Woo hoo, guest post time! This time, Jonathan's better half, Grace, has written us an entry that celebrates the end of summer. Anyway, I'll shut up and let you read it!

It has started to rain here in Chicago. It seems that Labor Day has come and gone and so have my dreams of summer. But as a final goodbye to the season, I thought it best to have one last picnic. I love picnics for so many reasons, but most of all the food. Most often, simple foods with nothing elaborate or extravagant; some of my favorite picnics have been with a just blanket, a baguette and cheese. But I thought as a celebration of the ending of a season, it would be best to do something special.

I suddenly remembered this article in the August issue of Gourmet by Paul Grimes and Shelly Wiseman about these picnics in a jar (apparently they were inspired by Chef Christian Constant Les Cocottes in Paris). At the time, I remember thinking that the jars looked great. Moreover, salads would not only be fun to create, but also easy to store and carry. So off I went to the grocery store in search of items to fill my jars.

I bought tuna, eggplant, chicken, cucumber, mint, potatoes, corn and some cherry tomatoes. Along with things I already had at home I thought this would be more than enough. First, I started with a bit of planning. Normally, I might not be quite so organized, but I was going to be dealing with a lot of elements. So I pulled out the pen and paper, and sketched out what I thought would be good combinations.

Looking at the list, I thought maybe I had planned for too much, but the nice thing about this layered approach was each element could be made (and eaten) separately, required little effort, and could be made in advance.

Spiced Chicken Salad

• Chicken (made the day before) - Coated with paprika, cumin, salt and pepper; baked
• Eggplant and onion - Olive oil, salt, pepper; baked
• Spicy Pepper Anchovy Compote - Jarred roasted bell pepper, anchovy, sriracha
• Raita - Seedless cucumber sliced thin, mint, plain yogurt, salt and pepper
• Curried Potato - Petite Yukon Gold, curry powder, salt, pepper, and olive oil; baked
• Bacon

Tuna and Grilled Corn Salad

• Tuna (allowing 2 hrs to marinate) - Lime, fish sauce, pepper
• Chopped Olives
• Corn - Butter; grilled
• Tomato - Parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper
• Egg - Boiled

The sun was out and bright that day at the gardens. I was worried about the heat; but the salads held up well. Eating them out of a jar was fun, but they also worked on a plate. Leaning back as the cool breeze blew with a salad in hand I couldn't help but think, "What a lovely day. Cheers to summer."

Posted by Danny on September 25, 2008 at 10:20 am

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• I can totally see you two going on a picnic and eating out of jars. Its like the perfect all-american family! You two are so cute.

  Jack
  September 25, 2008 1:31 pm

• I have to agree with you Jack. Jon and Grace are like the cutest thing ever. Straight out of a J.C. Penny catalog yo!

  Danny
  September 25, 2008 1:35 pm

• Sorry. What did y'all say? I was distracted by the vomit coming out of my mouth.

  Jonathan
  September 25, 2008 1:47 pm

• it would be nice if you allowed pictures in your RSS feed.

  Josh
  September 25, 2008 2:16 pm

• No vomiting please, sounds very unappetizing. This is a food blog.

  Grace
  September 25, 2008 8:18 pm

• Hi Grace!!!! I hope your marathon went well :)

  I loovee picnics too!!! I've always loved the idea of a picnic. I love looking online at picnic baskets (I always want to picnic at "inn the park" in London; I must go one summer!) Anyhow, your jars are super cute and such a great idea. I can totally see all my food getting all mushed together when I try to arrange it though... I love well-presented food but mine always turns out looking like a big mess!! The flavours in the chicken salad look amazing....

  Veronica
  September 26, 2008 10:26 am

• Hi Veronica,

  Actually I haven't run the marathon yet - but it's in two weeks, I hope it goes well too!

  Glad you enjoyed reading about the picnic jars - the arranging part wasn't that hard - we just did it systematically layer by layer. I love our picnic basket, you should get one too :) Hope wedding planning is going well.

  Grace
  September 26, 2008 1:47 pm