My daughter reminded me that I have taken her on exactly one picnic that she can remember. I started to tell her that I very well may have taken her on picnic she cannot remember, since she is only five, but I thought twice and just kept silent. Maybe I have only taken the kid on one picnic. I mean, it gets HOT in Florida and eating outside with the red ants isn’t all that appealing to me.

Then she reminded me that she has been asking to go to a picnic at the beach and since we are only a few miles from the beach I had no good excuse. It might get hot at the beach, but there are not so many red ants and there is always a gulf breeze.

So, I think I will pack a picnic for tomorrow and since my lunch date is five, I will not focus on the gourmet picnics I used to pack when I was living up north, dating a lot and wild about packing picnics for my dates. I loved to fill a picnic basket with gourmet food and a great wine and make an event of it.

I think I first heard about Dean and Deluca back when that show Felicity was on television. I remembering making a pint of visiting one of their shops the next time I was in New York City and how I felt like I was in a foodie paradise while I was in there. Sure, we have some great gourmet food stores locally, but pop culture has made Dean and Deluca synonymous with gourmet. So, I have a great time browsing their website when I am in the food for something new and palate-enticing. I keep coming back to their Meyer Lemon Cheesecake. Holy cow, it sounds good. We have Meyer lemons growing out on the back patio in a huge terra cotta pot, but they are nowhere near ready. I sure would like to put that cheesecake in the picnic basket tomorrow, but I think I am going to settle for vanilla wafer, yogurt raisins and Juicy Juice, considering the company.