So here’s the picnic spread. From the left: Jarlsberg Light slices, butter, aioli, tinned beetroot, cutlery, napkins, cups and plates, gherkin pickles and marinated mushrooms, barbecue chicken pieces, crusty bread, and salad.

We always save salt and pepper sachets and napkins from our fast food / takeaway meals. They come in very handy for picnics and travel. Do you guys do that as well?

Jac bought a barbecue chook from the supermarket, and I tore it into pieces for our picnic – the drumsticks, the thighs, a little breast meat, lots of skin. This chicken was moist and delicious, but disappointingly didn’t come with any stuffing.

Jac bought a loaf of fresh crusty bread especially for the picnic.

The salad was a pre-packaged one, which came with a sachet of vinaigrette and one of olive oil.

The beetroot was all for Jac, but we both enjoyed the gherkins and the marinated mushrooms. I sliced the gherkins up for us to eat – I love gherkin pickles but find them too strong to just munch on whole. I eat them slice by slice.

The aioli was Neil Perry aioli (bought from Woolworths Supermarket), which has become one of our staples.

For sweets, we had a banana each, and I peeled an orange, which we shared. Jac also packed some Lindt chocolates.

So here’s my plate, with chicken, salad, bread and butter, and sliced pickles. It was really nice having a picnic, sitting on the rug with our shoes kicked off, eating, talking and breathing in the fresh air – it’s been a while since we’ve gone on a picnic date. We should really do it more often as it’s a lovely way to spend time together, enjoy food as well as squeeze in some exercise and sunshine. But most weekends, we get so caught up in chores, hockey (Jac), blogging and work (me) and various commitments… it’s not always so easy to find the time. Do you guys go on picnics very often?