By: Ayoe Lai

Summer is upon us and it is time to bring out the blankets and enjoy the nice weather with family and friends and of course a lot of good food!

My family and I went for our first picnic last weekend since becoming parents.  It was great. We brought lots of great food and found a nice spot in the park next to the beach.

I will share my recipes with you, so you can get out and enjoy the summer while it is still here.

 Here is what we brought with us:

• Grilled Chicken Drumsticks with Sesame Seeds
• Summer Salad with Strawberries
• Morning Glory Muffins
• Artisan Bread baked in a Pot
• Strawberries and Grapes

You can prepare a lot of it in advance and keep it in the fridge till you are ready to pack up and head outside.

Grilled Chicken Drumsticks with Sesame Seeds

We made Grilled Chicken Drumsticks with Sesame Seeds the day before and packed them in an airtight container so it was ready to go.

Here is how you make them:

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 8 chicken drumsticks
• 1 egg
• Sesame seeds, lots of these!
• Salt and pepper
• Butter

Directions

1. Heat oven till 200 C (400 F).
2. Beat the egg in a bowl.
3. Pour a large handful of sesame seeds into another bowl.
4. Cut a piece of parchment paper and fit it into an oven tray.
5. Pad the chicken dry with paper towel and dip them in the beaten eggs and then coat them in sesame seeds. Place in the oven tray and repeat with all the drumsticks.
6. Once they are all in the tray, sprinkle with salt and pepper and add a small dap of butter to each piece.
7. Bake in the oven for 45-60 minutes till golden brown.

Next up we have the delicious…

Summer Salad with Strawberries

We made this just before leaving, but you could make it in advance and just hold back on adding the pumpkin seeds till you are ready to leave. That way they will stay crispy for longer.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 head of lettuce, pick your favourite kind
• 10 strawberries, cut into slices
• 1 large mango or 2 small ones, cut into cubes
• 1 handful of pumpkin seeds
• Juice from 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Wash the lettuce and cut it into smaller strips or tear it as you like.
2. Wash and slice the strawberries.
3. Peel and dice the mango.
4. On a dry pan gently roast the pumpkin seeds for a few minutes to bring out the flavor. Shake it well and often while roasting so they don’t turn brown. Let them cool for a moment before mixing into the salad.
5. In a bowl with lid or other container that is easy for you to bring along, mix the lettuce, strawberries and mango. Squeeze the lemon juice on top of the salad and sprinkle with salt, pepper and the roasted pumpkin seeds.

We also brought fresh grapes and strawberries in small containers. Pick the fruit you like, wash it and bring it with you.

Stay tuned for the next recipes!

-Enjoy!

Ayoe is a healing practitioner and teacher, a light worker as well as a cookbook author. She became a mother in October 2013 to a beautiful boy. In her healing practice Creating Great Health, she works with pregnant women and new mothers to help alleviate stress and other ailments such as postpartum depression. Her treatments are 100% natural and noninvasive, connecting with the energies of each client. With her husband she has the food blog Three More Bites and together they have written and published the cookbooks: “Cozy Cooking” and “Three Weddings and a Honeymoon”.