It’s the time of day outings, at least for those of us too cautious (neurotic? paranoid?) to go away. Those brave (reckless? selfish?) people who venture to the seaside, go camping or stay in hotels surely encounter lots of new problems in the new circumstances. For us, the day trippers, the main thing is what to take with us for the picnic.
I am sort of grateful to Covid-19 as recently I’ve had my first picnic for probably 20 years. Oh, the delight of a packed sandwich on top of Ivinghoe Beacon! Not had one since 2002 or thereabouts. I’m planning more outings, weather allowing, and am thinking of foods less plain than my sarnie, though it was truly a delight. I know there are actually specialist caterers delivering ready hampers, with choice snacks and miniature proseccos but that’s not the kind of folk we are, is it?
So I’m thinking tomato scaccia, Sicilian stuffed and rolled flat bread (video how to fill and fold available on my channel) and you can stuff it with other things too: ham and pickles, double the cheese and so on. I’m thinking red pepper slippers too because the joy of having walked for miles and miles is that you can stuff your face with bread. For those who don’t do bread, I’m thinking of tubs of feta and grape salad and ham crisps.
More traditionally, make some sausage rolls yourself from good quality sausages. Less traditionally, wrap up some yaki onigiri, Japanese grilled rice cakes. Take some fruit and raw carrots to nibble or turn the carrots into carrot cake energy balls. Make a batch of date shortbread bars for a sweet treat and blue cheese and oat biscuits for savoury. And make sure somebody else carries the grub.
On your way back check the hedges for brambles: there’s bramble jelly to be made! And if you’re likely to have a bumper crop of apples, you could try my apple marmalade recipe. That and more in the contents pages – and subscribe to my YouTube channel to get heads up on my new videos!