After a week of running around and eating quick, easy-to-prepare meals, taking the weekend to relax and enjoy your food can help you recuperate and prepare for the week to come.

As the weather becomes a bit cooler, the air a more crisp, and the leaves change to those warm yellows, oranges and reds, a great way to relax in the fall is to spend some time preparing a hearty meal and taking it to the park for a picnic.

There’s nothing quite as relaxing as sitting in the grass and enjoying nature! We love family picnics, and so do Tammy’s daughters! We both often meet in Central Park in the Great Lawn or Sheep’s Meadow where we lay down a blanket, relax and really try to savor the meal and truly enjoy the food.

When you prepare for your picnic or make your fall meal pay close attention to the smells while the food is cooking or as you take it out of your basket and then taste of each bite. We often like to prepare some of our favorite dishes that take a little bit longer to cook for our picnics so we have leftovers. This way we have a quick, easy and delicious meal during the week that just needs to be reheated. This weekend we’ll try a Grape and Quinoa salad, we’re hopeful that we’ll love it and will soon share the recipe!

Do you picnic in the fall? What’s your favorite way to take it easy after a hectic week?