A picnic in the Great Indoors!

Imagine the heartbreak of planning an elegant rooftop picnic - poolside - overlooking the charming village of Sommier, France only to be rained out by an unexpected thunderstorm once the picnic blanket touched the ground!
Luckily, the pioneering spirit of my fellow travelers (Slim, Annie, and Marc) came through as we hastily moved to plan B - a picnic in our room. An indoor picnic! Unheard of, right? Not anymore.
With the windows opened wide, the cool, misty breeze provided a semblance of outdoors while Annie and Marc prepared and feasted upon some locally attained edibles including cantelope, apples, cucumber, carrots, grilled asparagus, camembert, various meats, and a fresh baguette (of course). A sudden bolt of lightning caused a power outage that enhansed the outdoor/indoor effect and provided an almost eerie mood for our enclosed picnic.

Red Hook, Part 1

Hello again! Here we are enjoying an eveningtime picnic in Red Hook. Known for inspiring the inspired Elia Kazan film "On the Waterfront" and for being hated by that surly sci-fi horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft, Red Hook offers many lovely, not to mention historical, vistas for the casual muncher. We picked this spot in the sprawling and aptly named Red Hook Park for its vicinity to the Red Hook Grain Terminal (in the background), which reminded us of the mighty grain towers that rule the Nordeast neighborhood of our much-missed hometown, Minneapolis.

For tonight's picnic Thew has prepared a special treat--a slurry of tunafish, nayonaise, tomato paste and cilantro that is perfect for spreading thick on pita, along with healthy slices of avocado. I don't know what he calls the concoction, but I call it delicious! Strawberries and apples make an appearance as well, admirably representing the fruit family in this latest battle of the never-ending war of sweet vs. savory. Who will win, in the end? We don't care, cause it's time to eat!

But you know what this picnic is missing? Dessert. Luckily for us, or so we thought, Red Hook is the home of Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies. These tart little devils can be purchased, during business hours, from the pie factory tucked away in a pier-perched warehouse along Red Hook's coast. However, like the mystical land of Avalon (not the Roxy Music album Avalon), which can only be accessed if you know the right incantation or if you really believe in fairies or something, the precise location of Steve's pies is sometimes hard to pin down. Try as we may, wander as we might, we couldn't find the damn place anywhere that night. No, key lime eluded us that storied evening, but the pie was to be ours another day...