The Picnic: Recipes and Inspiration from Basket to Blan… (2024)

If you'd like to host a very pretentious picnic requiring you to shop at high-end specialty markets for artisanal ingredients, schlep tons of vintage dishware and cutlery to a public location, and arrange everything just so on Turkish towel from Anthropologie purchased specially for the occasion... this may be the cookbook for you. Please do not invite me, though. I'll be across the way enjoying an egg salad sandwich, a can of orange Fanta, and all the energy I didn't waste on preparing food to eat on the literal ground.

All respect to anyone who does want to do this; I am clearly not the target demographic for this book and I'm sure elaborate picnics are fun if that's your thing. I did grab a few recipes from the book, but if I do make them it definitely won't be for a picnic.

My Cook Book Club pick for June. Who doesn't love a good picnic?

These are not recipes for spur of the moment picnics, but a perfect for a planned event that you want to be special. Besides the recipes, the author offers tips on carrying vessels for food and games to play.

I am making Melon Gazpacho for the pot-lock meeting

Utterly delightful! Cute cover, wonderful enthusiasm regarding picnics, delicious recipes, and some great tips that even I, the consummate picnic host, hadn't thought of. It's the perfect summer book.

4 stars simply because I'm delighted this book exists. The recipes are fine, but the most charming feature is the authors's overly optimistic approach to life: better living through frequent picnics. My favorite bit suggests that if one has forgotten one's alcohol permit, "be sure to sip discreetly. Premix your co*cktails in bottles, avoid drinking out of stemware, and should those methods fail, offer the friendly officer a sincere apology and a bite to eat." What a world in which the law can be assuaged by chicken salad sandwiches! I want to live there.

This is a beautifully made book. The cover is sturdy and detailed in a embossed picture of a picnic basket blooming into flowers. Even the colors they choose bring to mind a summers day picnic. If this book doesn't inspire you to take a picnic, you might be dead. And while I'm not a fan of the style of the illustrations, they are well done and do not distract from the words and theme. They feel like the best fit for the book. The pages are a glossy, thick paper that one will love to turn the page or lay a hand on... it's a gorgeous book. One that all should be proud of who were involved in it's creation. It also has good information about How To Picnic. something that I've recently become a bit obsessed with. I had my first picnic after reading this book and both my toddler (2) and my mother (60s) were in awe of and found magical. I owe this in part to this book. I can't wait to get more picnics under my belt! I highly recommend this book to all picnic lovers, outdoor enthusiasts who might like a laid back adventure, and any people who eat food ;)

Edited to add: I don't intend to spend time cooking for my picnics. I took note of cheese pairings, suggested items, etc. all that can be purchased from my local grocer. We have two good gourmet grocery stores that I can save time and energy by shopping at. So I can't attest to the recipes skill level or appeal. I used them for inspiration, from which came a lot!!

After about a decade of not doing so, I’ve been picnicking more this year. It makes sense to do so when you’re going to be out in nature with friends and there are budget constraints, dietary concerns, and nowhere to eat nearby because you’re hiking.
This book came along at the right time and piqued my interest. It is definitely delightful and fun. However!
As a Destination Picnic book, it is clearly for professional picnickers, not for laze-abouts like me.
Even so, there are easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions on creating themed picnics as well as some amazing-sounding recipes. I keep trying to remember to make the MELON GAZPACHO.

If you're an armchair picnicker, you'll enjoy this. If you have tons of spare time on your hands and love to make food things, you'll enjoy this. If you plan picnic parties, this will be your bible. For the rest of us, this book exists to make us feel like losers but we'll like reading it, nonetheless.

This book is beyond pretentious- how to pick a blanket? Get a grip.
All the recipes require insane prep which is usually not what picnicking is about. If you want to make your own mayo in order to make some deviled eggs this is your kind of micro-recipe manual.

This is a ridiculous book, in a good and not so good way.

If you have no interest in picnicking, you should not read this book. If the idea of organizing or attending an outdoor meal on a blanket, with pretentious food makes you roll your eyes, don't read this book.

I do not intend to have a picnic, and haven't had one since 2011. Honestly, it feels pointless for ME because if I want to eat outside I will do it in my backyard. But I can see how the idea of picnics is very appealing to some people.

This book is mainly recipes and co*cktails, with some occasional useless info such as how to dress properly for a picnic. It gives good advice such as making sure you have a permit if you plan to picnic in a large group in a public space. But their advice about sneakily drinking alcohol does not sit well with me. Where I live you can't drink alcohol in any public place unless that place has a liquor license. So if you are caught drinking in a park, an officer will order you to dump out ALL your alcohol and hopefully let you off with a warning. Or they give you a hefty ticket. Honestly, it is better to just not drink alcohol than to risk having it disposed of/receiving a fine.

This book really doesn't have any useful info for me, as I am a pretty picky eater so I likely won't try any recipes. But it did give me some good party food ideas.

If you are someone who idealizes the cottagecore lifestyle you will probably enjoy this book. If you are sick of being separated from friends and family due to the pandemic and want some fun party ideas, you will probably like this book. If you enjoy hosting guests and serving fancy (snobby) food, you will enjoy this book.

Overall, it was a fine read but I'm glad I borrowed it from the library instead of buying it.

The Picnic: Recipes and Inspiration from Basket to Blanket is a charming little recipe book produced by Marnie Hanel, a founder of the Portland Picnic Society. It is divided into six sections: From Blanket to Basket, Bites, Salads, Plates, Sweets, and Sips. The sections give prospective picnickers tips on everything from how to select an ideal spot to how to create a delightfully themed afternoon through select recipes. There are no photos in the recipe book, but it is full of whimsical illustrations by Emily Isabella.

I first heard about this book on The Splendid Table in 2005. I would recommend checking it out from the library or flipping through it for inspiration. I enjoyed many of the ideas, but the recipes weren't too enticing (I just can't see myself making poached salmon, kale & sweet potato handpies, or chicken liver mousse for a jaunt to the park)! Still, salad on a stick is a fabulous picnic friendly appetizer. The pop-up picnic ideas were useful. I also never considered making desserts or salads in mason jars. If you see me rolling down the street with a red rider wagon packed with treats, you'll know this book was to thank.

I thought this book was a great find on my quest for picnic recipes that would be out of the norm. The recipes have my mouth watering and my heels tapping in excitement for spring! There was a bit of a learning curve for me with some of the ingredients but that was the point! Now I must try burrata with grilled peaches and basil! There was a wonderful section on selecting the right cheeses for your picnic and wonderful suggestions for making your own charcuterie board!

3.5 stars. A pretty book. The cover is embossed, and the ribbon for a bookmark is red and white checked like a tablecloth (the section head pages are red checked as well). Cute illustrations. You may find the names of the recipes TOO cutesy. Or you may decide it would be a good book to add to a picnic-themed gift (picnic) basket.

Lovely book and very whimsical, however I wish they had made the recipes and provision recommendations more accessible to people who aren’t made of money. Anthropologie, west elm, L.L. Bean, Kate Spade, and speciality grocery store items are not available to everyone (or really most people). Picnics can and should be decadent, but that doesn’t mean it has to be elitist.

Very cute, and the recipes were better than I thought they would be. This is definitely a novelty cookbook, but it's exemplary in that category. Perhaps too specific for me to warrant adding it to my collection, but charming nonetheless.

This was a fun book to read! There are pages of recipes for fun picnics or really any sort of gatherings. It also includes ideas of things to do for impromptu gatherings as well as planned gatherings.

Glorious illustrations. Thorough but simple directions.
Overall FUN and fulfilling
Best idea--Salads on a stick --

Poorly organized. About 8 recipes I would bother with.

Beautiful, elegant, fancy yet mostly practical. Some of the recipes may be too outré for Midwestern sensibilities, budgets and grocery stores, but by and large--adorable!

What a gem of a book! Great for gift giving.

This book is adorable; however, the recipes (both food and co*cktails) seem very pretentious and would be of no value to us “normal” picnickers who don’t have obscure ingredients on hand

I love some of the recipes in here, but some of the book was so grandiose I could barely get through it. There were plenty of good ideas, though.

Nice book with ideas, menus, how to host a picnic, etc.

A delightful book full of inspo, recipes, and helpful how-to's for the best picnic of your life!

I picked this up after I got the other book by the same authors, The Campout Cookbook: Inspired Recipes for Cooking Around the Fire and Under the Stars.

It isn't *quite* as good (or as useful) as the campout one, as a lot more of these recipes seem to need specialized equipment, but it's still a great book to pick up if you need some ideas for what to bring for outdoor eating.

There's a nice list of suggestions on where to have a picnic, the kinds of things to bring, including suggestions on how many dishes per person, and some helpful ideas on how to pick a location.

All in all, this is a pretty cute book to have, especially if you're an outdoor eating novice!

I reviewed this book for NetGalley.

This is a charming and entertaining book on all things connected to having a picnic. Whether it's a simple lunch break in the park, or a large and elaborate neighborhood production, the uber queens of the picnic, Ms. Hanel, Ms. Slonecker, and Ms. Stevenson, explain in a clear and friendly fashion about the best way to picnic.

The book is full of many useful tips and helpful information, along with a lot of recipes. Some are simple, while there are a number that require some to a lot of work. Something for everyone.

There are also a number of themes suggested for picnics which are helpful in planning different types of picnics so as to avoid the monotony of the same old thing. Very nice ideas.

The illustrations are charming and whimsical, and fit in perfectly with the theme and tone of the book. A very nice cookbook which I enjoyed reading.

The first word that comes to mind in describing this book is "darling" - it's such a sweet book with amazing illustrations, practical guides and simple but delicious recipes. I absolutely loved it and can imagine myself planning for a picnic in France with this book! I've never been a picnic person, not really knowing how to prepare for one and this book is a great 'how to guide' for beginners like me and I'm assuming picnickers all over. I'm excited to plan a picnic after winter but am even tempted to do one indoors just to use this book! I also would love to give it as a gift to specific friends of mine that would appreciate it as much as I do.

This book is a very sweet, clever idea. Picnics are quintessential summer and reading this made me want to pack a basket right away. The illustrations are very sweet and a lot of the recipes look delicious. All aspects of a picnic are considered, from choosing the right blanket and location, to creating the perfect menu. For the really advanced picnic host, there is even instructions for bringing ice cream floats. I would say that it does make picnicking look like a lot of work, but it is full of great ideas for outside dining, if you have a bit of time on your hands.

I got this title from NetGalley and gave it an honest review.

Sooooo - I wanted to be impressed by this book. It's really pretty (printed in China, as is the case with most pretty books these days) and it has some insight into picnics, and some yummy looking recipes too. Maybe I'mjaded because my good friend Kathleen is Queen of Picnicing, and has taken me on many wonderful picnic adventures, so nothing in this book was so new or earthshaking to me. If you don't have a Picnicing Queen in your circles, you will probably benefit greatly fro this book.

Delightful book with clever drawn illustrations. Lots of great ideas for snacks, plates, salads, desserts and how to pack and carry them to a perfect picnic spot. Great list of where to get things at the back. This book even had suggestions for co*cktails to bottle up and take along. At 186 pages this is one of the most detailed picnic books I've seen.

The Picnic is a fun little illustrated cookbook. It is full of cute ideas for picnics and even parties. I made the smoked salmon tartare on cucumber rounds and the kale, sweet potato, and goat cheese hand pies. They were both big hits. I received a review copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful hand drawn illustrations of one of my fave eating occasions: picnics. Tried a couple of the recipes over this past summer and though some of the recipes were good, I think I will stick with the Dorie Greenspan gougére recipe instead of this one. But otherwise, great idea book!