Help me plan an Enid Blyton-esque Picnic

[MrsFionaCharming]

I’ve got a walk and a swim planned for tomorrow in a very Enid Blyton like place, and I want to theme a picnic around it!

So far I’ve thought of ginger beer and a bag of toffees! I don’t really fancy meat paste sandwiches

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/18/famous-five-perfect-austerity-diet

Might find some inspo here Mine would be cold boiled eggs and fruitcake

Egg mayo sandwiches, pork pie, apples, home made scones or cake. Definitely nothing new-fangled like crisps.

Don't you need tongue sandwiches and tinned peaches?

I'm not convinced it would be a great picnic tbh...

Give meat paste a chance! It’s lovely
Scones and Victoria sponge. Boiled eggs to be dipped in salt. Home made lemonade

Pate and crackers?
Ginger beer, lashings of it

Stale rock buns

Don't you need to have a random farmers wife make you up some sandwiches with lashings of ginger beer? No adults allowed I'm afraid.

Ginger beer!

Heaps of tomatoes
Crisp lettuce
Ham and tongue (I'd give the tongue a swerve personally)
Ginger cake
Meat pie
Boiled eggs
Ginger beer/lemonade
Buns
Sardines and condensed milk

We've been listening to the enchanted wood and the magic faraway tree- cake pops and google buns!

Things that I remember from the Famous Five:

Home cooked ham, cheddar or cream cheese, pork pies, hard boiled eggs, tinned sardines, cucumber sandwiches, plain salad (lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, spring onions, mustard and cress) with salad cream.

Then macarons, scones, eclairs, fruit cake, Victoria sponge and treacle tart for dessert.

I came on to say meat paste sandwiches.

Maybe hardboiled eggs and an ice.

Hard boiled eggs with salt in a 'twist' of paper, proper thick cut slices of ham, currant buns, fluffy white slices of farmhouse bread with butter to spread, apples, possibly pickle or some sort of condiment like marmalade?

My boys are telling me the secret seven drink lemonade, and rock buns "slightly stale"

Most importantly, have you a dog to accompany you to the picnic and cause mayhem?

Off a recommendation from here, I got the book 'Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer' which has recipes of food from children's novels, including the Famous Five. I now make muffins from scratch which are delicious!

This may help

I think tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, ginger beer and orangeade, fruit cake, biscuits and buns are all authentic. Cream cheese, cucumbers and scones are often mentioned, but usually part of a farmhouse high tea rather than picnic. They do have ham or cheese and lettuce sandwiches and chocolate quite often too.

Other things that are often mentioned but might be less enthusiastically received are tinned sardines, tinned peaches, tinned pineapple, and tinned tongue. I recall a picnic when someone else brings both sardine sandwiches and cucumber dipped in vinegar sandwiches, which are ecstatically greeted as being much nicer than the Five's sandwiches.

Scotch eggs, pork pie, pate and crackers (that's as close as I'd get to meat paste too), bottles of lemonade with paper straws, red apples.

Sandwich made with fresh bread and:
Spam
Eggs
Sardines
Potted meat
Ham (and mustard if you're Dick)
Tongue
Anchovy paste

Then eaten separately:
Hardboiled eggs
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Cucumber
Pork pies
Pickles

Finish with scones or jam tarts. Drink with ginger beer (or out of a sping)

Sorted

Jam tarts and enormous slices of ginger cake (baked by Cook), chock full of bits of ginger and chopped up cherries. As eaten by Roger, Diana and Snubby in the Barney Mystery series.

All the food mentioned above and a red and white checked blanket to sit on!

Not just any old ginger beer, but ...”lashings of ginger beer”.

Amazing suggestions!!

Sadly no dog, I wish I knew one I could borrow for such days, and give back on rainy days when I want a lie in.

I don’t have time to get that book for tomorrow, but I have an Amazon voucher to spend, so I’ll buy it for next time.

Definitely hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, ham sandwiches, and apples.

DH was never an EB fan, he’s going to be a bit bemused by the catering I think!

A murder, or some nefarious being lurking around, causing the Five to investigate, and then to solve a crime.