,I have to confess as we proceed towards better weather, I can hardly wait to put my new-old-picnic basket to the test.
It's rather charming, nothing special, just the usual honey coloured type, with deep red cotton lining, but it is in excellent condition, and to say that I picked this up from a local antiques centre for only a few pounds, I am rather please with it, to say the least.
So, with this in mind, I have been perusing the things one can do to put together a lovely vintage picnic, you know the ones, like Mother used to make when we were children?
I am fortunate enough to have family members still with us, who can cast their minds back fifty or more years, to the heady days when famers used to cut hay in fields with a scythe and use horses to work the land.
For me, that is the perfect era to look back at for our "Vintage Style Picnic".
It's rather charming, nothing special, just the usual honey coloured type, with deep red cotton lining, but it is in excellent condition, and to say that I picked this up from a local antiques centre for only a few pounds, I am rather please with it, to say the least.
So, with this in mind, I have been perusing the things one can do to put together a lovely vintage picnic, you know the ones, like Mother used to make when we were children?
I am fortunate enough to have family members still with us, who can cast their minds back fifty or more years, to the heady days when famers used to cut hay in fields with a scythe and use horses to work the land.
For me, that is the perfect era to look back at for our "Vintage Style Picnic".
,Simplicity would have been the order of the day back then, because there just was not the things around that there are now, so for lots of people, their Mother would have probably packed something simple, and very cost effective.
The humble sandwich would probably have consisted of jam, or simple bread and butter, or indeed, mashed up banana with a sprinkling of sugar, washed down with dandelion and burdock pop, cherryade, or lemonade for the children.
A flask containg ready to pour tea would have sufficed for the adults.
Sandwiches for the adults might have contained beef dripping, which was a favorite for the more working class family, and was also a leftover from the Sunday roast. A plain, hard boiled egg, thinly sliced on bread, was also a favorite sandwich to have at that time.
Back in the day, "cling film" did not exsist, so sandwiches would be wrapped in greasproof paper and tied shut with string, or folded carefully and laid upon the fold, to keep the paper folds closed shut.
The humble sandwich would probably have consisted of jam, or simple bread and butter, or indeed, mashed up banana with a sprinkling of sugar, washed down with dandelion and burdock pop, cherryade, or lemonade for the children.
A flask containg ready to pour tea would have sufficed for the adults.
Sandwiches for the adults might have contained beef dripping, which was a favorite for the more working class family, and was also a leftover from the Sunday roast. A plain, hard boiled egg, thinly sliced on bread, was also a favorite sandwich to have at that time.
Back in the day, "cling film" did not exsist, so sandwiches would be wrapped in greasproof paper and tied shut with string, or folded carefully and laid upon the fold, to keep the paper folds closed shut.
No picnic would be complete without a little treat, so home made 'buns', possibly iced, would have made a nice desert for the people on the picnic.
It must also be remembered that in this era, Mothers were 'housewives' and stayed at home to bring up the children, and would have the time to bake, cook and also prepare inpromptu picnics for the children, when the weather allowed, in the summer holidays.
Family picnics were something that happened only occasionally at weekends, when Father had a couple of days off work, to perhaps drive the family to the seaside for a day out, or to simply take the family down to a local beauty spot, to enjoy a pleasant family day out in the sun...
Enjoy!
Lady Rose Bloomfield. x