In Search of the Perfect Picnic: Anniversary

Matthew and I just celebrated 11 years of sweet marriage - usually sweet, sometimes hard, always worth it kinda marriage. Historically (10 years of history, that is), we've gone out to dinner at a fancy shmancy restaurant to celebrate - usually of the French variety. French is my favorite type of food, followed closely by Indian.

This year we did something a little different. Our baby girl is super clingy and at that toddling stage where being buckled down is not always an option, so I knew a fancy restaurant wouldn't work out so great. As you may already know, we are big fans of picnic-ing, so I put together an anniversary picnic for us to enjoy after the kids went down for the night. We put them down early to enjoy some of the daylight and cool weather out on our deck.



Matthew provided the blooms. 😊

The only thing I really made for this picnic were some lovely chocolate covered blackberries. I adore these sweet and fresh little treats. I make them for special occasions or to decorate cakes sometimes. They are quite romantic, wouldn't you say? And a nice change from chocolate dipped strawberries.

These pretty morsels are very easy to make. The blackberries get dipped in dark chocolate and then drizzled with white chocolate. I melt my chocolate in the microwave. Ina Garten has a great trick to temper chocolate without a double boiler and thermometer. She melts a portion of her chocolate in the microwave, then stirs in the rest to melt it in. Very easy.



I had leftover melted chocolate, so I decided to make a few freehand decorations on a sheet of wax paper. They added a cute touch to our dessert plate.

A bottle of our favorite champagne and a cheese tray with our favorite noshing items are all we really needed to make this a splendid anniversary. Also, candles are a must at this type of picnic.

Here's my sweetheart putting up with more picture taking.

Blue cheese, Irish Cheddar, toasted nuts, marinated olives, and sweet baby gerkins are some of our favs.

Putting together a cheese board is easy peasy and a lot fun - if you like cheese, that is. Pick a few of your favorite cheeses, crackers or bread or crostinis, something pickled or briny or both, fruit spread/preserves or dried fruit for a little sweetness, fancy mustard or pesto or tapanade, cured meat is good, and nuts are a nice touch too. I always toast my nuts for added depth of flavor. You can also add fresh fruit or roasted vegetables. Grapes, berries, cherries, sliced apple or pear, cherry tomatoes, roasted red peppers and roasted beets are real winners. It's really all about what you like. There is no wrong way to do this thing. Beer drinkers can add pretzels, mustards, black pepper encrusted salami or beef jerky even, a variety of cheddars, maybe some horseradish, pickles, or even fried pickles. Just go crazy with it.

I, personally, like to slice my cheese. A wedge of cheese and a pretty cheese knife is nice to look at on your board, but I don't like slicing over and over as I nosh - especially if your tray is for a cocktail party type of affair where guests will be standing around with drinks in their hands. I also usually opt for a smaller tray and pile things high, close to each other, and even on top of each other for a bountiful look.

Check out my Pinterest board on food trays, boards, and platters for more inspiration.

What would you put on your dream cheese board?

Chocolate Dipped Blackberries

INGREDIENTS
1 pint blackberries, rinsed and dried
1 cup chopped dark or semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1. Line a sheet pan with wax paper.
2. Place about 3/4 of the dark chocolate in a small microwave safe bowl and melt in 15 second increments, stirring each time, until melted.
3. Add the rest of the dark chocolate and stir until all melted.
4. Using a fork, dip each berry into the chocolate and lift out with fork letting any excess chocolate drip off. Place on wax paper.
5. When all berries are dipped, place sheet pan in the fridge to set - about 20 minutes or so.
6. Place about 3/4 of the white chocolate in another small microwave safe bowl and melt in 15 second increments, stirring each time, until melted.
7. Add in the rest of the white chocolate and stir until melted. (White chocolate is a little more difficult to work with. If it doesn't fully melt, put the bowl back in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time, stirring each time, to completely melt the chocolate.)
8. Pour white chocolate into a Ziplock freezer bag. Snip off a very small piece of the corner so you can pipe the chocolate onto your berries in a drizzle type of pattern.
9. Place berries back in the fridge to set again.
10. I keep mine in the fridge until I'm ready to use them.

* This recipe works best with large firm blackberries.
* Chopped baking chocolate works best as chips tend to have added ingredients that affect melting, but I've happily used both.