Perfect time to picnic

Photo: Contributed

It’s official – school is done and the solstice has past (did you see the live stream of sunrise at Stonehenge?). Summer is here. It’s time to plan on getting out and doing important things. You know, like getting ice cream, spending the day at the beach, or going on a picnic.

We are excited, Hubby and me. This weekend we have not only planned a picnic by the lake, but also an evening at the drive-in theatre. As regular readers will know, we are serious movie buffs and our traditional date night is to go to the cinema. Tuesday nights have not been the same since the pandemic hit.

Now that phase 3 of the re-opening of society has been implemented, the movie theatres will be open for business again. I do wonder if people will go, or if the habit of streaming everything at home has become to comfortable a habit. The drive-in though, has even more symbolism and tradition attached to it. 

Maybe I am hoping it will be like a time warp, and my time there will let me forget today’s crazy world and be transported to days gone by? I would not be disappointed if that were the case.

So, as I ponder our first official celebration of summer, I wonder if I should have a retro picnic menu or something more modern? We are going to see “Grease” at The Starlight. Maybe I’ll wear my poodle skirt…

You might be the kind of person that loves an old-fashioned picnic; a recent study showed that 58% of people still love a sandwich at their picnic, even if it is on pita bread or focaccia. Or perhaps you prefer a tapas-style spread, with plenty of options to munch on. My humble advice is don’t try too hard – it doesn’t have to be Instagrammable. It’s the memory that counts, not the number of likes.

Here are my top tips:

ATMOSPHERE – Create a bit of a theme or feeling to your picnic. If it’s a simple blanket on the grass, then you want an easy menu like sandwiches and cookies with some fruit that is ready to eat. If you plan on having a table, then setting out dips and a cheese platter is more manageable with a steady base off the ground. A vinyl tablecloth comes in handy for these picnics, as well as linen napkins and plastic or enamel plates and spare cutlery. (Washing & reusing is nicer than plastic, and the planet will thank you.)

MENU – I like to think about variety, so I plan using “three” as my guide. Three tastes: e.g. a sandwich and condiments (pickles or veggies), a side (potato chips or a fun salad), and a dessert (cookies or bars and/or fruit). Some ideas for you with recipe links are below.

• Jamie Oliver’s potato salad 3 ways, to suit any taste from old-fashioned to trendy
• Some of my favourite and fun sandwich filling ideas from over the years 
• An impressive and easy picnic treat – my chocolate zucchini cake 
• Don’t forget the drinks – some water on a hot day as well as your lemonade or punch or other concoction, along with some stackable glasses easy to pack away

LOCATION – Always important, and it should go with your theme. Your blanket picnic probably requires only a field or park and maybe a frisbee. Somewhere there is a table that should have shade to some degree; a bit of a view would be nice, no? Or you can be like us and combine a picnic with a day’s outing, so your location might be a spontaneous stop (easy enough to do in the Okanagan with all our lovely vistas and plenty of parkland).

I hope those few suggestions get you motivated to find your picnic basket, and I’m sure you have your own favourites you want to include. Teddy bears are optional, but there can never be too many pals at a picnic.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.