What could be better than a picnic on the beach for a family dinner? Sand on your toes, the roar of the ocean, a walk on the beach, and a roaring fire to gather. If you’re not lucky enough to live near the ocean, a lake, pond, stream, or fountain will do the trick. Or just lay out blankets in the backyard. Some easy recipes for a beach picnic dinner and then when it gets dark you can stargaze.

What do you need:

1) A place to go. Choose a local beach, preferably with bonfires or barbecues. One with a bit of wind protection is ideal. It will keep the sand out of your food later.

2) Fire: a fire ring, barbecue or create your own. You can bring a small portable barbecue or dig a hole and cover it with stones. If you’re making your own fire pit, it’s great to get the whole group involved in digging, digging for rocks, and scavenging for firewood. It’s a good idea to bring a grill to place on top of the rocks in the fire pit. And I always carry some reserve firewood in case the search for firewood is not enough.

3) Seating – A picnic bench, folding chairs, or a huge old quilt or blanket are wonderful for sitting by the fireplace. Bring several so that as the day cools everyone can be close to the fire and can switch sides as the wind changes to avoid getting smoke in their eyes.

4) Games – It is a good idea to bring a few games or toys to keep the troops occupied until dinner time. A bucket and shovel are classic beach toys and the foundation of any good sandcastle. It’s really amazing how entertaining the sand itself is for kids to play in. It’s like at Christmas when all the little ones love to play with boxes and wrappers; Take them to the beach and they love the sand. Of course, later they will have it in every crevice, but that is a price that is well worth paying for a good afternoon at the beach. Beach balls are another good option, as are Frisbees. Bring another bucket if you have a shell collector. They will spend hours combing the beach in search of treasures. You can make a game of collecting seashells and sea glass and have a craft day later where you turn your treasures into a craft, like decorated picture frames.

5) Camera – Since we might make some decorated photo frames later with our collected shells, we might as well bring the camera and capture some sun and sand-recorded nonsense on film. I love a photo from the end of the day when everyone is pink and gritty, tired and happy.

6) Safety – Make sure you have a safety conversation with the kids early on. Depending on how many you have with you and what their ages are, the rules may vary, but each child should clearly know if they are allowed in the water, and if so, how deep. (Knee-deep? Belly-button-deep?) And if we’re wandering the beach looking for shells, let’s choose a marker to show how far it’s safe to go and if you need someone to go with you.

7) Drying – Bring plenty of towels, preferably large beach towels. Bring more than you think you’ll need because someone is always cold and gets wet when it’s later and it starts to get cold.

8) Warm clothes – Make sure you bring jackets for everyone. Once the day turns cooler, it’s easy to get cold. Bring something soft in case we get sunburned.

9) Sunscreen – I hate having to cut a big outing short because we don’t plan well enough for sun exposure. Make sure it’s waterproof, thick, and reapply as needed.

10) Drinks! Make sure you have plenty of bottled water on hand and fruit drinks for the kids and whatever the adults want. Why not go with a beach theme and have some mai tais on the beach? They don’t even need to be alcoholic to taste good, although a little rum adds a nice flaover. Buy a mix of mai tai, orange juice, mango juice, pineapple juice, and rum if you like and hit the town. It’s a bonus if you bring nice glasses (that don’t break of course) and super extra credit for those little umbrellas.

11) Food! I bet you thought we’d never get there, but you know the food is the highlight of the day. Today we are going to boil shrimp in aluminum foil; Succulent tender shrimp, summer sweet corn and spicy sausage, all grilled in a foil packet. They are prepared in advance and stored in the refrigerator to light the fire when we are ready. Also bring a loaf or garlic bread, all buttered and sliced ​​and wrapped in foil to heat up on the grill. For appetizers, I like to make little smoked sausage links. Offer everyone a sausage stick or make your own with hangers, skewer some smoked sausage and heat over the fire until sizzling. Of course, be careful, they are hot! Bring more than you think you’ll need because appetite increases with all that sun and activity. I’m convinced it makes food taste better too! For dessert, it has to be s’mores. Bring marshmallows, roasting sticks, chocolate bars, and whole grain crackers. Again, bring more than you think you need to account for marshmallows being dumped in the sand, burned like torches, and hearty appetites.

Grilled Shrimp “Boiled” in Foil

A shrimp boil is a traditional southern dish where shrimp, shellfish, sausage, and corn are boiled together with Old Bay seasoning. This has all the good flavor, but it’s quicker and easier to make in foil packets.

for 4 people

1 1/2 lb Shrimp – medium – peeled and deveined

1 pound of mussels

1 pound of clams

1/2 pound Kielbasa, sliced

2 ears of corn, shelled

2 butter spoons

1/4 cup of water

1/4 cup of white wine

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

Instructions

Preheat grill to medium high heat. Cut the corn into 1-inch rounds. Cut 4 large sheets of aluminum foil and fold in half to double. Divide seafood, corn, and sausage evenly among packets, drizzle with butter, sprinkle with Old Bay, and 1 TB wine and water. Fold up with double pleats to secure well. Grill packets about 10 minutes, turning once, until puffed. Empty each packet carefully into a serving bowl.