An annual late summer afternoon picnic at the Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate in Oakland, CA, held by the Art Deco Society of California (ADSC).
In 2015, I simply went and crashed my friend’s picnics. In 2016, my parents happened to be visiting from the other coast and I got them all dolled up and prepared a real picnic of smoked salmon with dill cream cheese, cucumber and capers. The secrets to packing this Gatsby Summer Afternoon picnic were:
- careful planning and prep the night before
- small mason jars
- waxed paper
- cracker/cookie tins
- linen napkins pressed and folded
It took a lot of work to create this historically accurate vintage picnic; I have a newfound respect for housewives of the 1920s. If you are not lucky enough to have a real vintage tin-lined wicker basket to carry it all in, our picnic fit nicely into our basket from Bed Bath & Beyond, which looks vintage on the outside but has insulation through the inside. We actually had more than enough food for three people and forgot about the kale salad completely until we got home. Which means I can invite even more people to picnic with us next year!
