Throwback Thursday: Picnics
A Picnic With Andy at a Palisade Vineyard
I don’t know what it is about picnics, but they are one of my favorite things to do in life, just to be clear I have many favorite things to do… having a picnic is most definitely at the top of the list so you will probably see many posts about picnics! My earliest recollection of a picnic was with my parents, I’m an only child and because of my father’s work we moved a lot throughout my earlier years. My father was a Country Club Manager, not in the Military if you were wondering. My first memory of picnicking was when our little family of three had just moved to Jackson Michigan and we had a picnic of Kentucky Fried Chicken in the park. Fast forward to the next town we lived in which was Marion, Indiana, this time I was in high school, and I put together a picnic for my boyfriend at the time (he who will not be named) that included homemade chocolate brownies. Fast forward decades now to Palisade, Colorado!
Although my husband and I have picnicked all over Palisade, one of our favorite places to go was Canyon Wind Cellars which was bought by Colterris Winery in 2016. Colterris has two locations, but our favorite picnicking spot is what is now known as Colterris Winery Tasting room located at 3907 North River Rd. It is open year-round from 10 am – 5 pm daily. It has become a hot spot these days so if you want to ensure a place at the table you will want to make reservations, 970-464-1150!
Ahhh… the joy of putting together a picnic! Mine have come a long way from the days of KFC and brownies, although some still do include fried chicken and the delicious, sweet taste of dark chocolate homemade (or store bought depending on the amount of time I have available to coordinate the spread). My favorite go to food for a picnic is an anti-pasta spread that usually includes three different types of cheeses that range from hard to soft (Brie is our favorite soft cheese followed by goat, for hard cheese our favorite as of late is an Irish Cheddar), salami and prosciutto (if I’m picnicking with my dear friend Laurie there will be Liver Pate involved), apples or pears, sometimes cherries or peaches depending on the season, nuts, dried apricots or cranberries, and buttery, green Castello olives, with an assortment of crackers or a baguette… and of course wine! We usually begin with a tasting and then purchase a bottle for the picnic. This Palisade picnic and location shown in the photograph has been a tradition in our family that goes back pre-kids and continues to this day with our girls as they too now love to picnic as much as I do!
In addition to the food, there is the all-important picnic basket! Of course one can easily have a picnic sans basket but because putting together not only a tasty spread but an elegant one I’m all in for the deluxe picnic basket model that includes china plates, wine glasses made with real glass (plastic also works and is very useful if one is having a picnic by the pool side), real silverware, multiple cutting boards (you have to put the food on something), cloth napkins (I love cloth napkins so much so that I will eventually carry them in my online Palisade Posh boutique), bottle opener (of course), salt and pepper shakers (although I’ve never actually used them, a blanket or tablecloth, either works and then a stylish picnic basket! I’ve had many iterations of picnic baskets over the years include a picnic backpack which is very handy when you want to have a picnic on a hike and then of course the traditional picnic basket… but even then, I’ve had a few different variations of those.
As this is Throwback Thursday, the enclosed photograph is from 2013 and is of my husband enjoying our picnic at what was then Canyon Wind Cellars. The view here as you can see is breath taking… we are surrounded by both vineyards and the Mesa. We have a favorite tree (I think it might be the only tree) in the courtyard that we like to picnic under. It provides just the right amount of shade so that we can enjoy the food and wine at our leisure. If you are ever in Palisade, I highly recommend creating your own picnic feast and head on over to the Colterris Winery Tasting Room (formally Canyon Wind Cellars) … they have a beautiful Rose called Corral that is perfect on a hot summer, or Autumn Day, Bon Appetit!
