Picnic season is here so dig out the bucket and spade and pack up a cool box! Now is the ideal time for a beach picnic with the whole family.  We have some tips on how to keep you from overheating and some sandwich and recipe ideas to take with you for a homemade feast.

How to Keep Your Cool at the Beach

• Pack some ice or iceblocks. It keeps the food cold, chills drinks, and refreshes overheated bodies.
• Wear your hat. Protecting your head from direct sunlight will you'll keep cooler.
• Make some shade. Pack a beach umbrella or other portable sun shelter and don’t forget your suntan lotion.
• Drink up. A well-hydrated body is better able to keep its cool.
• Get wet. Splashing in the surf is a fast way to cool off on a hot day. Don’t forget to reapply the sunblock!

No Sand in our Sandwiches

To avoid all your lovingly prepared food having that “gritty” texture we suggest that you stick to food that can stay in the containers until you are ready to eat it with everyone only taking one thing at a time. Anything that you need to plate up is liable to either blow across the beach or have the beach blow across it.

Instead of salads, try baby tomatoes and pieces of raw vegetables like carrot and celery. You can take along sausage rolls, mini pork pies and other small pastrise. For sandwiches, choose a variety of bread types/shapes, i.e. white, wholemeal, granary, slices, bread buns, ciabatta, wraps, pitta, etc.

Suggested Fillings (to name but a few):

• Cheese savoury – grated cheese, grated onion, grated carrot, salt, pepper and mayo to mix
• Corned beef and ploughmans pickle
• Tuna and cucumber
• Pate and onion
• Roast beef with horseradish
• Blue cheese and celery
• Grated cheddar and pineapple
• BLT – grilled bacon, lettuce and tomato with mayo
• Ham and mustard
• Prawn cocktail - cooked prawns in marie rose sauce with lettuce and tomato

Something Exotic

If you fancied something a bit more interesting how about the following recipes

• Chicken Tandoori
• Mexican Cheese Quesadillas (Vegetarian)
• Lebanese Borek (Vegetarian)
• Polynesian Meatballs

Sweet Treats

Again stick to something simple in small portions, i.e. buns or slices of cake, fresh fruit, pots of yogurt, etc.

And why not top it all off with a little Sex on the Beach, the cocktail that is:

Ingredients per person:

• 30 ml vodka
• 30 ml peach schnapps
• 85 ml orange juice
• 85 ml cranberry juice

Mix all the ingredients into a jug and put in the fridge to cool for a couple of hours. Before you leave decant into a vacuum flask to take with you.