In The Kitchen With: The Picnic Group By Vicki Stout Photograhy by Jennifer Cook Practice makes perfect. Just ask the group of longtime Franklin foodie friends, who refer to themselves as “The Picnic Group.” They’ve been making and toting picnics to the summer concerts at Historic Carnton Plantation since those shows began seven years ago. They’ve raised the bar on picnics as most of us know them. Forget a bucket of the Colonel’s finest, we’re talking The Perfect Picnic. The cooking element of this group of friends and fellow Presbyterians is primarily the female half. The exception is Hunter Battle who runs a mean grill at home, prior to the picnics at Carnton. These gals, any one of whom could have been Martha Stewart (without the jail time), are Nancy Moody, Margaret Roberts, Lucy Battle, Susan Williams, Linda Patrick, Anne Rutherford and Joyce Crutcher. Not only is their food divine, it’s presented gloriously. Margaret, a professional floral designer, usually does the flowers (what would a meal be without fresh flowers on the table?). The tables are carted in along with coolers on wheels, linens, baskets and pottery. And a plywood circle even makes it into the mix. It fits over a card table to make, you guessed it, the perfect round. These folks do it up right and make it seem effortless. “It’s really not that big a deal,” says Nancy. “We all love to cook. We talk on the phone before each concert and figure out a menu. The process usually begins with one of us who wants to make something in particular. Like Susan Williams, who has a beach house in the Carolinas. If she’s just been, she’ll have fresh shrimp. So we start with that and build the menu around it.” Lucy says Carnton’s beautiful setting is a plus. The group will tell you that the most important part of their Perfect Picnic is the opportunity to spend with each other and their adult children. Though some of those adult children are scattered to the far winds, they plan their summer visits home on Carnton concert weekends. Take it from me, a long-time foodie, The Picnic Group’s picnics are as good as it gets. What they were eating… The June picnic (photographed here) included shrimp gazpacho, tomato sandwiches, cucumber dip, chicken and wild rice salad, asparagus with tomato and bell pepper salsa, fire and ice tomatoes, a divine bowl of fruit topped with a fresh ginger syrup, lemon curd tarts topped with blueberries, fudge mini-cakes and Sangria. It makes you wonder how they will top it at the Sunday, Aug. 26, Carnton concert. North Shore Chicken Salad Dressing 2 large cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon sugar ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper ¼ cup rice wine vinegar 1/3 cup vegetable oil Salad 4 cups freshly cooked wild rice (cooked in chicken stock) Juice of ½ lemon 1 whole chicken breast, cooked and cubed 3 scallions, including tops, sliced ½ red bell pepper, diced 2 ounces snow pea pods, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 or 2 ripe avocados, cut into medium-size pieces 1 cup toasted pecan halves Lettuce leaves Combine all the dressing ingredients in a food processor; blend thoroughly. Toss the warm rice with the lemon juice in a medium bowl; cool. Add the cubed chicken, scallions, bell pepper and pea pods; toss with the dressing. Cover; refrigerate for two to four hours. Just before serving, add the avocados and pecans; toss gently. Transfer to a salad bowl; garnish with lettuce leaves. Serves six. Fire and ice tomatoes ¾ cup vinegar 1 ½ teaspoon celery salt 1 ½ teaspoon mustard seed ½ teaspoon salt 5 teaspoons sugar 1/8 teaspoon black pepper ¼ cup cold water 6 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and quartered 1 green pepper, sliced in rings 1 medium onion, sliced in rings 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced Mix first seven ingredients in saucepan. Bring to boil and simmer for one minute. Pour hot mixture over tomatoes, green pepper and onion. Cover and place in refrigerator to chill. Before serving, add cucumber. Serve very cold. Serves eight to ten. Ocean Isle beach gazpacho 1 teaspoon salt 2 heads garlic, roasted 1 1/2 cups cubed white bread, crusts removed 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1/4-cup extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 cup plus 1 1/2 cups tomato juice 2 pounds tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced 1 green bell pepper diced 1 red bell pepper diced 1/2 cup minced green onions 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and minced 1 cup minced red onion 1 pound (or more) fresh shrimp, peeled, deveined and cut into small pieces 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley Several dashes Tabasco sauce Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste   Roasted garlic: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice top off of two heads of garlic, exposing the meat of the cloves. Top each head with 1 teaspoon olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil. Place in oven for 45 minutes. Remove and cool. Squeeze garlic heads to remove meat from roasted cloves.   Combine salt, garlic, bread, olive oil, cumin and vinegars in food processor with 1 cup tomato juice. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and add green onions, green and red bell pepper, red onion and remaining tomato juice. Chill several hours and add parsley, shrimp pieces and Tabasco. Add salt and pepper to taste. Fruit salad with mint and ginger syrup For ginger syrup 3 cups water 2 cups sugar 2 cups thinly sliced fresh ginger (1/2 lb; from a 10-inch piece), left unpeeled For fruit salad 4 cups (1-inch pieces) summer fruit (such as mixed berries, melons, peaches, and/or nectarines) 3 tablespoons small mint leaves Make syrup: Bring water, sugar, and ginger to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan, then stir until sugar is dissolved. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat and let steep 15 minutes. Pour ginger syrup through a sieve into a bowl, discarding ginger. Chill, covered, at least two hours. Make fruit salad: Toss fruit and mint with 1/4 cup syrup, or to taste. Cook’s note: Syrup keeps, covered and chilled, for 2 weeks. Asparagus with tomato bell pepper salsa 3/4 pound tomatoes 1 cup finely chopped yellow bell pepper 3/4 cup chopped green onions 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 garlic clove, minced 2 pounds fresh asparagus, tough ends trimmed Blanch tomatoes in pot of boiling water for 20 seconds. Drain. Peel tomatoes. Cut in half; squeeze out seeds. Chop tomatoes. Place in medium bowl. Mix in bell pepper, green onions, cilantro, lime juice, oil and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Steam asparagus until crisp-tender. Transfer to bowl filled with ice water; cool. Drain and pat dry. Arrange asparagus on platter. Top with salsa and serve. Makes eight servings. Asparagus and salsa can be prepared a few hours ahead. Cover separately and chill. Click here to download this article in pdf format.