A Moveable Feast

Whoever heard of a Christmas picnic? Nearly 30 years ago, one of our kids’ favorite books was a long since out-of-print story by Robert Wilber and Deborah Ray called A Winter Picnic. It was a cute, unexpected idea that had great appeal to our three- and six-year-olds, and of course we had to try it. The idea may have been good, but living in Connecticut we found the only thing to recommend the actuality was that in winter there are no ants. It was cold, wet, thoroughly uncomfortable and really silly, if you get right down to it.

So a Christmas picnic still sounds kind of unnatural to this Yankee. A Fourth of July picnic – now that makes more sense. It’s what you expect in July: the days are sunny, the beach is inviting, the water is calm. But here in Vero Beach, it’s that way at Christmas too, so we thought we’d hijack a seasonal feast, haul it down to the beach and, with help from one of Vero Beach’s finest chefs, translate traditional Christmas dishes into sophisticated picnic fare.

Read the entire article in the November 1999 issue