Enid Blyton fans raise hands!! ✋ Yes, I am talking about ‘the’ Enid Blyton! Author of thousands and thousands of children’s books! I remember as a child I would give anything to just sit and read Famous Five all day long. Throw in some of the short stories by Enid Blyton and I am happily floating around in my own imaginary world.
She really had the talent to stimulate a child’s imagination and I never really felt it in any other author’s writing until i read J.K.Rowling. And if you have noticed, both of them wrote really well about food! Simple food has been described in such a way that it will leave you drooling! i always dreamed of having a larder in my kitchen when i grow up. Oh those larders crammed with divine food!! And all those delicious picnic spreads! And the ‘lashings and lashings’ of food in all of Enid Blyton’s books ( i just drooled all over my ipad remembering them)
Coming back to reality, reading Enid Blyton has not only given me the love of reading, but also a love of picnics! ( and a love for adventures… In my imaginary magical land). There is always a picnic somewhere in her books and the descriptions always made me want to pack a picnic basket and go off on one!
Now since i am grown up ( atleast i think i am) and I don’t read Enid Blyton anymore ( no one knows about my secret Blyton reading binges), i forgot most of those lovely stories. Luckily for me, i became a mom! ( best thing ever!!!) and now i have a chance to relive my childhood, including re-reading all those Enid Blyton books…. To my baby of course!
And as we were reading ‘ The Magic Faraway Tree’ one night, nostalgia struck and inspiration struck too ?. I had a day off from work and I thought what better way to spend it, than having a Blytonian Picnic?!
It was a very impromptu picnic and i did not have anything on hand, except for the will to do it! So i got my little lady ready for a picnic, asked her who she wanted to join us ( by who i mean her endless collection of stuffed toys), and went of to the supermarket to get the supplies.
I went to Spinneys because i knew i would get everything there ( esp. Things like potted meat!). And then off we went to Zabeel Park to have our little picnic!!!
This is what our basket looked like:
- Disposable plates, cups and spoons – I don’t know what they used in the books but to me this was perfect ( no washing dishes later)
- Water – despite the weather being pleasant, we almost downed a whole bottle between us two.
- Luncheon meat – sadly i did not find any potted meat, so i got this instead. But since i have some sort of OCD for not feeding my daughter overly processed foods, i picked up a grilled chicken for her!
- Loaf of fresh wholegrain bread – another reason i went to Spinneys was because of their baked goods, and this was just delish!
- Cream cheese and tomato – remember those cream cheese and tomato sandwiches? *droooool*
- Slab of Butter ( small one though!) – i buttered our sandwiches, and it really brought out the flavour.
- Fresh hummus – because i know if Enid Blyton lived in the middle east she would be all for the hummus!
- Plums – because they appear all over the Famous Five books!
- Muffins – because the famous five had all sorts of cakes for tea and dessert!
- Juices – i did not have time to make my own lemonade (sob) so we settled for our favorite fresh juices.
- Tissue box, trash bag, zipper bags for leftovers and a knife.
Once we found a shady spot and spread our blanket, i set off making sandwiches while my daughter made efforts at talking to the group of girls about a kilometer away from us and complained that Lala and Po ( who she had chosen to come with us) were hungry. We had cream cheese and tomato sandwiches first ( nom nom nom) and trust me on this, they never tasted soooo good, atleast to me!
Then we had our grilled chicken and hummus sandwiches which turned out to be just average compared to the cheese and tomato ( i was kicking myself for not getting boiled eggs).
We had chocolate and orange and carrot and nuts muffins for dessert and washed them down with the fresh juices.
With our tummies more than full we had a half hearted session of reading and then i just let my LO go crazy in the playground while i lolled on a bench munching on plums. It was something very quick and short but we definitely had an awesome time and i can say that twice!
Hopefully the weather remains pleasant and we can have more ( better organised) blytonian picnics. And here i flip into daydream mode where i am packing lunches for my DD to take with her for picnics with her dolls at some secret place!
And then George pipes up, ‘ I don’t know why, but the meals we have on picnics always taste so much nicer than the ones we have indoors.’ – Five Go Off In A Caravan
Mama In Scrubs 
Now if only i was there!! Sighhhh! What a lovely idea! And yes food does taste so much better outdoors!
Ps: i STILL read blyton when i get the chance! ?
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