I gotta tell you, I love LA in the summer. This weekend was a showcase of my favorite summer activities, both of which happen to involve picnics – no surprise there, I’m sure. As you might imagine, the Starving Artist is a good friend to have at a picnic.
The festivities began on Saturday with Cinespia, which is an organization that screens movies every weekend in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. You pay $10, gather a group of friends, show up at the cemetery with food and wine, and picnic out on the cemetery lawn with a movie. This weekend was Sunset Blvd, which I had never seen. Such a fun evening and such a great movie. Then on Sunday I went to the Hollywood Bowl to see Pixar in concert. I absolutely adore going to the hollywood bowl. Tickets come in a large range of prices, so you can cheap it up or splurge. Everything is outdoors and they let you bring your own food and drink. I’m lucky that I live close enough to walk, so we all meet at my place and walk over. No parking nightmare and of course the weather is usually perfectly gorgeous for an evening stroll. It’s weekends like this that I’m reminded how great LA is and how lucky I am to have such great friends.
But, more important than camaraderie is food. Remember last week when I posted that recipe for apple-cherry-peach sauce? Well I still had quite a bit leftover. It occurred to me that such fruity sweetness would go well with a nice strong cheese. I went for my default, which is Cabot extra sharp white cheddar from Vermont. Only $10 for a giant block at Costco. I mean come on, I’m a New Englander. I used half the block for Saturday and half for Sunday. Picked up a large box of Triscuits on sale for $2.99 at Gelson’s and voila, a lovely snack. You’ll notice in the picture I made them on French bread that one of our friends had bought. Also nice, but I prefer the crisp of the Triscuit myself. Slice up some fruit, grab some pretzels and a bag of M&Ms and you have yourself a picnic. Some people go all out and bring baked goods or entire meals. I keep it more on the finger food side – then we have a good excuse to hit up a diner afterward. Glorious.