Danielle Pattavina, owner of Momma’s Grocery + Wine in Cambridge, offers ideas for a gourmet day of snacking. Here’s what to pack in a picnic basket.
1. V Smiley Preserves, $16
Pack a jar to complement cheese or peanut butter. V Smiley uses honey to sweeten their products, rather than sugar, “so the fruit really comes through.”
2. Blue Ledge Farm Camembrie, $10
“This is a goat and cow’s milk cheese from Salisbury, Vermont,” Pattavina says. “It’s a camembert meets brie: bloomy rind, gooey inside, with a button mushroom essence.”
3. Big Picture Farm Goat Milk Caramels, $1 each
“We have a big pile of these caramels at the register, in different flavors,” Pattavina says. “I’d grab a handful and eat them at my picnic, gooey from the sun.”
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4. Lovely Bunch Apple Juice, $5
Pattavina calls this a “perfect little can” of apple juice, “made with locally grown apples, listed on the can. Pour it into a wine glass!”
5. Piquenique Pinotosh, $37
This all-natural apple wine from Washington state can elevate any outing. “You’ll get some wine notes and some apple notes.” Bonus: No corkscrew required.
6. Monti Verdi Lonzino, $14
“Lonzino is a lesser-known cured meat, coming from the loin: lean, sweet, and tender,” Pattavina says. The Vermont farm raises “pigs lovingly and naturally, making cured meats the real Italian way.”
7. Breadboard Bakery Miche, $7
A naturally leavened bread, made with rye and whole wheat flour, it’s chewy with a caramel crust. “We sell it by the pound,” Pattavina says, “and it can sit out all day.”
8. One Trick Pony Peanut Butter, $8
Peanut butter is a kid favorite. “Made by a young couple in New York, with only two ingredients. It’s good on bread with V Smiley’s jam — or by the spoonful.”
9. Minnow Mussels in Escabeche, $11
For a taste of the sea, by the sea, peel open a tin of these, Pattavina says. “These mussels are so plump, and a bit spicy.”
Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @kcbaskin.