Cold fried chicken
Cold fried chicken served outdoors on a red-checkered tablecloth1 is the essence of picnic nostalgia2（乡愁） in the US. Because fried chicken keeps well and is just as delicious cold as it is hot, it's ideal for picnic situations。
Chicken also appears on picnic menus in other forms. You could enjoy a chicken salad, creamed chicken, or even chicken soup in a thermos3 for picnics on colder days。
Potato salad
The classic American dish shows up on picnic menus quite often. And it's easy to make and reinvent, because mashed4 potatoes go with different kinds of dressings6. Besides the traditional mayonnaise（蛋黄酱） dressing5, you can also dress it with oil and vinegar, bacon ranch7 or sour cream（酸奶油）。
Serve with watermelon and chocolate brownies, and you've got yourself a TOP-notch picnic。
Fruit and cheeseplatter
French people like keeping it simple, so fruit and cheese are quite common at picnics. Due to the picnic conditions , hard cheeses tend to fare better.
A few tasty combinations: Cheddar and apples , watermelon and feta, ripe figs8 and blue cheese, tomatoes andmozzarella, or ricotta and grapes. Pack fruit and cheese separately to keep the flavors fresh。
Scotch9 eggs
The Scotch egg, a staple10 at traditional British picnics, iseasily eaten as a finger food. It's made by boiling an egg,encasing it in sausage meat, rolling it in breadcrumbs and then deep-frying it. Keep the Scotch eggs in the refrigerator, ready tobe served cold at your picnic.
There are many variations on this classic food, such as using duck or quail11（鹌鹑） eggs and different types or flavors of sausage。
Prawn12 salad
In a country known for its abundance of seafood13, a picnic wouldn't be complete without a seafood dish. Prawn salad, which is easy to make, keep and eat, naturally goes on the list.
Just boil a handful of prawns14, remove the shells and mix themwith salad vegetables such as lettuce15, spinach16, olives and onions. A simple seasoning17 of salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice adds the final touch.
Sesame noodles
Japanese people love sashimi（生鱼片） and noodles. Since sashimi isn'teasy to keep fresh, a simple dish of sesame noodles is a favorite at picnics. It's versatile18, too, as you can vary the vegetablesaccording to the season -- snow peas, roasted peppers, grilled19 eggplant, julienned carrots, bean sprouts20, and fresh or dried mushrooms all work great.
