Monday 13 August 2012

A perfect picnic lunch

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I have been having a lot of picnic lunches since I was 12; and this has been our major family activity.

I love the independence of of carrying lunch with me, so I can sit down anywhere to eat at anytime I fancy (usually earlier than other people).

The minimum basic requirements can be reduced to a few elements, numbered in order of importance - elements can be added, in sequence, from lower in the list as time and need allow.

The following is what I personally like - naturally, when other people come along, their preferences also need taking into account.

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1. A drink. A bottle of tap water is probably as good as anything when you are out and about.

2. Sandwiches (plenty of). Four slices (min) of normal bread, or (better) a couple of doorstep slices (each about an inch thick). Filling - (i) Peanut butter, (ii) Cheese and chutney. 

3. Crisps.

4. Fruits: washed and in a polythene bag: e.g. grapes, small tomatoes, an apple.

5. Something sweet, preferably with chocolate or chocolate, or buy an ice cream when you return to civilisation.

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And, of course, a book - always carried (but not necessarily read).

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So the minimum picnic lunch would be water and peanut butter sandwiches - although some could include a bit of jam as well, for variety.

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8 comments:

Bruce Charlton said...

Wasps are a subject on which I diverge from the environmentalist line: I would be pleased if they became utterly extinct.

dearieme said...

Quite: the old-fashioned wasp and jam sandwich was an overrated treat.

Anonymous said...

This is not the right place for this comment but I couldn't find a better alternative. Also my apologies for commenting anonymously in spite of your stated aversion to such things.

Today I found and read your essay "Human capability peaked before 1975 and has since declined". It is one of the most perceptive and intelligent analyses that I've read in a long time.

Joe

Bruce Charlton said...

@Joe - if you e-mail me, I could send you a draft copy of my forthcoming mini-book where I expand on the argument in that piece.

B322 said...

5. Something sweet, preferably with chocolate or chocolate, or buy an ice cream when you return to civilisation.

I agree with this one even more than all the others. I need an ice cream right now! I won't get one though.

dearieme said...

WhenIwasaboy, you could get a bright red syrup on your ice cream: we knew it as "monkey's blood". Yum, yum.

Bruce B. said...

Do Englishmen eat jam on their peanut butter sandwiches?

Bruce Charlton said...

@BB - It has been known - Apricot or Bramble (Blackberry) work well.