Spring has sprung and as a species, we’re ready to awake from our winter sleep. The days are getting longer, the sun hasn’t set yet when we come home after work and, believe it or not, we’re thinking about giving our social lives a boost. After two years filled with Covid-19 and a seemingly never-ending winter, we can’t wait to get out of our homes, soak in the hot air and catch up with friends. The best way to combine all of those? Going for a walk in your local park or forest and organize a picnic afterwards.
There are lots of different ways of picnicking. Of course, you can choose to keep things simple by just packing a sandwich into your backpack, maybe a bottle of water or a soft drink and that’s it. You don’t need more than that honestly but then again, an extensive picnic can be quite the feast. If you’re a bit lazy and don’t mind spending a little more, you could stop by a takeaway place on the way and order whatever your heart desires. Be aware of the fact that you’ll probably have to walk for a while with that food, so maybe try opting for something that doesn’t leak and doesn’t need to be very warm.
But what if you’re not lazy? What if you like cooking and don’t mind making something for your entire walking gang? What if you want to be able to chill in the grass for hours on end, without having to worry about whether or not you’ll get hungry and thirsty? Well, we’ve assembled three recipes which can easily be adapted to a picnic and which will leave you satisfied for the entire afternoon. To your kitchens, ready, set, go!
1. Elderflower cordial
When going on a walk, staying hydrated is the most important task! So why not make it tasty?
Ingredients
- 1,25 kilograms of sugar
- 0,75 liters of water
- 1 organic lemon
- 10 elderflower heads with as little stalk as possible
- 40 grams of citric acid
Preparation
1. Put sugar and water on medium heat in a big pan and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and then turn off the heat.
2. Set the lemon zest aside and slice up the rest of the lemon.
3. Throw the elderflowers, slices, zest and citric acid in the syrup and let rest for 24 hours.
4. Pass the cordial through a clean towel, put in a colander. Let drip gently through.
5. Put the cordial in sterilised containers and enjoy!
2. Börek
When going on a picnic, you don’t want to fool around with cutlery of any sort. Bite-sized börek are the solution!
Ingredients
- 12 sheets of phyllo dough
- 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
- 2 handfuls of spinach
- 1 bunch of parsley
- Dill
- 3 spring onions
- 150 grams of feta cheese
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- A pinch of salt and pepper
Preparation
1. Cut the phyllo dough in smaller squares, big enough to be able to fold them in two with filling inside.
2. Cut the spinach, parsley, dill and spring onions in small pieces.
3. Mix in the greens with the feta cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper.
4. Stuff the phyllo dough with the filling and fold close.
5. Put some egg yolk on the packages. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.
6. Put in a preheated oven on 180°C for about 15 minutes or until golden.
3. Blueberry muffins
Of course, a picnic isn’t complete without a sweet touch. Again, no cutlery needed for this tasty snack.
Ingredients
- 200 grams of self-rising flour
- 150 grams of sugar
- 1 sachet of vanilla sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 80 milliliters of oil (for example hazelnut oil)
- 1 egg
- 100 milliliters of milk
- 1 handful of blueberries
Preparation
1. Preheat the oven on 200°C.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, vanilla sugar and salt in a bowl.
3. Add the oil, egg and milk. Mix until just combined.
4. Add the blueberries and mix shortly.
5. Divide the batter over the muffin cups.
6. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes. Your muffins are ready when golden and when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool off.
