Sunset Picnic by the Lake -

This week I celebrated my friend Jacob’s birthday with a sunset picnic by the lake at the beautiful Harbor District in Rockwall, Texas. The Harbor is about twenty minutes east of Dallas and has gorgeous Spanish-esque architecture, fountains galore, an amphitheater, and a picturesque lighthouse. It’s the perfect spot to watch the sunset over the lake!

One of the best things about Texas is the sunsets. With blue sky as far as the eye can see and nothing to block the view, our sunsets are out of this world. Jacob and Caddo and I arrived around happy hour and set up our picnic blankets with the perfect view of the lighthouse.

Sunset Picnic Ideas — Jacob about to set up his picnic blanket

Fun fact: Rockwall has more free outdoor concerts than any other city in Texas. Every Thursday all summer long, people pull their boats up to The Harbor to listen to the outdoor concerts right by where we picnicked.

I packed up Charcuterie Cones for the occasion, something I’ve wanted to do since first making bread cones for Disney Dinners: Cars several years ago. I filled the cones with three kinds of cheese, salami, prosciutto, olives, and pickled asparagus spears for handheld, individual charcuterie treats. Caddo and I tore the cones apart, eating each piece with a different cheese/meat combo while Jacob ate his like a sandwich. There’s no wrong way to eat a bread cone!

I also baked a Tres Leches cake (recipe here) to celebrate Jacob’s birthday. He told me that tres leches is one of his favorite cakes and that’s one of my favorites to bake! It’s like magic. One minute you’ve got a thin 9×13 cake and the next you’re pouring what feels like *way too much* milk sauce on top and leaving it for hours. The next day, you’ve got a gloriously moist cake. I like mine with cinnamon whipped cream and strawberries on top. Yum!

Can we talk about how chic these two are? They’re always dressed to impress! I so appreciate men with snappy style.

We drank great wine, a sauvignon blanc I forgot to photograph because we were having such a nice chat, that cut through the fattiness of the prosciutto. A nice chilled white is lovely by the water on a crisp day, don’t you think? We ate and toasted and talked for hours until the sun went down.