By now surely you know that mayo is not to blame for most cases of "picnic flu"..
But....baked beans always are popular...lots of sugar in them or molasses.
Cole slaw, and one of my favorites, a watermelon bowl filled with strawberries, pieces of watermelon, blue berries grapes and pieces of muskmelon.
Beautiful and delicious!

Here is a link that might be useful:

thanks! and of course, I know that about mayo (I keep telling my mom over and over. and over. but she doesn't believe me.) but because of that mindset, I don't want to take anything with mayo and, again, have my dish ignored.

Texas caviar.

There are dozens of recipes on the web. You can easily make your own variation on the theme. The skeleton recipe is:

2 cans of black eye peas, drained and rinsed
chopped onions
chopped bell peppers, pimentos, roasted red peppers or tomatoes
chopped jalapenos
chopped parsley
hot sauce
seasonings, such as chili powder, cayenne, cumin, S&P
Italian dressing

Proportions are flexible and to taste. Except for the black eye peas, most ingredients are on the order of a couple of tablespoons.

Some recipes include drained and rinsed canned white corn or black beans.

Can be served as a salad or a dip with corn chips.

Jim

You must have Apple Pie!!!!!!!!!!!!

Linda

The number one rule for potlucks/parties/picnics where you'll be bringing food is "cook for those who will be eating it".

My DH always teases me about the time I preapred an appetizer of blanched snow peas with a prettily piped filling of cream cheese mixed with minced dried beef, blue cheese, Worcestershire sauce, and horseradish for a picnic held at a co-worker's mother's home. I remember DH, who was an actor in his early life, saying "Honey, if you were an actress, I'd say that you're not playing to your audience" as I was mixing the ingredients but I reassured him that our guests loved this same recipe when I'd made it at a party we hosted a few weeks earlier.

Well, he was right and only a few peas on the platter were eaten, while the platter of ring bologna and American cheese cubes with French's yellow mustard for dipping was wiped out.

I learned my lesson and the next year, I made decorated chocolate cupcakes from a mix and they were a big hit. Here's what this year's looked like. The candy department of our local CVS drug store was the source for candy corn in July.

Fried or baked chicken.
Pulled pork sandwiches.
Meat and cheese tray.
Four bean salad (vinegar based, no mayo!! LOL).
Jello something.
Pasta salad (tomato, olive, green pepper, onion, salami with italian dressing).
Broccoli Salad.
Strawberry Shortcake is always a hit.

If they're not into 'fancy' food, make it easy on yourself too!! Don't stress over the food. Heck, you could pick up some bean salad at the deli, put it in a nice bowl and go enjoy visiting with the neighbors! Have fun.

Deanna

thanks, everyone! I've decided to make my mom's baked bean recipe (super simple - 3 cans of store-bought van kamp beans, dry mustard, molasses, finely diced onion and a blob of ketchup), as well as a dish of scalloped potatoes since we just dug up tons of fresh Yukon gold potatoes from our garden. I make those very simply, too - sliced potatoes layered with sliced onions, salt and pepper and then about a cup of heavy cream and about a cup of chicken broth (liquid total depends on the amount of potatoes - I put liquid in until it's about half of the depth of the potatoes.) and bake until done. yummy stuff and very simple. neighbors should like it.

thanks again!

oh, wait, also wanted to say, I totally get the post about not playing to your audience. I still remember the time I made homemade hummus and took a huge dish of it to my in-laws house for a cookout. My husband had never had hummus before and discovered he LOVED it, so he had asked me to make it for his family. So I whipped up this fabulous bowl of the stuff, made it extra garlicky, the way we love it, and put pita bread wedges all around the bowl.

well, this was a traditional Mexican family who ate tortillas and carne asada and tacos and chips and salsa at their family gatherings.

so of course, five hours later, the bowl sat UNTOUCHED except for what my husband and I had eaten. His family all just looked at it curiously, but avoided touching it. I kept explaining that it was made from garbanzo beans, similar to the pinto beans they all like so much, but they shuddered at the mere thought of eating it.

you'd think I'd have learned with that one, but alas, I hadn't. last year's picnic was evidence of that.

I will say, I also took a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies to last year's picnic and those were gobbled up. but the side dish I took was flat-out ignored.

Scalloped potatoes! Great idea. Especially when you have freshly dug potatoes. I too consider that yummy.

Jim

The scalloped potatoes sound great.I would love some right about now.

Shelley