July 4th Picnic box!

First of all, Happy Fourth!!!

If you're out and about and going to camp out somewhere for the fireworks, and need sustenance, this is a good option: Pack Your Own Picnic Box!

Not shown: Pesto, I had little containers of Pesto on the side, and packed some crackers with me for dip.  This one I got from French Farm.  French Farm mainly does wholesale business, but occasionally they open up their doors for regular folks like me walk in there and buy random food like this.  It's pretty good considering coming from a jar.  We also used some on pasta, and that was good as well. 

Then went to Local Foods, and picked out some awesome goodness for the box. 

Here are some base ingredients, cheese, meat, chocolate, and of course.

The delivery vehicle of those yummy goodness: the Crisps crackers, this one is from Zabar.  Yes, THAT Zabar.

These cheese are from Gootessa Cheese, which is a Pennsylvania company.  I picked the Cheddar & Swiss.  The cheddar was on the dryer side and it is also sharper than I thought it'd be, the Swiss I cannot get enough of. 

This one totally luck into, because I had never heard of them before, and lord knows I eat a ton of food imported from Taiwan but never came across Ping Tung chocolate.  Turns out they are something of a big deal in the region.  These are Taiwan grown came from Japanese roots when they occupied back then.  But now it's all locally grown and groomed.  The taste is a true 70% dark, and the notes from the black sugar is definitely of a thicker texture note (think coffee) but not sweet.  Perfect to be paired with cheese.

I saw the Iberico, I can't stop myself, I'm a huge fan and this brand has been compared to the Waygu of Pork.  If you have that kind of reputation, I have to check that out!  And they did not disappoint, the fat is there, it's not super salty but nicely marbled and buttery.  It went perfect with any charcuterie you want to make, though the price ain't cheap.

So, I just did some re-arranging.  Had some Crisps, cheeses, chocolate, another type of cracker and threw in some ube pretzels from TJ.  Pop in the pesto, the whole box is ready to go!  Pack a couple a mini Pellagrino, bring some wipes and a blanket, you're all set for waiting on fireworks!

Happy 4th to you all, have a wonderful day with your family!