Happy & Healthy

JET’S PLACES

Things are being called out like code red, orange or yellow, but I'm calmly sitting with bare legs on the bike and my intermediate jacket has been swapped for a summer jacket. It even gets a bit sultry and in sultry weather I often think immediately of a large picnic basket, a cold bottle of rosé and the beach or the park. Big blanket, friends dropping by and  endless chatting. And eating and drinking of course.

What all goes in that basket? I'll tell you.

– First, I start with the cooling elements. They are necessary because a picnic without cheese is not a picnic. I fill a large Spa bottle with water a day in advance and put it in the freezer. This way you immediately have ice-cold water for the day and a cooling element in one.

– I already mentioned cheese. Don't go for a huge stinker, because then your whole basket will smell right away, but with different cheeses, you can never go wrong. Wrap the cheeses in aluminum foil, because then you can use that as a kind of plate instead of that very thin cling film that is usually around it.

– Chicken is really nice to eat cold as well. Marinate chicken legs and roast them in the oven. Let them cool down and take them in a Tupperware container. No plate needed. Just napkins.

– Make a large fruit salad and sprinkle it with lemon and mint. Bring a few forks and everyone can pick from it.

– Make sure to have dips: hummus, pea spread, mackerel salad, pumpkin dip and transport that in plastic containers that you can easily throw away afterwards. Cut a lot of vegetables for dipping and bring a fresh baguette. Tear off a piece and swipe it through the dip. Voilà, minimal washing up and waste.

– Of course, you can also prepare a lot at home. Make sandwiches. It doesn't have to be complicated at all. A small layer of cream cheese, slices of cucumber, salt and pepper and you're done. Or take, for example, aged cheese with sharp mustard and a bit of arugula.

– And don't forget the cold wine. At HEMA you can really buy very nice plastic cups. At least they are not those boring white ones. Tastes just a bit better.