A dinner at the Picnic House recently introduced me to this wonderful dessert that I had never heard of before, pavlova. Ah, this light airy goodness of egg whites and sugar into meringue with fresh berries and vanilla cream. At first this plate looked intimidating as it is basically the size of a whole pie but then we realized you were being given the best part, the crunchy top half, a thin shell of firmness surrounding an inside that melted in our mouth so quickly that we needed another spoonful carefully balancing crisp bits of meringue with soft vanilla cream and such beautiful sweet strawberry in each bite to extend the rush.

I also discovered my favorite two cocktails that the Picnic House offers from their cocktail menu. After trying the lighter cocktail sparklers of the Fleur de Lis and Sauvie on previous visits, this time I welcomed the Moulin Rouge martini with Indio Marionberry infused vodka, Clear Creek Blackberry liqueur, blueberry simple syrup, fresh squeezed lemon and garnished with a pickled blueberry, a combination of sweet with a touch of tart so it was not too sweet. But, my favorite was The Nymph cocktail, both delicate and strong, with Pink Spruce gin, fresh squeezed lemon juice, and a simple syrup muddled with cucumber. Refreshing citrusy but you can feel the magic afterwards!

The atmosphere is still as charming as I previously wrote about, and they still have a  nice selection of side dishes and an unbelievably addictive chocolate cake as mentioned here also. Did I also mention how wonderful the Picnic House pavlova was?