Summer Saturday Surprise!

My boyfriend surprised me with a lovely Saturday afternoon picnic. Lucky for me he's got mad skills behind the stove (which he brought on our picnic--a little Coleman propane camper stove) and made up a amazing array of tapas style foods. The great thing about a picnic, is that on a nice day, not only are you getting an amazing view, you get to lay out on a blanket, linger for as long as you like, not worry about the waiter messing up your order, not have to pay a corking fee, and you save lots and lots of cash. I mean seriously--check out our waterfront view that we didn't have to pay for!

We started our day on a visit to the Puyallup Farmer's Market, which I have to say I was quite impressed with. After picking up a little of this and a little of that, we prepped the ingredients in his kitchen, packed up our stuff and headed out to the waterfront.

We opened up the cheddar jalapeno focaccia loaf we bought at the market and started off with a cucumber and tomato salad.

Then he steamed up some artichoke with a garlic butter dip.

Next was green beans, mushrooms, shallots, smoked bacon and cashews.

Followed by steamed clams with shallots and celery.

Dessert came from the wild blackberry bush behind us and a mini watermelon from the market.

Can you imagine what all this would have cost with a waterfront view? Before we run out of summer days--go plan yourself a picnic with your sweetie. This little picnic was full of great food, views, company and memories that you just don't get from sitting at a restaurant.