The bread sounds great. Other suggestions, Tomato Cucumber marinade. Just tomatoes, sliced onions and cucumber slices dressed with vinegar, oil salt, basil and tarragon. Three bean salad, Tin can salad which is similar to three bean salad. Baked beans are always good. Also have a great marinated green bean and pea salad. That one calls for mayonnaise added just before serving. The recipe says it's also good without the mayo but I have always added it. If you're interested in any of the recipes I'll be happy to share.

To me, a picnic isn't a picnic without good slaw and I don't get tired of it. Don't get it that often so I look forward to it! Otherwise the bean salad, though that's common too. Maybe a tossed salad or a strawberry salad. Radish salad would be good. The most popular thing at the annual picnic I go to is the smoked turkey!

Pasta salad might be fun. Change it up a little bit and use tortelli in place of the pasta you usually use.

This one from EJ(Jessica) would be different and might work. Think it would be safe even it got a little warm. I put the serving bowl in a bigger bowl full of ice and when the ice was gone, well, it was gone and know one got sick and the salad was history at the end of the day. Have a good time despite the heat!

David

Spicy Cold Soba Noodles (EJ)

1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tbls molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup chili oil
3 tbls balsamic or red wine vinegar
1/2 bunch thinly sliced scallions, white and green
1/2 lb soba noodes

Place soy sauce in a pan over high heat and reduce by half. Turn heat to low, stir in molasses, and warm briefly. Transfer to a serving bowl. Add brown sugar through scallions and whisk to combine.
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add noodles; bring back to a boil, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they just begin to soften, about three minutes.
Have ready a large bowl of iced water. Drain noodles, plunge in iced water, and drain again (I just rinse with cold water in the colander). Transfer noodles to the serving bowl that has the sauce, toss well and chill.
From City Cuisine by Feniger and Milliken.

I agree with cynic, I alway love a good slaw, and maybe people aren't tired of you bringing it, maybe they are counting on you to bring it!

Otherwise, the three bean salad already mentioned is always good, or a southwestern corn and bean type of salad. Fruit might be nice too, maybe a watermelon/strawberry/blueberry red-white-and-blue kind of thing.

Good bread is becoming more and more rare though, and I think that might be a real treat too.

Annie

Just thought of another one

Italian Pasta Salad

1 16 oz box of multi-colored rotini
1 zucchini, sliced
1/4 C sliced black olives
1/2 lb. ham, cut into julienne strips
1 1/2 ounces pepperoni slices, halved
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 red pepper, slivered
1 8 1/2 z (drained weight) can artichoke hearts, quartered
1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup sliced green onion
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. thyme
1 cup prepared Good Seasons Italian dressing
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
freshly ground pepper

Cook pasta al dente. Drain and rinse with cool water. Add zucchini, olives, ham, pepperoni, salt, red pepper, artichoke hearts, celery, green onion, oregano and thyme. Toss with dressing. Adjust seasonings. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and generous grinds of black pepper

I was thinking fruit salad - lovely if it's hot. Otherwise, what about little pies? Egg and bacon pies are great for picnics.

Georgy's Mom, will you post your marinated bean and pea salad? thanks!

I never tired of slaw wither! A potato salad with an oil and vinegar based dressing is a nice change from regular potato salad. Fresh baked rolls are always a hit.

This pasta salad of Woodie's makes a tom and is a crowd pleaser. It says refrigerate until serving but many times I have refrigerated and then served at room temp.

Pasta Salad - Woodie

1 lb small shell macaroni,cooked and drained
1/2 lb provolone cheese,diced
1/2 lb salami,diced
1/2 lb pepperoni,cut in half lengthwise then slice into cubes
3 lb tomatoes,seeded and diced
3 ribs celery,diced
1 green or red pepper,diced
1 can black olives
1 jar pimento stuffed green olives
1 red onion,diced

DRESSING
3/4 cup oil
1/2 cup vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp basil
celery salt to taste

Mix dressing and pour over pasta, refrigerate until serving

Marinated Green Bean and Pea Salad

2 15 oz cans French style green beans
1 17 oz can LeSeuer peas (no substitutions)
1 l6 oz can sliced carrots
1 large onion diced
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup ripe olives, sliced (optional)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (or More)

Marinade:

3/4 cup salad oil
1/3 cup white vinegar
2 Tbl. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp pepper

Drain canned vegetables well. Place in a large bowl. Add onions and celery. Combine marinade ingredients, beating well with mixer. Pour over vegetables. Chill overnight. Drain well in colander for several hours. Stir occasionally. Just before serving, add olives and enough mayonnaise to bind together Serves 10 - 12 . I like this salad with homemade mayonnaise but it's good with a little bit of lemon juice added to regular mayo.

Thanks all....I can't make a pasta salad....because I made 5 gallons of pasta salad on thursday for a funeral and can't look at it again.
This is not a "gourmet" bunch.....
I'll probably do either slaw or the green bean and pea salad.....but that might be a bit "odd" for this crowd!! LOL!
Maybe a pan of rolls would be an easy and good alternative....maybe make an herb roll...French bread....flattened, spread with butter and chopped fresh herbs, rolled and sliced like cinnamon rolls......hmmm...
Linda C

Make the potato salad. Then fill a much larger bowl with ice and set the potato salad bowl in it. For our graduation parties we filled a kiddy pool with ice for all the cold salads. Worked great. You might suggest something like that to the hosts. Even a wheel barrow filled with ice works.

Tami

Pan of rolls sound really good, as that is something most people wouldnt bring. A baker at the Farmer's Market has made a Pizza roll type thing. It was pizza spices and cheese rolled up like cinnamon rolls and baked. One time she even had bits of pepperoni tossed in the mix.

Thanks, Trudy....that's sort of like what I just did....
Going to play with that recipe a bit....pepperoni eh?

Hi LindaC :)

If you're craving potato salad I've been using this recipe for awhile and it's great for picnic since it doesn't have dairy products. I'm going to paste the whole recipe but I omit the olives and capers. Please let us know what you decided to take and how it turned out and above all enjoy yourself :)

TTYL!

Chris

Potato Salad
Southern French Style
Recipe from: Fresh from a Monastery Garden
by VICTOR D'AVILA-LATOURRETTE
Cookbook Heaven at Recipelink.com

1 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes, cooked and peeled

6 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and chopped

6 small ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered

1 small red onion, sliced

1/2 cup pitted black olives, sliced in half

5 tablespoons capers

Vinaigrette

1/3 cup olive oil (more if needed)

4 tablespoons tarragon vinegar (more if needed)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cut the potatoes into dice size and place them in a good-size salad bowl. Add the chopped hard-boiled eggs, quartered tomatoes, sliced onion, olives, and capers.

Prepare the vinaigrette by combing all the ingredients well. You may add more oil and/or vinegar as needed. Just before serving, pour the vinaigrette dressing over the vegetables. Toss gently and see that the vegetables are well coated. Check the seasonings and serve.

I took a pan of the pesto cheese rolls....but should have taken slaw as they were long on breads and short on veggie type salads. But the rolls were well received.