A Midsummer Day's Picnic.(Recipe)

Celebrate the longest day of the year by dining alfresco

This year, June 21 promises to be a magical day. This first day of summer -- the solstice, when the sun is at its peak -- was traditionally a time of celebration for the ancient druids. Bonfires, representing the sun, were fueled with herbs of the season: mistletoe, vervain, St. John's wort and lavender, and people would leap over the fire to purify themselves and to protect against evil in the coming months. Children welcomed the faeries of summer by leaving out cookies and sweets. It was a time of merriment and celebration. Today, modern pagans greet the solstice with similar celebrations. But you don't have to practice an ancient religion to celebrate the longest day of the year. Just as nature is taking a pause before a new season begins, we, too, should pause to greet summer in a fitting manner.

In recent years, certain self-appointed celebrity arbiters of taste (read: Martha) have tried to convince us that a picnic should be the equivalent of a formal dinner party, differentiated only by a red-checked tablecloth and a "nouveau rustic" menu (read: homemade bread made with just-threshed wheat, cheeses imported from a little-known town in Italy, fruits grown from heirloom seeds [and only available if you know the right people] and a bottle of 1961 Bordeaux).

Au contraire! Picnics are a time to kick back, relax and enjoy tasty, yet easy-to-prepare food with friends. There's certainly nothing wrong with planning the menu in advance and including fresh, seasonal, homemade foods, but you shouldn't forget that the real object of a picnic is to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and balmy air of summer.

So just where does one go to have a picnic? The obvious choice is a park where you can find a patch of soft green grass, and maybe a view of a lake or stream. But there's also the beach (a sunset picnic can be particularly nice, after the daytime crowds have gone home). A peaceful and park-like location is a cemetery, although some (understandably) would not be able to enjoy their cold fried chicken amongst the dead. City dwellers have the option of a rooftop picnic, which can be particularly beautiful at night. Perhaps my favorite picnic spots, however, are on the grounds of local wineries. Most wineries have picnic benches or grassy areas with views of the vineyard and the best part is, you can buy a bottle of wine right there and enjoy the fruits of the field.

As far as the menu is concerned, there are some obvious details. How mayonnaise-based dishes such as potato and macaroni salad got to be considered common picnic fare is a mystery to me. To be consumed safely, they must be kept cold at all times; not an easy thing to do while dining alfresco. Instead, choose salads such as black bean or pesto that don't require constant refrigeration.

While fruit is an excellent choice for picnics, many people don't realize that they can cause foodborne illness. Melons, for instance, can harbor bacteria on their rinds, so they should be washed and kept cool.