Picnic in the Park
Here in Blighty we have just had a bank holiday weekend and for once we got real bank holiday weather not typical British rainy bank holiday weather. It had been discussed over the last few weeks of having a picnic in a park, but the forecast was changing every day and as a result it wasn’t until Thursday evening that we decided to go ahead with it. I had hoped to do a real foodie picnic, making a large variety of dips, salads and finger food. However my Saturday was taken up by more important matters so I gave in and decided to buy ready made snacks. While initially I felt I had sold my soul to the devil, I quickly became excited with the lack of work I would have to do. In the end it turned out to be a great day and lots of people brought food. As as well as the usual picnic food we had Swedish meatballs, an amazing chilli cheese from Islington farmers market, and some great salamis. One trend I noticed, everyone brings hummus!
One thing I did focus on was Pimms. Now traditionally I have been a lemonade mixer only type of guy. The main reason for this has been ignorance to other mixer options. I did a bit of research and it seems that various combinations of tonic, ginger ale, and lemonade are favoured. Ratio of mixing is best at about 1 part Pimms to 3 parts mixers. Obviously this is accompanied by cucumber, mint, and a variety of citrus fruits. After much experimentation I came to the conclusion that my favourite mix was 1 part Pimms, 1 part lemonade, 1 1/2 parts ginger ale and 1/2 part tonic to off set the sweetness.
