Sunday Dinner - Al fresco!

Under a honey locust tree, no less. If you have one of these horrid trees in or near your yard, you'll be wondering what on earth I was thinking yesterday. Well, it was a day-after-the-storm day, which means sunny skies and light winds, perfect weather. I couldn't let it pass by without a picnic, but I didn't want to drag the entire family somewhere only to spend the whole day chasing the two youngest kids away from every imaginable danger.

So, we took the dining room table outdoors (not doing THAT again for a decade) and set it up on the lawn. As soon as we set it down it began raining tiny little green things - the little green things that are covering the top of the shed and car and obscuring my garden. Yes, those little things. They make you itch. They come with little green bugs attached sometimes. They are not good.

We traipsed back indoors to find something to cover the eating area with. We finally found a large sheet and thin ropes and went about setting it all up. That done, I finished off our loverly dinner and we ran from door to table before anything could land in the food. We were successful. We were proud. And then the wind blew.

Ah well, we picked and swept and blew our way through dinner and everyone went away full and content (and itchy).

This is what we supped on:

Fried Chicken (mom's recipe)
Roasted Red Potatoes
Vidalia Onion Pie
Cucumber Salad
Homemade Coleslaw (Well, isn't everything I make homemade? I write a food blog! Redundant, no? Onward...)
White Sweet Corn
Rhubarb Crumble with Vanilla Custard


Vidalia Onion Pie

Chicken and Red Potatoes

Kids lovin' the outdoor dining!

Recipes are linked where necessary, and this is the onion pie:

Four Corners Vidalia Onion Casserole

3 cups finely chopped Vidalia onion
3/4 stick unsalted butter
1/2 can cream of chicken soup
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese - grated
hot sauce, pepper, dill, parsley and creole seasoning - all to taste
shredded sharp cheddar cheese - enough to cover each layer
single shallow pie crust

Lightly brown onions in butter in a large frying pan. Stir in soup, eggs, Parmesan and seasonings. Layer the pie crust alternately with several layers of onions and cheddar - ending with cheddar. Bake at 325 degrees F until cheese is light brown - about 1 hour.

**I did this with an unbaked crust and sliced the onions rather than chopping. It was DELICIOUS!