Perfect Picnic The
July is National Picnic Month… pack the hamper, get the blankets on the ground and enjoy sharing food with friends. By Andrew Hirst
T
he humble picnic has never felt so important as it does this year. 2020 was the year of hibernation.
Holed up in our nests waiting for a break in the storm. 2021 is the year of stepping out, slowly… depending on what the current restrictions and guidelines say we can or cannot do. The picnic is the great equalizer. Prep everything at home and head out in your bubbles or meet up with friends and family where you can socially distance and actually talk to a real person. Not the tiny digital humans we have all been chatting to on our smartphones, but in the fl esh, live and in person. The word picnic is derived from the
17th century French word “pique-nique”, a term which is used to describe a social gathering where attendees contributed with a portion of food or drink to share with the group. One of the most iconic depictions of a picnic is Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (The Luncheon on the Grass) by Édouard Manet. The 1862 painting depicts the juxtaposition of a female nude and a scantily dressed female bather on a picnic with two fully dressed men in a rural setting. July is National Picnic Month around the world, so what better excuse do you need to get out there and get creative with the good old picnic. Don’t just play it safe, let's make these picnics perfect.
5 steps for the perfect picnic:
Decide who you want to invite and if you want to treat everyone and cater for them or if you want
contributions. If you are looking for a group effort maybe allocate items to each person or you might just end up with six portions of the same thing.
Location, location, location? Think of a great destination that is central to all and which has any amenities
located nearby. If great auntie Flo is coming she might need easier access and might not want to go in a bush! See page 39 for our top fi ve suggestions.
What food and drink are you taking. How will it travel? Will it taste ok if it's warm? If you want
to give everyone a glass of chilled prosecco then make sure you can deliver on that promise.
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Blankets. You can never have too many. Spread out around the centrepiece of the food. If you are
just taking the one blanket you make that into the life raft that everybody wants to huddle on. Not great during regular times let alone when trying to socially distance.
Think about the environment. Not just from a clearing up after yourselves, but from a single-
use-plastic point of view. Reusable or recyclable is the way to go.
Food&Drink
National Picnic Month
July
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