Picnic prep

clafairy1984

So, got another big picnic on Sunday, and I'm at a wedding all day tomorrow until late. How far ahead is it OK to prep and cook? Doing chicken drumsticks, mini meatballs, chipolatas, mozzarella tomato salad, and potato salad. Would I get away with cooking it this afternoon and keeping it in the fridge ?

DaintyWhisper

I think it would be okay to prep ahead a couple of days in advanced. If it were me prepping this stuff, this is how I'd do it.

Chicken: It would be best made in advanced if there's no breading. The breading would get soggy. If no breading, just season/marinate, pan-sear, and finish in the oven. Store in the fridge until you're going to heat it up again before the picnic.

Mini Meatballs: I would prepare the meat mixture, ball them, and keep them refrigerated, raw. Then, just transfer them to a baking sheet and bake the day of the picnic. They may dry out if you cook them today, then reheat them Sunday. Unless they're sauced..Then it might be okay to cook in advance, without sauce, then reheat the day of the picnic in your sauce. They shouldn't dry out this way.

Chipolatas: Sausage holds well in the fridge cooked. Since they don't take too long to cook (and if you're not too strapped on time) it might be an option to cook them day of.

Salad: Prep all the ingredients in advance and store them separately. Toss together the day of. Tomatoes don't keep for long once cut, though. So, keep those whole until the last minute.

Potato salad: Potato salad is one of those things that gets more flavorful as it sits. It would be fine for a few days in the fridge.

Hope this is at least somewhat helpful for you. Everything sounds good! Have a great time~

RodaRose

Cooking the food on Friday and serving on Sunday is ok.