THE PICNIC COOKBOOK

by Barbara Weiland ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 12, 1979

Those for whom The Picnic Gourmet (Hemingway and Maricich, 1977) was too adventuresome may feel more at home, right off, with The Picnic Cookbook. Weiland gets us organized aptly, along various lines--improvising picnic baskets from fishing creels and laundry baskets, using hibachis to barbecue, and keeping the foot hot or cold (make blocks, not cubes of ice; try reusable plastic refrigerant). Her chapter arrangement by seasonal menus makes sense--""Summer Spreads,"" ""Autumn Bounty,"" etc.--and the menus, ranging from family-simple to fancy, are ample: ""Fourth of July Barbecue"" lists 13 dishes including stuffed mushrooms, spareribs, and ice cream. The weakness is in the recipes themselves, which are repeatedly marred by calls for processed food--the frozen, the canned, and the cubed. Typically, too, her ""Cream Cheese Pound Cake"" (with said cream cheese, a cup of margarine, and three cups of sugar) is neither cheese cake nor pound cake. Like the book--not exactly bad, but eminently perfectible.

Pub Date: April 12, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Butterick

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION