Picnic Time! (Also posted to Hazelnutdeux.com)

pic·nic

  [pik-nik] 

noun

1.

an excursion or outing in which the participants carry food with them and share a meal in 

the openair.

Because I am single, my picnic was a little different than many others that you will read about in the hop this week. My picnic was a solitary meal enjoying the beauty of a early evening in the backyard.

For my picnic, I made a small quilt that is perfect for throwing over a picnic table or down on a lawn. I made it with a variety of vintage sheets that I have been collecting for several years. I used flannel as my batting and did a "quilt as you go" method to put it all together. For the backing, I used another vintage sheet which I also used for the binding.

My picnic meal was a lovely piece of grilled salmon topped with pesto sauce accompanied by a side of quinoa salad. The fresh flavors were perfect!

Here is the recipe I used for the salad. It can be found on Allrecipes.com.

1 c. quinoa                                                       1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 c. water                                                         1-1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil                               1-15oz. can of black beans, drained & rinsed

Juice of 2 limes                                                5 green onions finely chopped

2 tsp. of ground cumin                                     1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp. salt                                                         Salt and pepper to taste

1.      Bring quinoa and water to boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook until quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside.

2.      Whisk olive oil, lime juice, cumin, 1 tsp. salt and red pepper flakes together in a bowl.

3.      Combine quinoa, black beans, tomatoes and green onions together in a bowl. Pour dressing over quinoa and toss to coat. Stir in cilantro and salt and pepper. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Thank you so much for stopping by. As a little something extra, I thought I would do a drawing. Please leave a comment and let me know if you would like to be entered. I will be sending out 40 - 10" squares of vintage sheets so that you can get started on your own vintage sheet picnic quilt! (Please remember to include your email address if you are a "no reply" blogger.)

Be sure to check out the other blogs on the hop today:

Sew Incredibly Crazy

How Art You?

Grammie Q's

I Piece 2 - Mary

Pig Tales and Quilts

The full line up of all the blogs participating can be found at Mary's blog.

Happy picnicking this summer!!

***Edited 6/9/14 - Comments are closed***