Grown Up Ants on a Log

I don't know about you, but we are having some picnic weather here today in Portland! A great, easy snack for packing up to take to the park is ants on a log. Traditionally made with celery, peanut butter and raisins- O decided on a more grown up version for myself. :)

To make these ants on a log you will need:

A couple stalks of celery, washed and cut into 3-4" pieces

Chevre (a tangy goat cheese for those of you unfamiliar with it--yum!)

Dried cranberries (mine are organic and were purchased at Trader Joe's)

Just wash and cut up your celery, and then use a butter knife to spread your chevre onto each piece. Dot the top with your cranberry "ants" and you are ready to serve! When taking these on a picnic I will usually spread the cheese onto each celery stalk, and then loosely sandwich two pieces together to put in a sandwich bag. I then pull them apart at the park and put on the cranberries right before I am ready to serve.

Yum! One of my favorite summer snacks (absolutely no cooking/baking required!). What are some of your favorite picnic snacks?

Peach Chevre Salad

This should have made my list for "Things I Love" in September, but I thought it deserved it's own special post. It's that good. The hus and I got a cheese plate at one of our favorite restaurants over the weekend, and two of the many items on it were peaches and chevre. Luckily, they were right next to each other on the plate or I may have missed out on this taste sensation. I decided to turn it into a salad at home, but this would also be great served on slices of baguette as a late summer appetizer. Go nuts, I won't judge.

To make this tasty Peach and Chevre salad you will need:

4 cups lettuce of your choice (I used red and green butter lettuces, spinach would be great as well)
1 ripe peach, sliced
2 ounces of chevre (for those of you unfamiliar, chevre is a tangy goat's milk cheese great for spreading or crumbling)

Wash your lettuce and gently pat dry (or use a salad spinner- woo!). Place into a large serving bowl (or divide evenly into 2 bowls). Top with peaches and crumble on your chevre. This serves 2-4 people as a side and can easily be doubled or tripled for a crowd. We are lucky enough to have peaches in season at our local Farmer's Market, so I am getting my fill while I can.

What Summer dishes are you filling up on?