All too often, we think about picnics as giant affairs with multiple courses. But why not make it a more basic affair as the Europeans do?
Ditch the potato salad, put away the cole slaw and say goodbye to the grill. Instead, go for simple flavors: some cheeses, salami, pepperoni, olives and good crusty bread.
served by picapp.com
The key, of course, is the bread. Try this one:
Polish Beer Rye Bread
This recipe is for a bread machine and tweaks just slightly a bread found in The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook, which I highly recommend.
1 c …read more

Some time ago we bought a bread machine, and I made the mistake of telling my wife that if we bought it we also had to use it. I also figured out that it would take about 60 loaves of bread before the thing began to pay off. She has ever since tried her very best to reach 60 and, while I haven’t counted, there’s little doubt that she’s at or over that.
She’s experimented with a host of different breads, but one staple of her baking has been beer bread. There, too, she’s experimented, in this instance with different beers. …read more