Outdoor winter picnic

[pleaseChooseAnother]

I am hoping to meet some family members who aren't in my bubble outdoors over Christmas/ into January and would love to be able to have a picnic.

Clearly it's likely to be cold, so I'm planning on taking our fleece blankets that we use when camping and taking warm food.

Does anyone have tips for food that would work well, ways to transport food that won't cost me a fortune in new thermoses (although I'd be willing to buy a couple of things) and any other tips to make sure we enjoy ourselves instead of wishing we could just go home to warm up?

A cool box should keep things hot for a short while - especially if everything is really hot when it goes in, wrapped in foil and the box is really full (use newspaper or bubble wrap to fill all the gaps).

How about some disposable BBQs - cook sausages for hot dogs etc

Flasks for hot chocolate or soup.

Disposable bbqs are not allowed in a lot of places.

Chilli, mulled wine, lots of blankets. Lovely

Jacket potatoes wrapped in foil. Bit of butter, salt and pepper.

Ooh! Chilli on baked potatoes sounds like a great idea!

I might have to stick to mulled apple juice - mulled wine tends to go straight to my head!

Put some hot water bottles in the ‘cool’ box to help keep the food warm, and while you’re eating you can stuff the hot water bottles up your top to keep you warm!

Hay (a few pounds for a bag from a pet store or Amazon) used as insulation in a box will keep food in containers hot. You can even use it to cook food, like a slow cooker. You could bring hot picnic food straight from the oven, like quiche, bread, sausage rolls, even a baked camembert, or you could make something more substantial, like chilli and cornbread, that can eaten one handed.

Disposable or portable barbecues, if you can find somewhere they are allowed, are a good idea too as you can huddle around them to keep warm! I have a portable picnic raclette burner that uses tealights to melt the cheese, although it might not be much good on a windy day.

It might not be the sophisticated or healthy fare you have in mind, but one of my favourite childhood memories is DM treating us to a bag of chips from the fish and chip shop on evening dog walks when it was bitterly cold. They tasted so much better eaten outside and double up as a "hot water bottle" when held close DS and DM80 have resurrected the tradition for socially distanced garden visits. Maybe you could make easy to eat finger food like chicken or fish goujons, sausage and chips and wrap them individually in greaseproof paper bags. You could even use an outer layer of leftover wrapping paper.

Fabulous ideas. Thank you!

No ideas but I want to come

Bacons rolls wrapped in foil and kept warm in the oven until just before you leave home will work. Jacket potatoes with chilli, pop tarts (do they still exist?) or anything high in sugar, all wrapped in foil.

And those snap hand warmers you get for skiing.