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Show ANY MEAL ANY CAN Ez A PICNIC Ey Keba Siasss ' Director, Department of i'ome Economics National Live Slock and Meat Board There's something about the thought of picnics that puts one in a gay mood. The fun of eating in the open and the general informality of these occasions account in great part for their populaiity. Although the noon and evening meals are most often picnic times, breakfast, too, is something really special when it's prepared outdoors early in the morning. Plan your menus around hot or cold foods, as you prefer the time, place and available facilities will determine your choice. Foods for breakfast may include iced melon or other fruit or fruit juice; bacon, Canadian-style bacon, ba-con, sausage or ham; fried egs or fried potatoes, or both; bread, butter but-ter or margarine, jelly, jam or preserves; coffee or hot cocoa. This may sound like a hearty menu but have you ever noticed how much greater appetites become and how much better food seems to taste when eaten in the open? Packing Food is Easy Packing the food is easy. If you're planning an early start, pack "s'ie night before. If you have a refrigerator picnic box, so much the better . . . the fruit, meat, eggs, butter or margarine can be Foods for noon picnics are more often served cold than hot. Sandwiches Sand-wiches ham, ready - to - serve meats, and earned meats are always al-ways popular. Potato chips or potato po-tato salad, baked beans, pickles, deviled eggs, relishes, fruit, cake, cookies, iced tea or lemonade, are some of the accompaniments. Food for Supper Outings Evening picnic meals are no doubt the most varied of all. They may be served in the yard, at the beach, in a forest preserve or other spot in the country. Foods may be carried hot or cold and cooked or not on arrival at the picnicking spot. The main dish may be pre- f ? !,.- , carried in it. Pack the tablecloth, napkins, paper or plastic plates, cutlery, including a knife (carefully (careful-ly wrapped) and fork, or forks, for turning meat, pancake turner for eggs and potatoes, and drinking drink-ing cups, together. The jam, jelly, coffee (sewed or tied in a cloth bag), sugar and cream, and potatoes pota-toes (which have been scrubbed), may be packed and carried in the pot used for making the beverage. Wood, charcoal or other fuel, papers, pa-pers, matches and one or two frying-pans (depending on size of group and foods to be fried) may be transported in another package. While the fire is being built, someone can make the coffee and prepare the potatoes for cooking. Then cook the bacon, sausage or ham in one frying-pan, pour the drippings into the other pan and start frying the eggs. In the meantime, mean-time, the bread can be toasted and soon the meal is ready! This same menu is often prepared for a picnic pic-nic supper with only the slightest change. The jam, jelly or preserves pre-serves may be omitted and the first course becomes dessert or, if desired, pie, cake or cookies ma; he added for dessert. pared in advance, for example, baked ham, meat loaf, meat balls and spaghetti, or barbecued ground meat, and heated just before eaten, eat-en, if desired. Hamburgers may be shaped, en brochette meats threaded on skewers and frankfurters frank-furters stuffed ready for packing. Meat cuts to be barbecued and other cuts ta be cooked, such as bacon, frankfurters and ground beef, may be packed and cooked later, with the picnickers participating. par-ticipating. Menus featuring these main dishes afford unlimited variety. Accompaniments may be roasted corn and roasted potatoes, or fried potatoes and fried corn, baked beans, broiled tomatoes and onions, on-ions, relishes celery, tomato wedges, carrots, radishes, green onions, pickles, olives fruit or vegetable salads, including potato salad, cole slaw, etc. Bread, rolls, toast and fried corn bread are appropriate ap-propriate bread stuffs. For desserts, des-serts, choose ice cream, fruit, pies, cakes or cookies, and for beverages, choose iced tea, lemonade, lem-onade, milk, chocolate milk or cofTeo |