Find fitting food
For a no-nonsense feast, opt for a combination of deli food and portable fare. It’s a great way to support local businesses, many of which have invested in offering easy takeaway options.
If you’re feeding a lot of people, skip the multitudes of sandwiches and pack for a super-sized baquet. Assemble at your picnic spot to avoid sogginess.
Crudites, cold meats, crackers, cheeses and savoury muffins are tasty small-ticket items.
Avoid desserts that are particularly sticky, like jam tarts; instead, opt for brownies, biscuits and sweet pastries.
Take a cooler bag
A cooler box can be weighty, especially when you’re lugging it to a scenic site. Use its lighter cousin, the bag, to keep drinks and eatables chilled.
Use environmentally friendly utensils
Put aside the porcelain and pack eco-friendly alternatives to plastic cutlery. The same goes for the rest of your flatware choose biodegradable or reusable, lightweight plates and bring along sauces and garnishes in jam jars already on-hand.
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If you’re bringing along breakables a wine bottle, a receptacle consider wrapping them in dish towels. You can then use them for serving, for laying food on or for when an urgent napkin calls.
Find a blanket balance
The right picnic blanket is a hard-won but endlessly appreciable find: it needs to be durable enough to withstand the outdoors, but not so rough as to spoil the sense of open-air comfort; it needs to be soft, but not so fleecy that it becomes a beacon for twigs, prickles and leafy detritus.
Then there’s size (add on a bit of extra square meterage if you want to lay about), moveability (built-in handles are worth their weight in convenience) and waterproofness (think underlinings).
Consider some extras
A few pillows for scattering, a music-playing device (with its portable charger) and a handful of your favourite condiments and toppings, like pestos, salad dressings, herbs and pomegranate seeds, make for space-taking, but luxurious, additions.
