Last week was ‘National Picnic’ week; the dictionary defines a picnic as, ‘An occasion when a packed meal is eaten outdoors, especially during an outing to the countryside.’
I think there is something really special about having a picnic. Firstly, I love the food, the sandwiches, the crisps and the bits and bobs. Also, I love being outside and the informality of eating with my fingers. The fresh air makes the food taste better and as the dictionary suggests, I associate picnics with happy times spent in beautiful places with family and friends.
Currently, in Junior School everyone is busy preparing their ‘talk.’ Each year we ask the pupils to prepare a short talk, on a subject of their choice, ready to present to their class. This task is so valuable and important in the skills that it teaches: researching a topic, organising information into an interesting sequence, learning information by heart, speaking to and engaging an audience, overcoming nerves and answering unknown questions.
Last week began with Miss Moran presenting a demonstration talk about her hobbies. Miss Moran talked about her love of cookery and unusual foods from around the world. She pulled out different foods from inside a globe and explained their origins and appeal.
Very fitting for picnic week!
Top picnic facts:
- Originally, a picnic was a fashionable social event to which each guest contributed some food.
- The French started the modern fashion for picnics when they opened their royal parks to the public after the revolution of 1789.
- The use of the phrase, ‘No picnic’ to describe something difficult dates back to 1884.
- The most popular picnic snack fifty years ago was the humble cheese sandwich. Now, it’s a bag of crisps.
- Fortnum & Mason, the famous London store, claims to have invented the Scotch egg in 1738.
As the restrictions and complications of eating indoors still remain, I would urge everyone to pack up their favourite foods, grab a blanket, head off somewhere beautiful and enjoy the great outdoors. (between showers!)
Warm wishes,
#LizPugh
