Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Find the right gift for that special woman can be a tough job. Of course we want to offer her something very special, beautiful and useful. Theses qualities are hard to find in a single product. But this time, you don’t need to look around for the perfect gift; you can offer her a picnic basket! She doesn’t need to be an outdoor lover to enjoy a beautiful basket that can be used in a simple gathering at the park.

There are many types of picnic baskets, to find the right picnic basket for a very special mom follow these tips:

The Wooden Picnic Basket is the old elegant traditional baskets. If your mom love the old elegant fashion way, this basket is right for her. You can find baskets that come with full service for two or four persons with large food compartment.

The Willow Picnic Basket is the classic of all the baskets. These baskets are very elegant and you can find them in different sizes, shapes and accessories. Some baskets come with full service for two, four or even six persons. Others come with an insulated food compartment or cooler bag inside. If your mom loves the classic style, this basket will definitely make her happy.

The Picnic Backpack Basket is the free hand picnic basket. This is not a traditional one, but definitely the most practical one. Your mom can use it in a picnic day or for tailgating. If your mom is a sport person, this basket will work great for hiking or biking. You can find this type of picnic basket with a full service for two or four persons. You can also find picnic backpack baskets that come with an insulated food compartment.

The Picnic Cooler Basket is the tailgating ideal. This basket is very light and can be store very easily. It will work perfectly for a picnic day at the park too. This basket is very convenient to transport all your food supplies. It can also be found with service for two or four persons.

I hope that these tips will help you to find the perfect gift for that very special woman that we all owe her our life and we simply call her MOM.

Happy Mother’s Day!

French Fondue Recipe

This is a very easy and stylish recipe to take in a picnic, the harder part is to find the ingredients, but these tips can help you to make a great dinner for a special picnic.

A French Fondue is made by the combination of 3 or 4 cheeses very easy to find in France, not that easy to find in the States. The cheeses are Compté, Gruyère, Tomme de Savoie and French Emmental. But you can prepare a French Fondue with common cheeses in America.

You can use an Emmental cheese (Swiss Emmental or Emmentaler) as your main cheese and then a combination of Aged Manchego, Aged Cheddar and Gouda. To prepare a French Fondue for 2 persons you will need 1lb of cheese. The quantity needed of each of these cheeses will depend on the strong flavor that you want to give to your Fondue.

For a strong flavor French Fondue you need:

1/3 lb of  Emmental Cheese

1/3 lb of  Aged Cheddar Cheese

1/6 lb of  Aged Manchego Cheese

1/6 lb of Gouda Cheese

1/3 of a white wine bottle

1 baguette

For a light flavor French Fondue you need:

½ lb of Emmental Cheese

¼ lb of Aged Cheddar Cheese

¼ lb of Aged Manchego Cheese

1/3 of a white wine bottle

1 baguette

Preparation

Cut all the cheeses in small pieces. Cut the bread in medium size pieces (about 1in. tick). Place only half of the cheeses and add the white wine. Wait until the cheeses are melted and then add the rest.

You will also need one can of jelled chafing fuel.

The Spring Break is Here

For those who are lucky to live close to a beach, or those who are traveling to enjoy their spring break in a sandy beach, here are some tips to make a successful beach picnic.

The first thing that you must have is a cooler, or even better a picnic cooler. Picnic coolers are very light and some of them are equipped with a set for two or four persons, others also come with wheels.

If you only want to have a relaxing time, you can plan your picnic very easily. Bring food that doesn’t need to much preparation. Remember that serving a meal in the beach can be tricky. If it’s windy, you will have sand all over your plate. If you only want to lay down and enjoy the relaxing sound of the waves, sandwiches or panini are good ideas.

If you picnic is part of a big day full of activities at the beach, I recommend that you bring a full meal with appetizer, entrée and dessert. Having fun at the beach can be very tiring and you and your companions will get very hungry. Plan to bring snacks to keep up with the activities.

Have a Happy Picnic!