*Pat, Pat, Pat*

That is the sound of me congratulating myself on a job well done. I may not be the most humble guy in the world, some may even go to the extreme of calling me arrogant once in a great while. For evidence of this, please see my lovely "mulekick" post.

Let me set the stage for you. Several months ago Tammy and I talked about what we'd like to do for our birthday and anniversary celebrations, all of which took place this summer. One of our wedding gifts (from 2 years ago) was a lovely picnic basket. Since we had not yet had an opportunity to use it, Tammy said she wanted me to plan and, get this, actually execute a romantic picnic for her birthday gift. Can you believe that?? Geeeesh! The horror of it all!

Look! Up in the Sky! It's a bird, it's a plane. Oh nevermind, it's just a plane.
(Here is where you have conveniently forgotten that I had several months to plan this.)

Back to the story. Well, as you can see, I was certainly under tremendous pressure during the summer. As the days and weeks went by Tammy reminded me often of the looming deadline but I assured her I had it in the bag. Of course, all I had to do was find a unique (to us) picnic spot, plan a delightful menu, and make sure there was perfect picnicing weather. No problem, right? Of course not. Where do you turn to for all the answers: Google!

To make a long story short, here were my solutions to this dramatic picnic crisis.

Location: Boston Harbor Islands. If you live in the Boston area and have never visited these islands then you're missing out on a great resource. We only visited the main island, Georges, but we plan on going back to the other islands for some day hikes. Nice Picnic Spot? CHECK!

Menu: The opening dish consisted of a tomato, basil, and onion salad with toasted pine nuts. The pine nuts were my idea.

This was followed by a unique and as we found out, filling, main dish, the Chicken Picnic Loaf. An assortment of fruit including grapes, strawberries, and kiwi accompanied the sandwich. Rounding out the menu was sparkling cider and brownies. Good Food?? CHECK!!

Picnic Atmosphere: Several things contributed to this, including a view of the Boston Skyline:Picture-perfect weather:
I've got to admit, this one was not all my doing. I've got to thank Mother Nature for looking after one of her own (Tammy, not me).

And finally, a nice picnic blanket (check out Crate and Barrel) to sit on. Nice Picnic Environment??? CHECK!!!

All-in-all, I've got to admit that this was one of my better planned events, with a little luck thrown in. I think Tammy really enjoyed it.