Le Picnic: Chic Food for On-the-Go

Some very enticing recipes, including old classics like croque monsieur, pan bagnat, and salade nicoise, plus many innovations. I was hesitant as to whether give this 3 stars or 4. The featured items and their ingredients deserve 5 stars, but the recipes themselves have problems. Is it not still the rule that all recipes must be tested before a cookbook is published? I don't think these were. First of all the author makes a serious mistake in trying to give metric as well as imperial quantities. The conversions are often sloppy. Sometimes her metric amounts would translate to a 7 1/2 ounce cup and other times to a 8 1/2 ounce cup. A cup is 8 ounces. She should have done what the vast majority of cookbook writers do: give it in imperial with a conversion page at the end of the book. An example of the sloppy conversions is on page 54, Croque Monsieur. The ingredient list shows 40g (1 1/2 oz.) butter, but the bechamel sauce has 15g (1/2 oz.) butter. If 1/2 ounce is 15 grams, then 1 1/2 ounces would be 45 grams, not 40 grams. She has a 750ML bottle of wine, which is a standard size bottle at 25.5 ounces. Actually it is 25.4 ounces. Yes, this is trivial, but if you are going to convert do it accurately. It just gets so confusing when the conversions are sloppy. Skip the metrics.There is what I assume to be just a sloppy conversion on page 14 (pistachio, lemon thyme & chicken terrine). One of the ingredients is: 60ml (2fl oz/1/2 cup) brandy. 2 fluid ounces is not 1/2 cup, it is 1/4 cup.Then there is sloppy writing. On page 34 (Watercress, egg & jambon baguette) she has 6 free range eggs as one of the ingredients and 1 teaspoon of white vinegar as another. We are told to "Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and add the vinegar . Gently lower the eggs into the boiling water and simmer for 8 minutes. Remove the eggs from the pan with a slotted spoon and refresh in an ice bath or cold water...." We are not told if the eggs are room temperature or direct from the fridge. Experienced cooks know there will be a dramatic difference in the result depending on which temp was used.I would really like to give this book a 3 1/2 star rating which I think it deserves. Superb concept with great picnic ideas, but not always carefully written.

Fantastic and fun book! I can hardly wait for the next thing from this author ❤️

Beautiful full color book with lots of great recipes! Makes me wish I could have a picnic every day!

Delightful and innovative. Excellent service in getting it to us.

Excellent book; it makes a great host/hostess gift as well.

Adorable chic gift, it’s a beautiful book with photos.