Believe it or not, spring is just around the corner. It is never too early to get out your picnic hampers, and think about the first picnic of the New Year. Picnics don't have to be conservative, cold affairs. This year you could fill your hampers with marinated meats, fish and colourful vegetables.
Of course, there is more than enough time to read up on the myriad marinades that you can use for barbequing meat, fish and seafood. Marinades are so easy to put together and it only requires a little forethought and the minimum of planning to make a barbeque picnic a resounding success. Yoghurt, olive oil, lemon, lime and wine are mainstays when making any marinade. Fresh herbs are also indispensible.
Picnic hampers ought to be full of cold chicken, pork pies, cold ham, cold beef, cold tongue, pickled gherkins, salad, cress sandwiches, French rolls, potted meat, ginger beer, real beer and lemonade. A few additions would include, boiled eggs, tomatoes, mayonnaise, or if I am really going for the complete nostalgia trip, salad cream.
Then there are always up-market, traditional English picnic hampers which will have a whole chicken with tarragon mayonnaise, quail eggs, Melton Mowbray pork pies, proper scotch eggs, thick slices of oak smoked ham and the same of rare roast beef, homemade chutneys, English mustard and a potato salad made with unpeeled Jersey Royals.
I've nothing against high-flying hampers chock-full of European and Eastern delicacies; it's just that I want to return to a simpler way of picnicking. There's nothing wrong with chilled gazpacho, tortillas or samosas, but there's also nothing wrong with devilled chicken legs and proper English sausages. Without all the stress of frantically sourcing and preparing a modern picnic, I'll have all the time in the world to relax, as I motor towards my destination, a peaceful riverbank, somewhere by the lower reaches of the Thames.
I don't want to come across as a picnic puritan and force everybody to empty their hampers of fancy salamis and borscht. And I certainly wouldn't wish to play the prohibitionist deciding what ought to be drunk at a picnic.
Give me naturally brewed, old-fashioned ginger beer, a bottle or two of dry cider, or even real scrumpy, for that 'Pan at the Gates of Dawn' effect. I'll have to allow champagne and claret, to keep everyone happy. I might also insist on some bottles of soda water in case Ratty and Moley actually decide to come.
And last but not least, for desserts you could bring cheesecake, homemade vodka soaked fruit jellies, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and chilled melon. I hope this has inspired you on what to put in your hampers this picnicking season.
Of course, there is more than enough time to read up on the myriad marinades that you can use for barbequing meat, fish and seafood. Marinades are so easy to put together and it only requires a little forethought and the minimum of planning to make a barbeque picnic a resounding success. Yoghurt, olive oil, lemon, lime and wine are mainstays when making any marinade. Fresh herbs are also indispensible.
Picnic hampers ought to be full of cold chicken, pork pies, cold ham, cold beef, cold tongue, pickled gherkins, salad, cress sandwiches, French rolls, potted meat, ginger beer, real beer and lemonade. A few additions would include, boiled eggs, tomatoes, mayonnaise, or if I am really going for the complete nostalgia trip, salad cream.
Then there are always up-market, traditional English picnic hampers which will have a whole chicken with tarragon mayonnaise, quail eggs, Melton Mowbray pork pies, proper scotch eggs, thick slices of oak smoked ham and the same of rare roast beef, homemade chutneys, English mustard and a potato salad made with unpeeled Jersey Royals.
I've nothing against high-flying hampers chock-full of European and Eastern delicacies; it's just that I want to return to a simpler way of picnicking. There's nothing wrong with chilled gazpacho, tortillas or samosas, but there's also nothing wrong with devilled chicken legs and proper English sausages. Without all the stress of frantically sourcing and preparing a modern picnic, I'll have all the time in the world to relax, as I motor towards my destination, a peaceful riverbank, somewhere by the lower reaches of the Thames.
I don't want to come across as a picnic puritan and force everybody to empty their hampers of fancy salamis and borscht. And I certainly wouldn't wish to play the prohibitionist deciding what ought to be drunk at a picnic.
Give me naturally brewed, old-fashioned ginger beer, a bottle or two of dry cider, or even real scrumpy, for that 'Pan at the Gates of Dawn' effect. I'll have to allow champagne and claret, to keep everyone happy. I might also insist on some bottles of soda water in case Ratty and Moley actually decide to come.
And last but not least, for desserts you could bring cheesecake, homemade vodka soaked fruit jellies, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and chilled melon. I hope this has inspired you on what to put in your hampers this picnicking season.
About the Author:
Interflora have flowers delivered across the UK and abroad so why not have a look at their website and the flowers UK to find some gifts for the holiday season.
