1 Food Guidelines: We ask to keep in mind, most people are on some sort of dietary restriction. To honor that and to increase the likelihood your dish will be eaten, please stay away from putting gluten, dairy, sugar (if possible, I know some people will be bringing deserts) and alcohol in dishes. We realize alot of people have more restrictions that that but it just gets too complicated to take everything into consideration. There's no policing here however, if you want to bring deep fried mozzerella sprinkled with sugar and accompanied by a accompanied by a nice whisky aoili, we're not gonna stop you.
What we do ask, is that you bring with your the following items. A serving utensil, and a easy-to-read card which lists ALL the ingredients of your dish, attached to your item. This way people with more restrictions can determine what they can eat. I would also appreciate it if you could label whether the dish is organic or not.
Bring your own beverages. We'll provide cups but not the liquid to put into cups. Keep in mind Seattle parks does not allow alcohol.
And I will be provding natural charcoal and a chimney for the grill at the park. Its still charcoal so there will be some smell, but I will tried to have it burned down to nice coals before the majority of guests arrive. It is bring your own grill item and you are not expected to share those. I cannot attest to the cleanliness of the park's grills if you are concerned about contamination.
2 Fragrance Free!!! Yes we gover over this all the time, and yet there is always a constant need for reminders. The big obvious ones are colognes and perfumes. Less obvious but just as rough are scented bath products, hair gels, shampoos, deoderants. Natural scents do bother some people. Ciggerettes are out of the question. I think guys in general have a little harder time with the fragrance-free, because they don't purposely wear scent as often as women, but keep in mind if you wash with something like irish Spring, it is just as hard on the nose of those with MCS as perfume. And if you are a Lymie who does not suffer from MCS and has a healthy partner or people coming with, please be extra aware of the fragrance thign since it probably doesn't affect you in everyday life. And I put this out there now, so you are aware before you come to a picnic. It is really difficult to tell people you want to interact with they smell or a common scenario is people want to talk, and they are wearing something and the MCS sufferer wants to be polite so suffers immensely instead of saying something. As always you can contact me if there are questions. This is open air environment, so it will be a little better, but please keep the above in mind.
If anyone gets lost, or needs last minute whatever my cell phone is 206-669-3146, and I will have it on during the picnic.