Re-imagining the World One Mouthful at a Time . . . . .

A Sheffield Picnic

19 May 2012

Getting in the mood for a Sheffield Picnic

Getting in the mood for a Sheffield Picnic

Decent food items at a picnic helps to make the event a memorable one

Decent food items at a picnic helps to make the event a memorable one

Picnic food – homemade quiche. Finger foods are the most comfortable to eat and serve.

Picnic food – homemade quiche. Finger foods are the most comfortable to eat and serve.

 

I’ve always loved the thought of having and organising my own picnic. A small gathering amongst friends and family under the hazy sunshine. Having a picnic during the summer can be entertaining and a great social get together. A fantastic way to meet new people, eat some delicious food and play fun outdoor games. It would also be a great way for me to apologise to friends I’ve let down on dinner dates due to work commitments over the past month (sorry guys!) and to meet supportive followers and new foodies who have shown appreciation for what I do.

It doesn’t take more than a picnic basket, a few good food items, help from our city’s talented food producers, bakers and bakers; family members and friends to organise our very own tasty picnic! And we need to realise that it acts as a glue for community bonding.

I’ve never organised a picnic (so I’d probably need your help – hope that’s OK?) but surely they can’t be that difficult to organise?… These days I’m finding the most difficult thing is knowing when the sun will pop out to play. Now, I could go all out and prepare non-alcoholic fruity punch, bellini’s and cocktails. To me, the food plays a really important role to a successful picnic – the idea of tray loads of homemade finger sandwiches on Cat Lane Bakery granary, fruit scones served with Missie Cindz plum jam, PJ Taste Sheffield Eggs excites my taste buds. To enjoy for afters – Victoria Made’s light and wonderful fruity cupcakes, chocolatey Hash Brownies and light sorbets or Very Delicious Cheesecakes could all be sweet possibilities and finally, everything washed down with fresh pink lemonade or Sheffield’s Tea Box iced teas. Delicious.

So, what else would you like to see on our picnic food menu?

But in order to truly appreciate a good Sheffield picnic we need to find the perfect venue for our afternoon. This could be in a park (Endcliffe Park, Chelsea Park in Nether Edge or Hillsborough Park are all possibilities?), or near a reservoir, lake or creek or maybe we could venture out into the Peak District or Derbyshire? but it preferably needs to already have some people there just so a comfortable atmosphere bubbles in our surrounding area.

Missie Cindz Picnic Checklist
Here are just a few of the essential things we will need to make our picnic a success:

  • homemade food and drink
  • hampers or cool boxes
  • plates, glasses and cutlery
  • napkins
  • wet-wipes for sticky mouths and fingers
  • sun-screen and sun hats
  • toys (e.g. bat and ball sets, hula hoops, football etc)
  • chairs for people to sit in. They don’t have to be anything fancy just simple lawn or garden chairs
  • blankets to lie out on the ground so that everyone will have a place to sit. Then we will be able to sit back and enjoy our picnic. Mats and cushions are also good (less awkward to carry than collapsible chairs)
  • camera (strike a pose!)
  • waterproofs (in case the weather decides not to co-operate – could be a good possibility!)
  • bin bags for our rubbish
  • music
  • mobile phone (make sure we have all your guests’ numbers so that we can find each other and tweet about our delicious day for those who couldn’t join us)

Let’s make sure to have a good time and enjoy ourselves. After all, isn’t that what summer picnics are all about? I will have a think of a suitable date, time and location for our picnic in the next coming weeks. I’m looking forward to a game of rounders in the park (as long as I can be the bowler! :)

{Photos by Cindy Cheung and Meng He}

Missie Cindz

posted under: Food and Drink