Picnic

I was promised a picnic. Of course I would be expected to conjure up some tasty, easy to devour morsels that could only be eaten with plastic inferior cutlery, but these are the candid moments I live for.

At the start of the week, seven days prior to said picnic day, the whole experience of eating outdoors was proposed to be an extremely grand affair. To be told of train rides and push bikes and riverbanks and sun kissed ripples of water had me pinning a long flowing pink ribbon to my straw bonnet in no time.

I pictured rowing boats with terribly gentlemanly men, boasting their seafaring stories whilst splintering themselves upon the boats wooden ores. Wicker baskets bulging at the buckles with smoked salmon pates and magnums of champagne.
 I saw myself poised, knees bent to one side (as a lady should sit) on the softest of angora blankets teacup in one hand and book in the other. A proud looking mother duck would be leading her duckling troops regimentally along the river’s edge, each one never making a fuss when gently coaxed into the water’s edge. One by one they would be encouragingly pushed into the dark unknown waters that would one day become their haven and their home. Woodland birds will be singing, dormice will be nervously collecting their winter’s larder and in the distance the dance like movements of two male hares would be seen taunting one another in amongst the heavily cropped fields of golden barley.

Some slapped up wafer thin ham and cheese paste sandwiches would obviously be a no – no. I needed something that would fit the wondrous picture I had created in my mind. I wanted something elegant but not preposterously difficult, something that would be filling but not so that you are left unbuttoning the top notch on your trousers and most of all I wanted something elegant and observantly beautiful to look at.

 I watched tentatively as each day nearing to the picnic the temperature given was dropping rapidly, the prolonged  September sun had outlived its natural tendency to keep its rays heated long into the drawn in evenings and cool winds were becoming to become afoot.

My persistence was still prevalent even when my partner in my little tete a tete fantasy got struck down with the burden of a mornings straw baling. Things seemed to be doing their utter most possible to deflate my bubble of picturesque alfresco dining but with my resilient temperament showings its true set of colours, I became more determined this picnic was to go ahead come rain or shine or hell or high water.

Ok, so I may be over doing it a little, I still got my bike ride, but it consisted of the visitation of a number of pubs along the way. The closest thing I saw to a river bank was a precarious peddle over a small unhealthy looking bridge that had a narrow stretch of brook trickling underneath it. Hardly big enough to wet your feet in never mind see a charming family of ducks, the only feathered animal that seemed to follow me about all afternoon was a lone magpie, and being as superstitious as I am, I didn’t see this as a good omen.

I can hardly complain, the cosy alpaca wool rug I had so vividly envisaged me resting upon was swopped for that of an outdoor chair and the natural playground of the riverbank was exchanged for a view of our always inquisitive brood of poultry and a few butterflies who seemed to be extremely grateful to me for planting them their very own cabbages to lay their eggs on.

I have a disgusting habit of always craving more, but when it comes down to it I already have everything I could possibly wish for.

The Picnic menu

Rosemary and garlic marinated free range chicken legs
Sweet corn salsa
Green beans with feta, lemon and olive oil


Marinate two full chicken legs with some garlic cloves, rosemary leaves and some salt and pepper. Leave to marinate in the fridge for a good couple of hours but remember to pull out of the fridge a good half an hour before cooking to allow to come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 200oc and empty out your ingredients onto a baking tray. Blast in the hot oven for about 15 minutes then turn the heat down to 180oc and cook for a further 30 minutes. Always check the juices are running clear from the chicken leg before removing from the oven. Allow to cool and rest before serving.

Sweet corn salsa

Carefully slice the kernels off two sweet corn cobs and add to a pan of boiling water. Return to the boil for 5 minutes before draining. Whilst the kernels are still warm sprinkle over a tablespoon of white wine vinegar then add a handful of chopped cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, sliced spring onions and a diced red pepper. Add a good glug of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper to finish.

Green beans with feta

Add your green beans to a pan of boiling water and cook until tender. Once they are cooked remove from the pan and squeeze over the juice of a lemon, add a good glug of olive oil and a small pinch of salt. Add the diced feta cheese once slightly cooled and mix to combine the flavours.