Today has dawned sunny AND warm, and as it’s been so cold of late – it’s the perfect opportunity to find a nice spot and have a picnic. Our family loves picnics and has been known, very optimistically,  to get out the cool bag in March. We find adding a flask of hot soup makes all the difference when you can see your breath.

Our picnics tend to be very simple affairs and our two young ones  like rather pedestrian sandwiches of the plain cheese/plain ham variety but they are also rather partial to cream cheese blended with a little shredded Clare Island smoked salmon. Finely shredding the salmon and blending it with the cream cheese makes a little go a long way – delicious for a special occasion.  For the adults in the party – a favourite of ours is old-school egg mayonnaise with watercress or rocket on wholemeal rolls.

To accompany the sandwiches a tub of crudites (carrot, cucumber, pepper and cherry tomatoes) to drip into some fantastic San Amrovsia Humous is hard to beat – it is probably the best humous in the world. A few crisps/breadsticks make for good dipping too or a falafel or two!

Some juice or water to drink, then onto chopped up fresh fruit – I can’t wait for summer fruit to arrive in all its fragrant glory – some strawberries, luscious peaches, cherries – whatever is at its best.

Finally, our picnics wouldn’t be complete with a little sweet treat – something home-made like refrigerator cake or muffins or banana bread. Then hopefully the little ones will run off and explore a little whilst we lie back and relax in the sun. (the reality is, they then spend the next half an hour climbing on top of us before we pack up and head off on a post-lunch stroll!).

Quick to assemble and easy to eat! Click here for some picnic ideas available online at Garlands Organic.