My family has always been big on picnicking—whether on the living room floor in front of a fire in January , beside a stream in the Cascade Mountains or in a hollow between sand dunes within sight of the pyramids. There is something simultaneously exotic and familiar about a picnic, whatever the venue.

Above all, a picnic should not be ordinary, nor should it be an effort—at least not during the picnic itself. A little advance planning and work goes a long way toward keeping the picnic itself more joy than job but even a spur-of-the-moment picnic can be pure pleasure if you’re prepared. And although you can get really fancy in your choice of picnic baskets, a simple tote, stocked with basics and kept in your car trunk, can transform a wide place in the road into a natural banquet hall.

Hamburgers aside, there are two key types of beef suitable for grilling: most of the tender cuts and a few of the tough cuts.

The tender cuts great for grilling are the loin steaks: rib eye, T-bone, Porter House, New York Strip, Sirloin, and Filet Mignon. These cuts are naturally tender and should be well-marbled with fat. In general, all steaks should be grilled over medium heat. For a ribeye, Chef Erika recommends seasoning with salt & pepper or a rub if you like. Cook for 5-6 minutes each side. Your final internal temperature will be 130-135 for medium rare and 140-145 for medium. Be sure to rest for no less than 5 minutes before serving.

They say that if you grab a thistle quickly enough its barbs won’t sting you - no one is actually fast enough, but it’s a great trick to play on city slickers. Personally, I prefer savoring my thistles and lingering over each bite. And by “thistles” I mean artichokes, which are the flower buds of a large thistle that originated in the Mediterranean and are particularly popular in Italy and France.

Selecting
A tough vegetable, artichokes can put up with a lot of abuse and keep well in the fridge. Ideally an artichoke should be very tight (a loose artichoke indicates it getting ready to bloom and will be tough).

We have been assisting one of our members in making ravioli - start to finish. But now let’s address this common ravioli problem: They break open leaking all of their luscious contents into your pot of water. So how do you prevent ravioli from falling apart?

There are two tricks. First while making the ravioli take care to not have any excess air in the pockets.  The air expands in the hot water and will cause the ravioli to burst. So carefully seal the dough to fit the filling as exactly as possible.

Second, cook the ravioli in moderately - not vigorously - boiling water. Vigorously boiling water beats up what are essentailly fragile dough packets and they’re more inclined to break open.