Recipes

[GCR18]

We have a big picnic at work every summer with salads with mayo and they are fine. The food is kept in a pavilion in a tray with ice. Instead of having to worry about keeping another dish cool, cookies are a good option. We have a platter with oversized cookies.

[AnneMary]

Cookies and a big bowl of cut-up fruit, both fresh and canned, like mandarin slices and pineapple chunks. Then drizzle a bit of defrosted frozen orange juice concentrate over it.......not a lot. Stir around and stir just before serving. Cool and delicious. It will not taste entirely like the orange juice concentrate because first of all you haven't drizzled that much of it on the fruits, and secondly, the fruits still retain their individual fresh flavors.

[sue-p]

I think that having a table where they are giving out slices of watermelon would be fun for all ages. A man with a sharp knife could be there to cut a slice whatever size you like, thick or thin, large or small. What could be more summer?

[Luvtoshopathome]

On 7/20/2014 birkin baby said:

I also think an Italian dressing pasta salad would be good. ...cheese tortellini, Cubed mozzarella or provolone cheese,pepperoni,black olives,red onion, red /green peppers. Yum. Sometimes I like to use the Vidalia onion salad dressing ...(it's Ken' s brand) instead of Italian.

I made that for our church's anniversary barbeque and it was gone in minutes but we didn't have 200 people. It gets to be quite expensive making it for that many people.

[Luvtoshopathome]

Thanks for the ideas. Bean salad sounds good and so do the baked beans. I suggested watermelon but the head one in charge nixed that idea. I was thinking of a couple of sheet cakes cut in squares because no one is bringing dessert. I wanted to make something different than the ordinary plain sheet cake. Now remember there will be at least 200 people.

[Longtallsally]

Make ice cream cone cupcakes. At Walmart a box of 24 cones is around $2.00. It is something that is easy to eat at a picnic. It won't cost you a lot to make. You put the cones in a cupcake pan, fill with cake batter. You can icing them or not. I use to make them for my My girls birthday parties. No utensils or plates needed.

[Luvtoshopathome]

On 7/20/2014 Longtallsally said: Make ice cream cone cupcakes. At Walmart a box of 24 cones is around $2.00. It is something that is easy to eat at a picnic. It won't cost you a lot to make. You put the cones in a cupcake pan, fill with cake batter. You can icing them or not. I use to make them for my My girls birthday parties. No utensils or plates needed.

Thanks, that's a great idea. How do I get that many to stand up?

[Longtallsally]

I tried to copy and paste from the internet, I couldn't figure out how to do it. I used cupcake pans to stand them in. If you go to search on the internet it has many ways to do it. I just typed in " cupcakes made with ice cream cones." I hope that helps. Good luck with your picnic. Cupcake pans for baking. Hope I'm not confusing you.

[Longtallsally]

To travel with? I used boxes. They stood up very well. They packed tightly to keep them from falling.

[DiamondGirly]

The Pioneer Woman's recipe for The Best Chocolate Cake Ever got lots of great reviews, and Soushi24 posted it and gave a great review on the "Kitchen and Food Talk" thread here. I found it quite some time ago, but I haven't made it yet. It's made in a jelly roll pan, so it would serve many people. You can search the recipe over there <------ to see what Soushi24 said, if you'd like. Here's The Pioneer Woman's link to her recipe if you want to see steps on how she did it:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_chocol/

The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever.

FOR THE CAKE:

2 cups Flour

2 cups Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Salt

4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa

2 sticks Butter

1 cup Boiling Water

1/2 cup Buttermilk (she made her own and tells how)

2 whole Beaten Eggs

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Vanilla

_____

FOR FROSTING:

1/2 cup Finely Chopped Pecans

1-3/4 stick Butter

4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa

6 Tablespoons Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Note: I use an 18x13 sheet cake pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

Cut into squares, eat, and totally wig out over the fact that you’ve just made the best chocolate sheet cake. Ever.