[Part 1] Down the Rabbit Hole to Food Utopia

The Ultimate Picnic

So BIG it comes in TWO parts.

Don’t forget you hard covered books. Then put them on a pillow, top with a vase of flowers that will NEVER blow over.

A long time ago, in a "park" far away…

It's Spring, finally. Honestly, I never give Spring enough credit. It seems like a wet and muddy few weeks to endure before summer. But Spring can be a perfect 75 degrees, no bugs yet, making it the best time for a picnic. Like one of those picnics  Bon Appétit features. The ones you bring props to and sit among blowing grasses without itching or spilling your wine. Personally, I have never quite been able to pull that off. But I know someone who can make a picnic, a walk in the park. Stay TUNED for Part 2.  

On Memorial Day, we would "picnic" with my Grandparents after visiting the Union Cemetery in Pleasant Grove, MN. The picnic was back at the farm all setup outside on fold-up tables. It was a potluck (I know, right?! yum!) There would be endless hot dishes, jello salads, cakes of every color and flavor, and strawberry shortcake. Oh, and kool-aid from a colorful metal pitcher full of ice poured into a tasty metal cup. It's unclear if those aluminum cups were/are safe, and is Alzheimer's really in my future? Never mind, I'm not going down that hole. But the kool-aid was so sweet and cold from those glasses…

I always picked the ruby red glass!

So that started out summer yet was technically Spring. The fact we started it at the cemetery reminded me that people actually used to picnic in the cemetery. 

I just tripped into a Rabbit hole.

After the Civil War and with yellow fever and cholera raging across the country, folks had more dead to bury than churchyards, and family farms could handle. So cemeteries were put together that featured professional landscaping, paths, and pavilions. The scenery was beautiful and peaceful, and park like, making it great place to picnic. Plus, some people found comfort in being among those that had passed. However, the fad of cemetery picnics started to die out (pun intended) around 1920. Modern science brought an end to high mortality rates, and public parks began to be built in bigger cities. Also, the cemetery officials were getting sick of cleaning up after picnic-ers. Eventually, National cemeteries banned food and drink altogether.

I've found a few articles about cemetery picnics seeing a revival, and quite honestly, they look fun. They remind me of the farm dinners that I hope will keep flourishing.

Picnic thoughts brought me to the ultimate picnic from my youth. The IBM Picnic. My Dad was an IBM-er, and I tell you, those picnics IBM threw for their employees were as grand as any county fair. Literally a midway was set up with every ride you could hope for.

The first IBM Picnic was actually at White Water Park. JZ was there, I was not in the picture yet.

IBM Picnic early 1960’s (just the little kid side!) courtesy of Susan K. Hansen

The Tilt A Whirl was my favorite ride. Hold on as I take a spin down a little rabbit hole.

A quick Wikipedia search on Tilt -A -Whirl lead me to this:

"The ride consists of seven freely-spinning cars that hold three or four riders each, attached at a fixed pivot point on a rotating platform. As the platform rotates, parts of the platform are raised and lowered, resulting in centrifugal and gravitational forces on the revolving cars, causing them to spin in different directions and at variable speeds."

(Ah Ok enough of the math stuff. BUT hang on there… “

The weight of passengers in these cars as well as the weight distribution"

(Oh, I always wondered /worried about that)

may intensify or dampen the spinning motion of the cars, adding to the unpredictable nature known as chaotic motion. Herbert Sellner invented the Tilt-A-Whirl in 1926 at his Faribault, Minnesota, home." 

(Wait, WHAT?!) 

"In 1927, the first 14 Tilt-A-Whirls were built in Sellner's basement and yard. Sellner Manufacturing opened its factory in Faribault MN, and the ride debuted at the Minnesota State Fair. More than a thousand rides were eventually built. Some of the rides produced in the 1940s and 1950s are still in operation.”

(Wow, cool. There's actually a Face Book Page )

Though the rides were exhilarating, after asking around for fond memories, the most common comment was, "I puked after riding the “blank". Me too, after the swings. So did my friend Julie. I suspect the FREE POP which was literally available all over the area, added to that. Most households in the 60s and 70s didn't have a variety of soft drinks in the fridge. Pop was a treat, and at the picnic, we filled up.  

Each year my mom safety-pinned our picnic "ticket" to our shirts. We were parent free to drink all the FREE POP we could get our hands on. On the bottom of our ticket was a tear-off lunch ticket, and we were instructed not to miss lunch. I thought lunch was delicious, and I would not have missed it.

(Maybe that's why my Tilt-A-Whirl ride was so fun?)

Everyone I talked to mentioned hot dogs and chips for lunch. I am pretty sure there were also Sloppy Joes. I also am really sure there was potato salad. Most people didn't remember potato salad, only the rides. So the ones I asked and said no potato salad, backed it up with "that wouldn't be safe" and "who would have made it." On the other hand, I have always been a Food Person (former foodie, another time, another story). I remember potato salad, and I think even baked beans. Quite honestly, I'm not sure the safety factor of serving potato salad on a hot day in the summer was much of thought back then. I'm not saying they didn't refrigerate; I'm guessing it sat on ice or something. But they sure were not temping it or rotating it out at the 4-hour mark, err maybe they were, who knows. Also, I am betting the big commissary at the big blue would be more than capable of whipping up some potato salad and baked beans. 

At the end of the lunch line, and not to be missed, was Kemps vanilla ice cream cups, which at the time was Marigold Dairy. These cups were a welcome cool dessert, except they were served with that little wooden spoon, paddle thing. I can barely type this out. My hands are sweating, and my lips are twitching. I can't help but grit my teeth. Someone else speak up on the horrors of the little flat wooden spoon. I had to eat it without touching my lips to the wood. I managed.

Help! my lips are twitching!

So with the food and the ice cream, the endless gallons of pop, there was the beating sun. Did we even wear sunscreen? Doubt it. We always came home "burnt to a crisp," as my mom would say, and were sent to soak in a cool bath, followed by a layer of calamine lotion. 

Years later, as an adult, I picnicked with my new husband. JZ, and I would pack up our beloved golden retriever Mojo and some KFC and head to Quarry Hill on the rolling hillside that still had some gravestones from the former State Hospital. Wait, I was picnicking in a cemetery! The whole State Hospital has an interesting history that KROC writes a bit on it. Go take a look. I can't because it won't stop there for me. Check it out HERE.

Our favorite picnic area in the mid 80s

Don't think we ate KFC without a perfect pairing. It was J Roget Sparkling Brut. Yeah, we were living the life. One time we forgot to bring champagne flutes (aka paper cups). So my brand new husband patiently wiped and even licked out the gravy container so I'd have a glass. Not sure if that's an aww or an eww, but sweet nonetheless.

So not the Bon Appétit picnics by any stretch of the means. But, you can make a fantastic picnic, and here's

Jen in Part 2 to tell you how!