a gift made by my sister Sandra with fabrics she bought during one of her visits to the island...
We try to do our Keep it Green part by not using any disposable plates, glasses, flatware or paper napkins...
Anthony & Holit... Chuck also took photos.... Chuck and Holit call each other cousins...their families have been friends since he was 6 years old..
Our menu: my homemade Bread & Butter pickles, carrot, raisins and orange salad, Holit's tahini with corn chips, Chuck's mixed salad, my chicken salad with dried cherries and apples, and I also made a dilled potato salad.
Carrot Salad
Peel carrots, and using the peeler, flake the rest of the carrot into a bowl. Add raisins and orange juice as a dressing.
Dilled Potato Salad
Cut the potatoes into bite size pieces and boil (I don't peel them). Hard boil eggs and cut them in small pieces. Blend the two, add dill pickle relish, mayonnaise and seasonings; I added salt, pepper.
Chicken Salad
I used a rotisserie chicken. Peel off the skin and chop the meat, add chopped green Granny Smith apples and dried cherries, plain Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise, seasoned with salt and pepper and some powdered cumin.
Recipe for the Bread & Butter pickles can be found HERE
(sorry for all the awful signs at the top of the photo - I lost my Photoshop program and can't find a way to crop photos with Picasa)
Anthony, Holit & Chuck - Holit brought coconut macaroons for dessert - sitting at the end of the table - the red mug (was my grandmother's) held individual sugar packs for the green iced tea, if anyone wanted. No one did ;-)
.........and a good time was had by all!
Chuck is leaving our island today...we only said a hui hou, because we know he will be back!