Chicken cashew & celery salad

My good friends Sambath & Julie had organised a trip to Canberra, to see the Floriade, visit Cockington Green, and a picnic inbetween, so naturally i offered to bring lunch! :) & also a desert, which were these from Belle's site.

I have made this before, back in my meat eating days - copied it off Richard's friend (but he made his own mayo, which i think is alot nicer aswell)

It's so simple and quick to put together, eaten by spreading the mixture onto sliced bread (or rolls, whichever you prefer). You can add as little or as much mayonnaise as you like, same with the cashews & chicken, nut ultimately you're just mixing everything through - easy!

Ingredients

chicken (whole, grilled, roasted, anything) i just bought a whole chicken from oporto's for $10.98

one whole celery (cut off leaves, keep stalks)

cashew nuts (crushed in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin) although i kept mine whole cos i like it like that

mayonnaise (i used best foods whole egg mayonnaise, from woolworths, because its creamier and less tangy)

So you pretty much just chop up the chicken, celery, stir through the mayonnaise, and lastly the crushed cashews.

Keep refrigerated & when you take it out to a picnic (if you choose to do so) then keep it in an esky!

I'm so glad everyone enjoyed lunch (& the cupcakes too)! Here is one of the photo's i took at FLoriade ( i took so many, i'd kill your bandwidth if i posted them all up hehe)

Gazebo Wine Garden

The Lovely Ann Huynh organized a Girl's Picnic Lunch at Gazebo, the label of 'Girl's Picnic' sounded delightful, so into my diary it went :) 

From the checkered style table cloth, to the naturally lit areas, to the roses strung along the table, and the beautiful basket of bread that came shortly after our arrival, it really did feel like a picnic in the park (minus insects & bugs!)

Anita & I were a tad bit late (i'm horrible with getting around in the city) but as soon as we sat we were given our bubblies and the bread & dips came out.

freshly baked, hot & extra crunchy baguettes

sun-dried tomato dip, beetroot dip & mixed olives

Glasses were topped quietly (i didnt even notice them filling mine up, just kept wondering why mine always seemed full hehe)

crusty baguette

The dips were chunky, and flavorsome, so nice that i just couldn't stop eating really (and i also ordered another bread stick later on... hehe)

Like seriously, i kept eating & eating the bread, nevermind there was still food to come but i just kept eating. No wonder i couldn't eat much of the food that was to follow..

potato salad, pumpkin salad, bocconcini & button mushrooms

Everything was served cold, and each three-tiered stand was between four people. There was nothing too spectacular about the mixed mushroom, potato & pumpkin dish, but i mopped up my plate with the extra bread that we got!

soft shell crab, smoked salmon, scallop stick & chicken breast

Cold meats, i didn't try any of these meats, and again, they didn't look too great. By now i was wondering (is this all worth $35?)

waldorf salad

desert!

rockmelon, kiwi, strawberries, bananas, marshmallows & chocolate brownie

Now desert, was served along with the salads & meats, i would of liked to anticipate desert a lil more, instead of having it in front of me while still the main foods.

Though the brownie, i think i ate more than my fair share cos it was really light, chocolaty, and surprisingly not as stale as it looked.

I love how the place had heaps of natural light shining in, although drinking in the sun took abit out of us girls :) Nonetheless, i had a great time chatting & catching up. I wouldnt exactly come back here for the picnic food, but i'd like to try out the lunch menu (and will get to for Anita's birthday lunch!! Coming up in August, so keep an eye out for that review)