Monday 2 May 2011

Perfect Time for a Picnic...

Whether it’s a Picnic, a barbeque, or a big bowl of strawberries and cream, there is just something about the sunshine that makes me want to eat. Although I am unsure whether the weather can be entirely to blame for my enormous and unfaltering appetite, there is nothing better than good food whilst topping up the fading remnants of last year’s tan.

So, with the beautiful spring weather warming my shoulders and rendering the well-used cardigan useless for a change, the only thing to do is eat. And with so much gorgeously local and delicious produce right on my sun-warmed doorstep, it would be a crime not to make the most of it.

Snape Famers Market, located, perhaps unsurprisingly at Snape Maltings in Suffolk, is a real treat for a home-visiting student and the perfect place to collect the makings of a good old fashioned picnic. So, seeing as eating outside is a luxury reserved for summertime trips back to Suffolk (Al-fresco dining somewhat prohibited in Sheffield by the unattractiveness of the concrete stairway that serves as our only outside space) what better to feast upon than good, local food.

With almost too many goodies to choose between, and a yummy cookery demonstration from The British Larder proving to be a real distraction, it is no surprise that we came away with far too much food. Smoked English stilton from the Artisan Smokehouse, homemade duck liver and truffle pate, local soda bread and crispy cos lettuces from Newbourne, made a very tempting platter, which, duly topped off with mum’s homemade pickle, chutney and Scotch egg, was a real treat.

Food from my doorstep, eaten in the sun with lovely people; what could be better?