Contributed by Rosemary O’Brien, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru

Picnics are a great way to take advantage of the spring weather after a long, cold winter.

Even if you live in a more moderate climate, spring picnics are great. The best part is that they can be anything you want. Here are a few ideas to tempt the simplest picnic-goer as well as those who go in for a more gourmet affair.

My top ten spring picnic ideas:

10. Crack a tail

One of the more decadent picnic choices is the lobster dinner, especially if you live inland where lobster has to be trucked in. You can even design your own dinner and have it delivered to your door. Just heat, pack and take outside to serve according to directions, then fool yourself into pretending it’s August even though the buds are just beginning to bloom.

9. Taste of home

Regional food is considered the best by locals and transplants alike. If you long for Portland or Seattle, check out a Pacific Northwest shop to order your favorites from the that region, like smoked salmon, Tillamook cheese, berry jams and pickled asparagus. If New Orleans is your preferred culinary destination, look for a catalog that brings you the best of the Big Easy like gumbo or beignets. You get the idea. Pick the place, order the food, feast!

8. Diet plans

If you are following a diet plan, especially one that delivers ready-made meals, remember you don’t have to stay at the table for your meal. A diet plan meal is a good picnic choice for those of us conscious of our burgeoning waistlines. Take your lunch delivery, pack it in a basket and head to a bench or low wall in the center of a busy city square during your lunch hour. That smacks of springtime to me!

7. Gift basket

Gift Baskets with assorted nuts, fruit and other easy-to-transport foods are self-contained spring picnic ideas. You can choose fruit baskets to add to your spring picnic or order it to be delivered to a friend as a suggestion to get outside with a blanket and a book and enjoy the spring air.

6. Citrus fruit

Going to a group picnic or corporate spring outing? Order and bring a huge basket of fruits such as
honey tangerines, nectarines, grapes and strawberries. These are one of the best additions to spring picnics. Tangerines have their own packaging with that beautiful orange skin on the outside. And honey tangerines are one of my absolute favorites. Their sweet, honey flavor make them a great substitute for a sugary dessert that may melt in your picnic basket anyway. Besides, honey tangerines are a healthier alternative to chocolate cake.

5. Desserts are good too

While fruit is a healthy option, you may choose the full monty and head for the pie. Award Winning Key West Key Lime Pie Company makes excellent key lime pies. In fact, they were featured on an episode of Bobby Flay’s “Throwdown” for their award-winning key lime pie. For those of us who have tasted actual key lime pie, it is said these are the best substitution for actually sitting at a restaurant down in the southern tip of Florida where key limes are popular. The smartest thing about ordering your spring picnic dessert online? It arrives packed and ready to grab and go … perfect for transporting to a picnic!

4. Cheese and crackers

Europeans make an art form of spring picnics, often stopping their car by the side of the road for an impromptu feast. I once even encountered a group in the U.S. at the side of a shopping center. Miniature cheeses are a good addition to a simple picnic. By tossing a pack of crackers in with a few individually-wrapped packs of Vermont cheddar cheese, you have a quick picnic to enjoy at a rest stop on your way to a meeting or at your desk during a busy day.

3. BBQ

Kansas City BBQ is always at its best fresh from the oven a stack of napkins and a wetnap at the ready. The problem is they are not always feasible for a picnic. You can still enjoy barbeque if you add sausage to your spring picnic. Barbecue sausage sliced with some of that cheddar cheese or even a bunch of grapes makes a great meal with the added benefit that it keeps well. You can pack it in the morning, throw it in the back of your car and eat it later at the beach. Everything will still taste great if you keep the container covered.

2. A bottle of vino

The level of sophistication can be raised in most of the spring picnic ideas above if you add a bottle of wine. Depending on the color wine you prefer, and the choice of foods, will decide the wine you choose. Chardonnay is always a good, mild choice since it goes with most types of food. Meats, such as the barbeque picnic, are often enhanced by a nice merlot. Again, whatever you prefer will pretty much work with any type of picnic you create. Just don’t forget the corkscrew and the wine glasses!

1. Go all out!

You can always have a basket prepared with everything you need for a spring picnic all ready to go. All you have to do is order, wait for the delivery person, grab and go! Order only the best: caviar, foie gras, fresh baked country bread, specialty fruits. This is a picnic that will make you feel like royalty.

Keep in mind that spring picnic ideas can be anything. You don’t have to go top-of-the-line or have the usual sandwiches. The best part is that they can happen anytime and anywhere. From a quick hour during a busy day at the office to a lazy Saturday at your local park, spring picnics can brighten your day with the promise of spring even before the first bud appears in your garden.