I made up a Southern style picnic basket for Ed and I last weekend.  The weather didn’t cooperate so we had to enjoy it indoors, but Ed loved it nonetheless.  I’ve shared our menu and some recipes, as well as some other Southern picnic menu ideas below.  Feel free to add more suggestions in a comment!  (See here for French picnic (pique-nique) menus!)

Our Southern Themed Picnic Menu and Recipes:

for drinks:

• iced tea (I usually use store bought drinks for picnics because they’re easier to transport but homemade iced teas are great because you can make different flavour variations.)

for the main:

• buttermilk fried chicken (I marinated chicken drum sticks in buttermilk (or use this ratio:  1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice topped up to 1 cup of milk) and hot sauce over night.  Then I coated it well with all purpose flour that had been mixed with some coarse salt and ground black pepper.  I heated about 2 inches of vegetable oil to 350 F.  I deep fried the chicken pieces in batches (don’t overcrowd the oil) until brown, crispy, and just cooked through, about 4 to 6 minutes per side (depending on the size of the chicken piece), turning once.)

for the sides:

• potato salad (I made a mayonnaise based salad)
• corn bread (I made plain cornbread, but you could add jalapeno, chedder cheese, green onions, etc.  Try making cornbread sticks or bite sized wedges instead.  See my favourite recipe here.)
• corn (I would have liked to make a corn salad or at least add some halved cherry/grape tomatoes to the corn kernels, but I didn’t have the other ingredients on hand)

for dessert:

• slices of fresh watermelon (I went with a light and refreshing dessert because the fried chicken and potato salad were heavy, but see below for several delicious dessert ideas.)

Other Southern Picnic Ideas:

for drinks:

• lemonade

for the main:

• pulled pork sandwiches (if you don’t mind getting messy)
• ribs (if you like eating them cold like I do and if you don’t mind getting messy)

for sides:

• shrimp cocktail
• deviled eggs
• buttermilk biscuits
• succotash (recipe here)
• cole slaw
• black eyed peas salad
• bean salad
• cobb salad
• creamy pasta salad
• corn on the cob with compound butter

for dessert:

• lemon cream cheese pound cake (recipe here)
• coconut cream pie, lemon meringue pie, key lime pie, or fruit pie
• lemon tart
• coffee cake
• pudding
• fruit cobbler
• cinnamon buns (recipe here)