How to have the Best Picnic Ever with minimal effort.

[BeatrixPottersAlterEgo]

After years of chucking tinfoil wrapped sandwiches and a packet of jaffa cakes into an old rucksack, I've decided I want to be one of the really well organised mums you see at National Trust properties, who practically have a pop up deli stashed away in their cooler bag.

We live in the countryside, and it looks like going for longer than usual walks with a picnic at the end is about as exciting as this summer is going to get. So I want to do it properly.

So far I've got two IKEA zippy cooler bags, one big and one small, which have languished unused under the stairs for ages. They seem fairly decent and sturdy.

The DC have good water bottles already

We need a flask- I'm looking at a Thermos Mondial which I'm pretty sure is similar to the nuclear warhead resistant thing we had when I was a child. Anybody have this and can testify to its excellence?

I've ordered a picnic blanket with a waterproof back off ebay.

I can't think of anything else - is there any particular piece of kit which I've never heard of but which I absolutely need? What about food? Best things to bring, best ways to store it? I hate food getting smushed into other food, which is partly why I've stuck to prepackaged basics after all this time.

We use an insulated rucksack that comes with plates etc.. ( and napkins and wine glasses 😁). Then we pack potato salad, coleslaw, sandwich fillers all prepacked for ease and add rolls and cakes / fruit...

Head for m n s and you’ll be —poorer— sorted in no time

We had a lovely picnic on Sunday. I am the mum at the NT property type
😄. I always use storage boxes, the Tupperware type, for the food. 1 with green salad, 1 with chopped cucumber, tomato, feta and olives, one with pasta in pesto, one with sliced cooked sweet chilli chicken breasts, one with potato salad. Then a sliced baguette and a few soft cheeses. Bottles of salad dressing. I also take ice cubes in a plastic pot for the drinks. I love a picnic!!

I second the advice to just go to M&S if you have one nearby!

I want to know this too, op

Also not the NT mum type - just a wannabe

Second M&S! Best supermarket for picnic stuff.

I've heard ice cream scoops popped in a thermos hold their shape and stay solid but haven't tried this myself.

We had a picnic last week and I decanted some baby silver skin onions and gherkins into a pot and took toothpicks. DH loves these so was very impressed. I also emptied a few small packs twiglets, little pretzels and mini cheddars into a Tupperware pot, somehow felt more special than a bag of crisps each. I made a thermos of proper coffee from stove top pot and remembered to take cups.

I also aspire to become NT Pop up Deli picnic mum

Only problem with a "proper" picnic is the bags don't feel much lighter on the way home on account of all the blimmin pots!

I find the easiest way is to pack everyone’s food in their own lunchbox. But I have fussy and greedy children! I find getting big plates of food just leads to waste and no one wants smooshed sausage rolls at the end of the day. Frozen juice cartons make great coolers. Remember a plastic bag for your dirty plates and cutlery. I prefer 2 medium flasks - one for the picnic and one for the journey home.

JumpingatJackdaws you're just the woman I'm looking for. Sliced sweet chilli chicken breasts and Tupperware! Is it a faff to organise? How do you store your Tupperware? I have some half arsed Tupperware because I stack it lidless, then the lids go missing. I feel like I'm missing something obvious there as well.

Sadly no M&S nearby or I'd be in there

And M&S do coffee filters in packs of 10 which are great for fresh ground coffee on a picnic.

Omg silverskin onions and mini cheddars- genius!

This is the information I need!

You need food that travels well, sturdy things like sausage rolls, small pork pies, cooked sausages, chicken drumsticks, hard boiled eggs. Then things that will dress them up a bit, a pot of drained pickled onions & gherkins, a small jar of mustard or mayonnaise, a box of salad with radishes, chunks of cucumber, cherry tomatoes, olives, cooked new potatoes.
Cheese, I’d take hard cheese rather than Brie or Camembert, and I’d cut it up into portions so people could have a selection, possibly have grapes too.
Fruit or perhaps fruit cake or small fruit pies to finish with.

Another vote for m and s, but coop also have some decent picnic food. I usually buy olives, houmus, bread sticks, sausage rolls, babybel cheese, fresh bread, sun-dried tomatoes and those mozzarella stuffed tomato things. A couple of Spanish lemon cheesecakes, bottle of wine and juice for the kids and we are good to go!

Marks & Sparks food hall!

I don’t go in for picnics I prefer a pub lunch but that won’t be happening for a while...
so my picnic tip is this.
Grill sausages. Stick them into a thermos flask. With some fried onions. Pack a bottle of ketchup and some rolls. Voila you have hot sausage sandwiches at your service. You will be the envy of every other family as, let’s face it, the minute lockdown has ended the temperature will fall...
also works with bacon.
Thank you.

If I can, I use bagels as they don’t squish and feel posher somehow. Either smoked salmon and cream cheese or pastrami and gherkins. Pot of easy fruit like grapes or strawberries. Something easy and pre packaged like mini pork pies. I’m not NT mum but it is tasty and unquidhed without spending more than 15 minutes doing the preparation.

We had a picnic last week and just bought lots of prepackaged pots from M&S! No prep, put them in a bag and went. Then threw them away and no mess/ washing up. It was delicious too!

Aldi and Lidl sell lovely falafel and hummus. Then you could pack breadsticks.

Make sure you have cake!

Pringles
Buck fast
Fags
Maybe some weed
Speakers
And a stone roses bucket hat

Sit in a farmers field and leave it all when you go

Bingo

M&S all the way, the smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich filler is amazing!

Marvellous idea for a thread. My kids are always extremely disappointed with my picnics!

I take rolls, butter, sandwich fillings like slices of cheese, meats, etc, so that people can make their own when we get there.

I include things in little pots, like salad, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. I pack mini pork pies, and chicken bites. I make mini scones, and take clotted cream and jam, so we can do those.

Little cakes in tubs, a bag of water bottles so we can add our preferred squash to our own bottles.

I also pack small plates, so that people aren't taking too much at one go. It makes it easier to save any uneaten food for later.

We'll be out at our local NT place on Thursday.

1, Drive to M&S.

2, Buy nice things.

3, Enjoy picnic .