all for a lemon bar

i had forgotten how much work picnics are. they make me appreciate eating mangos over the sink even more. picnics look so easy and carefree, don't they? the idea of a picnic made me want to discover the art of lollygagging. what i discovered is that lollygagging is brought on by the very preparation of the picnic. the picnic's jig is up.

what brought on this idea (besides, the lusting of lollygagging) was that babygirl wanted a lemon bar at central market. i paid less for my new old picnic basket (below) than for a lemon bar at central market. of course, i could make them better and fresher, so we bought the ingredients and i made them for her princessness. i think this is where my idea of going picnicking hit. lemon bars turned into...

shrimp po girls! but hell, i needed to celebrate this new mayo from the good people at tabasco, all the way from weeziana. (i really want to go to avery island and tour the tabasco factory in real life.) this is why i love summer. i can whip up fresh pesto in a matter of minutes & steps to the potager and back.

all of this went into my new old basket. i found this last saturday at a churchsale...and i promise not to sell it and to top that promise, i vow to use it monthly. all of the other picnic baskets were dutiful, but not beautiful. maybe, beautiful is where it is at.