LTHforum, the picnic - September 8th

LTHforum’s 2nd Do-It-Yourself Picnic

The cicadas have come and gone, their children are worming their way into the earth to wait 17 years. It is now our time to reclaim the great outdoors with a picnic to ring this eventful summer to a close.


Ramon

Date: Saturday, September 8th – Rain or Shine!


Gary Wiviott

Time:
- 9 AM (or earlier by arrangement): Smokers, offset grillers and grillers arrive to set up and prepare your food to roughly fit the schedule.
- 11:30 AM: Appetizers and tastings (bratwurst methods, bread, cheese)
- 12:30 PM: Lunch phase 1: Hot links, chickens, grilled food and side dishes
- 2:30 PM or as finished Lunch phase 2: Ribs + additional hot links to taste and snack on.
- 3:30 PM: Desserts (including brownie tastings)
- 7:12 PM: Sunset - party over followed by the Park District chaining the driveway.

Where: Forest Glen Forest Preserve.

Public transportation: Forest Glen Metra station at 5301 N. LeClaire. Check the Sunday/Holiday schedule here.

Driving: Take 94 to the Peterson Exit (only exits east), then turn right (south) onto Cicero Avenue. [Caldwell is not Peterson, do not go west!] Turn right at the first light onto Forest Glen Drive taking you into the quiet residential neighborhood in the midsts of which is our picnic grove.

Fee: Free!

This is a true do-it-ourselves event where we bring food to share, help set up and clean up. Please advise if you can come early or help later with tidying up. This picnic will leave pleasant memories for all of us when we share the load.


Gary Wiviott

Whatever food you choose to bring, please make sure to keep hot food hot and cold food cold

Thinking what to do ... may I be so bold as to provide a few ideas?

Do you have a hitch? Could you pick up Bruce’s smoke pit in South Bend, Indiana? If there are two volunteers, then there is room to negotiate who brings Bruce and who takes him home.

The Pit:


The Pit's Master: Bruce



Other ideas are:

- Appetizers
- Grilling pizza
- Try out the various methods of Cooking Bratwurst. We had so much to recommend Bill/SFNM, though we could try them out in real time!
- Craving a hot link? We have people willing to smokem' if you will bringem.' So many vendors: Peoria Packing House, Uncle John's, Parker House (maybe grilled since they are already smoked?), Moo'n'Oink or whatever gets your hot link groove on.
-Make Rich4’s Lemon Soda with soda water and another with tonic water to zip up the bitterness.
- Taffy Apple Salad, add to the Caprese Salad index bean salad or just salad.
- brownies, pies and ice cream are always fine additions to any picnic.

If you are better at ordering take-out, then consider bringing the following:

- Volunteer to bring one or two loaves of bread from bakers such as Crust, Red Hen, Medici et al for side-by-side comparisons
- Bring Bitter lemon or other foreign sodas
- Cevapcici, which you can make or buy. Make sure someone is bringing Ajvar and some flat bread.
- Cheese or salamis
- Plastic table settings, paper plates, (good) napkins or cups (from Costco, Sams Club)
- Baby wipes for cleaning hands
- Plastic garbage bags

Picnic Permit Rules and Regulations wrote:…
3. The Forest Preserve District is closed to all visitors after SUNSET. Night picnics are not permitted. Glass beverage containers are not permitted on the Forest Preserve District property.
…
5. The sale of alcoholic beverages in any form is prohibited.
6. Before leaving, you must extinguish all fires; collect all your paper debris, bottles and trash and deposit them in the appropriate containers.
…
10. All ordinances and regulations in effect of the Forest Preserve District must be observed and the instructions of its representatives obeyed. Please note that the consumption of alcohol upon or within 50 feet of any roadway, parking area or entranceway is prohibit. No admission fees or charges may be levied.
…

Alcohol consumption is allowed in this grove. As stated above, you cannot bring any glass bottles. BYOB -- if you share with someone then it is gift you're sharing.



Please reserve by posting below with what you plan to bring to the picnic, where it fits into the meal and how many are attending:

Appetizer
Bread
Cheese/Sausage (to be sliced)
Side Dishes
Salads
Main course
Snacks
Desserts
Non-alcoholic beverages
Tablesettings, paper products, garbage bags

Please advise if your food needs heating, grilling or smoking. Plan to bring your own equipment unless you have arranged to share grill space on someone elses. If you have a tabletop grill, then be prepared to have it sit on the ground.

***

Adjacent to our picnic area is a large field for games. Ramon is promising another pinata filled with candy whimsies or maybe a cicada or two. There are trails to the north branch of the Chicago river to trek to. On the grove’s premises are flush toilets and water to clean your hands.



Come with the classic LTHforum open spirit to break bread with friends who share your culinary interests.

Regards,

Hi,

I will be coming with my parents and Mom2.

Thanks to Rene G's information, I will bring a pot of SonofaBitch stew for sampling. It uses the odd ingredient from H-Mart of marrow guts.

I will also bring a jar of sorghum.

Regards,

Wouldn't miss it for the world.

Ramon, Mrs Ramon, B (nee Ramonita)
appetizer: Issan sausage with crudites
sundry: piñata
perhaps more ...

-ramon

Ramon,

Are you going to need a grill for the sausage?

Regards,

I'll be coming along with the Chow Poodle and a load of Baylor watermelons.

I'll be there with the wife and the boyo. Not 100% sure what I'll bring but it'll probably be some form of homemade charcuterie, plus some other goodies. I'll update as soon as I decide.

=R=

Count two or three of us in.
Undoubtedly I'll have my roasted tomatillo salsa again, probably something else too.

Count us in for three! (my brother was sad to report he can't make it this year, so it's the mhays clan only)

As promised, I will bring Lengua A La Vinagreta - a cold appetizer.

I'm in for one -- I'll do Argyle Street -- Chui Quon (sp) for bao appetizers

Sonja

Cookie and I will be there. I think we're going to make home-made ice cream sandwiches. More to come....

Best,
Michael

I'll be there. It'll probably be just me but possibly my sister, too. I'll bring brownies, paper plates and (good) napkins.

Hi,

I plum forgot to inquire ... does anyone do acoustic music? We were on the cusp of a lively musical performance until we learned the complications and additional permits related to amplification and generators.

I could, of course, do Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, which has been known to clear a well attended campfire fast.

Regards,

Incidentally, if you're looking for non-glass containers for hooch or condiments, check out the conveniently near-to-the-picnic American Science and Surplus at 5316 N. Milwaukee Ave. (Central Ave, N of Foster behind Blue Angel) - one of my favorite places for unconventional kitchen supplies. If you search the website for "plastic bottles" you'll see they have quite a selection.

Cathy2 wrote:Ramon,

Are you going to need a grill for the sausage?

Regards,

For safety sake, I will pre-cook the sausages and finish them on a grill to warm through and for color. I routinely carry a small grill that I could keep hot for anyone else to use.

Depending upon how much free time I have between now and then I may have a short acoustic set planned. This would probably be solo though I may employ backing musicians to cover up my rustiness.

-ramon

The Dritz family will be there!

I will be bringing pecan tarts and some sort of side dish that I have not yet decided upon. We are also considering bringing some fresh Italian sausage from one of the local sausage stores in the southern surburbs (or perhaps from all three of our favorite places -- you can never have too much fresh italian sausage!). We are not bringing our grill as it is so old we are afraid it might collapse if we try and move it, so the sausage depends on whether or not there is some extra grill space.

Suzy

Actually, since we have two vehicles, we have two portable grills available for use:

-ramon

I will be there with a guest and will bring fresh fruit in a rose water syrup and also some bread from Argo Georgian bakery.

I will be there with my mom [who's name is Camille and doesn't have any fancy-schmancy nickname... make one up if you want]. Cathy2 and I have been planning to get her and Cathy1 together to reminisce...
turns out they went to the same parish grammar school at about the same time [Go St. Veronica Fighting uh... um, don't think they *had* a football team or anything....]. This will be the perfect opportunity for them to chat.

Not sure what I'm going to bring yet. Potato salad again? I'll rummage thru the cookbooks and think of something. How many of you out there like beet & feta salad?


Giovanna

Added later: potato salad vinaigrette and beet/feta salad will go nicely with brats, etc. I'm not going to strain my brain any further & just announce that's what I'm bringing. My mom will probably bring diet soda .

We--Gypsy Boy and the Lovely Dining Companion--will be there, albeit a little later (say 1:30-ish) inasmuch as teaching obligations precede freedom on Saturday mornings. We're still discussing whether/what to make, buy, or otherwise bring along. As soon as I have a more definitive notion, I will amend forthwith.

Kennyz +1 will share 3 home-infused vodkas (cucumber, orange-coriander, and vanilla) and homemade mixers (ginger syrup, watermelon puree, sour-cherry juice)

I will succumb to the horror-of-all-horrors requirement of putting everything in plastic containers.

Giovanna wrote:Not sure what I'm going to bring yet. Potato salad again? I'll rummage thru the cookbooks and think of something. How many of you out there like beet & feta salad?

Giovanna

My Mom and your Mom with lots of people in between to drown out the joys of St. Veronica. Splendid! Until now Giovanna and I were going to park our Mothers at one end of a restaurant while sat at the opposite end.

As odd as beet and feta sound, I have made recently beet risotto with feta cheese crumbled in. Unusual and workable combination by my experience, though on paper it doesn't come across as well.

Regards,

Giovanna wrote:[Go St. Veronica Fighting uh... um, don't think they *had* a football team or anything

Maybe no football team, but that bleached blonde Betty never stood a chance.

All goes well, the DH and I will be there. With food.

Mhays is helping maintain order by updating the spreadsheet, these are the people attending and what they intend to bring. Please review befoe submitting your ideas:

Course - Screen name - Dish - # of people
Appetizer Mhays Lengua a la vinagreta 3
Appetizer Ramon Isaan sausage and crudites 3
Appetizer SGFoxe Chui Quon Bao 1
Beverages Kennyz Home-infused vodka and mixers 2
Bread Hellodali Argo bakery bread
Condiment Cathy2 Sorghum
Condiment JoelF Roasted tomatillo salsa 3
Dessert eatchicago ice cream sandwiches 2
Dessert happy_stomach brownies 2
Dessert Hellodali fruit in rosewater syrup 2
Dessert sdritz pecan tarts 4
Dessert Stevez Baylor watermelons 2
Entertain Ramon Pinata and acoustic set
Main Cathy2 SonofaBitch Stew 4
Main Ronnie_Suburban Charcuterie 3
Main sdritz Italian sausages
Salad Giovanna Potato? Beet and Feta? Salad 2
Side dish sdritz side dish?
Supplies happy_stomach paper plates and (good) napkins
Undecided GypsyBoy 2
Undecided Leek 2

Total: 37

Thanks!

I'll be there, with stuffed mushroom, depending on what I can get.

Mike G and I plus 1 child will be there. Unfortunately, the older child pictured above (Two thumbs up a/k/a "everybody in the puddle!") is invited to a White Sox game/birthday party and in his world when it's LTH vs. White Sox, the White Sox win. Mike G will post what he is making/we are bringing when he has decided. Looking forward to it!

nr706 wrote:I'll be there, with stuffed mushroom, depending on what I can get.

Remember to leave some in the fridge! (just kidding - loved the puffball last year)

C2,

Ellen and I will be there with bells on!

Not sure what I'm bringing yet, but it will be interesting.

Enjoy,
Gary

The Wife and I are in, and we'll be bringing World's Greatest Cookie, version 2.0.

rearranged a biz trip to be there plus one. not sure what i'll bring yet.