Take a Hike — and Bring Some Food!

So much attention is given to New England during the "leaf-peeping" season. However, watching spring unfold in Connecticut is just as magnificent.

The sun is getting higher in the sky, temperatures are warming, grass is greening up, and trees and shrubs are popping with fresh color everywhere. This is the perfect time to come out of this particularly long hibernation we've been in and get outside.

Biking, hiking, paddling and just strolling are all well within our reach here in the Farmington Valley. Rails for Trails, Hublein Tower, Stratton Forest, Ethel Walker, Great Pond Park, McLean Game Refuge, the Farmington River ... the list goes on and on. Choose your destination and, of course ... pack the picnic basket.

What's worth doing, is worth doing well, and it really doesn't take too much effort to put together a really delicious and different meal for your outing. A few little tweaks can make all the difference.

For example, sandwiches are always good and easily managed, but perhaps a new combination on your bread would be fun. Start with good, fresh bread. Pile smoked turkey on in place of regular. Add brie cheese in place of American. Along with the lettuce and tomato, add some sliced avocado. In lieu of mayo, use a little spicy honey mustard, chipotle mayonnaise, or red pepper mayonnaise (recipes follow).

Use your imagination. Make a variety and cut them into smaller wedges so everyone can have a sampling of each. Forgo the potato or pasta salad and replace it with some cut up fruit. Fill a container with kiwi, pineapple, strawberries. That should hit the spot. For dessert, a simple cookie should suffice, as long as it contains chocolate.

Remember, try to pack what you will actually eat for lunch. There's nothing worse than having to lug around the leftovers.

Spicy Honey Mustard

2 parts good quality dijon mustard

1 part honey

Red Pepper Mayonnaise

1 cup mayo

1 TB lemon juice

1 whole roasted red pepper-skin peeled (or equivalent of jarred red peppers)

2 shots tabasco

salt and pepper

Combine the above in a food processor until smooth

Chipotle Mayonnaise

1-2 chipotle peppers, seeds removed (used canned chipotles in adobo)

1 cup mayonnaise

1 TB adobo sauce 

1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

salt and pepper

Combine above in food processor until smooth