What's there not to like. Picinic

I like to pack for a picnic by planning the best food and including glasses, tableware, and blankets. I love the thrill of trying not to forget anything (especially the wine). It is the day that determines whether you can sit outside half naked and drink white wine, or whether you have to pack some blankets and cozier things. This is what determines what you will eat – either something with milk products or not so much. It is the location that sets the rules on whether you will have to pack many things and walk a long distance or just pop out of your house and enjoy the picnic on your lawn.

If I look at the picnic as an idea for eating, I have to say that picnics are a strange thing. You sit there on the ground on a blanket (I would say in quite an uncomfortable pose) and try to eat holding the plate in one hand and a glass in the other. Sometimes it feels more like a struggle to not break or drop something (especially red wine on your white skirt that you obviously have to wear on a warm and sunny summer’s day) more than enjoying eating. Kids grabbing something turns on an alarm button, but despite all that, picnics have been some of the greatest summer food activities for centuries, and every time I grab my friends by the hand or they grab me and we go on a picnic, I see why society has been picnicking since we can remember. Because it is one of the things that suits the summer mode so much and the good thing that even if it is not that warm you can still have that blanket wrapped around and enjoy every minute.

And no, picnics do not always have to be about plastic plates and cups (I actually hate that), about the oldest blanket to sit on, about fast food, or about driving especially to that one place so very far away. No, those days are over because picnics are no longer just a meal where you grab just about everything and go somewhere to eat. Picnics are about feeling good and enjoying great food.

For me, nothing (well, except one thing) beats a late summer evening picnic by the sea while the sun sets (plan your timing so that you can eat before it gets dark). The only thing that beats this is the great company of friends who do not always ask for a view of the sunset but for a place to sit down and enjoy each other’s company. Enjoy, as we did on this not-so-warm but still sunny summer’s evening, all wrapped up in blankets and with the greatest food and company you could have.

Inspired by the H&M Home collection that made me think of juicy salads, a spicy noodle salad bowl, crunchy and gooey cookies, and so much more.

Recipes
Cherry compote with cheese
Barley à la tabouleh. Recipe
Noodle beef salad. Recipe
Picnic tortillas. Recipe
Nut and chocolate cream cake
Three chocolate and peanut cookies. Recipe
Pear, chocolate and marzipan muffins

Text, recipes, and pictures: Signe Meirane
Thank you to my friends and hand models: Kristine, Sintija, Markus and Armands
In collaboration with H&M Home summer collection
Flowers: Magnolijas zieds
Photos taken with Sony alpha 7s