Picnic with Panache and Ethnic Flavor

Perhaps it's because they're such fun meals. When you pack up your favorite foods to enjoy outside under a canopy of trees, you escape the adult world and become a child again.

In fact, the 1883 version of Hill's Manual of Social and Business Forms, the "Miss Manners" of that era, indicated that picnics "should be especially noticeable for the absence of all formality,[with] jollity and mirth reigning supreme."

Today, picnics are usually the height of informality, with cutoffs and sandals; volleyball on the beach; hot dogs and beer and long walks in the park. But, sometimes, depending on the occasion and your mood, picnics can also be decidedly upscale. It's fun to make these alfresco forays formal and elegant with stemmed goblets, candles, cloth napkins -- and, best of all, gourmet food.

Here are a few ideas to help you add a touch of class to your next picnic. Use them as a springboard to unleash your creativity and let your imagination soar.

Enjoy Ethnic - Fried chicken and potato salad, step aside. With the vast array of ethnic food from restaurants, carry-outs and grocery stores, it's easy to give your picnics an international flair.

* Enjoy the taste of Japan, for example, with take-out sushi. Find a quiet Zen-like stream, sit on straw mats and use your chopsticks, and you can temporarily transport yourself to this part of the Orient.

* With a red-checkered tablecloth, an antipasto tray that you have prepared -- or picked up at the local Italian deli -- and a basket of breadsticks, you can also enjoy a picnic Italiano.

* For Bastille Day -- or anytime you want to enjoy French flavor -- pick up a couple of baguettes, some Brie or Chévre cheese, a bit of paté, as well as some wine and fresh fruit. It's one of the simplest, yet most enjoyable picnics, you can assemble.

Wrap knives and forks in white napkins and tie them together with red, white and blue ribbon and listen to French songs by Nana Mouskouri or Mireille Mathieu to add even more atmosphere.

Beyond Basics - Picnic lunches and dinners are great, but there are an endless number of other occasions that are also suitable for picnics.

* Get your weekend off to a terrific start by treating yourself and that someone special to an early morning Saturday breakfast picnic for two, complete with an assortment of pastries, muffins, croissants, cheeses, fruits, coffee and Champagne or sparkling water. For a truly decadent ending, tuck in a couple of gourmet chocolates.

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