Four Picnic-Ready Foods to Celebrate the Fourth of July

Picnics are almost as synonymous with the Fourth of July as fireworks. If you plan on spending the Fourth along the river with a basket full of goodies, let us help you out. We dug around for some picnic-ready food that you can easily pack and bring to your Fourth of July shindig.

· Fried chicken
The beauty of fried chicken is that it�s a delicious finger food whether it's hot or cold. But don�t do KFC; go gourmet with Fulton Valley buttermilk fried chicken from soul food spot Brown Sugar Kitchen ($6.50 for two pieces) in Oakland. Chicago�s upscale deli Goddess and Grocer offers a picnic menu that includes fried chicken and buttermilk dressing ($21 per person). If there are vegheads in your party, bring festive red pepper hummus and vegetables.

· Red, white and blue potato salad
Red, white and bluish-purple spuds make a patriot potato salad. Whip up your own side dish with this recipe that you can make the day before.

· Cherry drinks
A hot summer day requires a cool, refreshing drink. Give lemonade a jolt with sweet Bing cherries in this simple recipe. Or, for more adult fun, add alcohol to the proceedings with Bing cherry sangria. Plus, they are totally in season and you can probably substitute the Bing cherries here for good, tart ones if you prefer sour.

· Apple pie cupcakes
Nothing�s more America than apple pie. For a less messy dessert, opt for apple pie cupcakes instead. Society Bakery in Dallas and The Cupcakery (locations vary) have versions of the treat. Crumbs Bake Shop (locations vary) offers two takes on the classic: the caramel apple cupcake�apple cinnamon cake, apple pie filling and vanilla cream cheese frosting with caramel drizzle�and the similar apple cobbler �cake topped with crumbs ($4.50 apiece).

[Photos: arnold | inuyaki, Bon App�tit, California Cherry Advisory Board, Crumbs Bake Shop]

Jaunted

Select a Destination:

Fourth of July Travel / Food Travel / Travel Tips / Lists / Summer Travel / → All Tags