“This makes a tasty picnic. Pack soup in thermos and rather than fries, buy a sack of olive oil and rosemary, garlic and onion or herb flavored specialty potato chips, such as Terra brand, from the snack aisle of market.”

This elegant appetizer takes a couple of hours to make, but you can do all the preparation ahead of time. Don’t fold triangles too tightly or the mixture will burst through the phyllo. Assemble and freeze up to two weeks before the party. Don’t thaw the triangles before baking; just add seven minutes to the baking time.

In the American South, delicate cornmeal flatbreads known as hoecakes are a classic accompaniment to the regions signature barbecue. Originally a simple mixture of cornmeal, water and salt, hoecakes are so named for their earliest method of preparation. According to legend, early settlers and field hands cooked the cornmeal griddlecakes on the blades of hoes or shovels held over the hot embers of campfires. In other parts of America, similar breads are known as everything from ash cakes to johnnycakes. Serve these hoecakes alongside our Barbecued Chicken (see related recipe at right).