Summer Picnic Recipes

It is picnic season in most places in the United States right now. We in NH don’t usually think about picnics until June, but I envy those who start earlier.

I live on a dead-end street, so we get very little traffic just trolling through which we have found makes it a great place to have a street party. We have a very close-knit group of people living on

our little street. We even have a street wide Facebook messenger group so when someone is heading to the store they can check if anyone else needs anything. Yup, that is how our street rolls. So, back to street parties.

During the summer at least once a month, sometimes more we all bring out our picnic tables, hook speakers to someone’s Alexa and we shut down the street for a party. The guys get to grill and smoke to their hearts content, and the rest of us get to sit and visit or play corn hole (yes, you guessed it we set it up in the street). Then, when it gets dark and we are all full of the potluck we all sit around the fire, at

whichever house has the fire burning that night and just chill. It is a great way to pass the summer months.

One of the salads I often make for any cookout, picnic, or street party is my tuna mac salad. It is the simplest, but if I don’t bring it people will ask where it is. My mom used to make it in the summer, and it is a comfort food for me. It was also one of the first things I made in my first apartment when I moved out. Ah, the good old days.

Hope you enjoy.

Tuna Macaroni Salad

1 box rotini pasta (I use gluten free) cooked al dente’

1 large can white tuna drained and crumbled with a fork

Mayonnaise

Yellow mustard

Salt, pepper, garlic powder, dill weed

Frozen young baby peas (kept frozen)

Directions:

Cook and drain the pasta rinsing with cold water to cool the pasta, or if making ahead you can drain and put in a bowl to cool in the fridge until you are ready to put it together.

Mix into the dry pasta, the tuna, ½ tsp salt, ½ - 1 tsp pepper, ½ tsp garlic powder, 1Tbsp. dill weed.

Once the pasta is coated with the above ingredients add in mayo about ½ cup at a time until it coats the salad to your liking.

Squeeze three pumps (about 1 tbsp. each) of the yellow mustard and mix well.

At the end, mix in 1 cup of frozen peas. They will thaw quickly, and they won’t be mushy. (I hate mushy peas!).

This is always a party favorite, so don’t expect to bring home any leftovers.

What do you like to eat at a picnic or cookout?

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