Picnicking is a special way to eat and a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. “A Year of Picnics” celebrates these ideas by presenting 20 themed, inspiring picnics tailored by settings and seasons. Each has a preface with personal reflections, several recipes, activity ideas and color photographs. Readers can savor this summer’s bounty of produce through the Farm to Table picnic or revel in autumn’s colors with the Falling Leaves picnic. Other themes include the High-Altitude Picnic, Children’s Picnic, Coffee Break picnic and Movie Night picnic. In all, there are more than 70 recipes to help readers dine well, including instructions for Smoky Chai, Dried Cherry Granola and Ambrosia Parfaits, and Romanian Meatball Soup. Author and homesteader Ashley English also provides tips on selecting locations, advice for packing baskets and a recipe for natural bug spray. English, a member of Haywood County EMC, lives in Candler. The book’s photographer, Jen Jacobs (formerly Jen Altman), lives in Hendersonville. Published by Roost Books. Hardcover, 240 pages, $24.95.