PICNIC MEALS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 January 1939, Page 8

PICNIC MEALS

ALERNATIVE TO SANDWICHES. TRY THE DISHES. Interesting picnic meals, which will be both appetising and nourishing, can be quite as easily prepared as the more usual and much more monotonous sandwiches, which invariably mean a lot of work for the provider, especially the mother of a family;whereas if a small stock of tinned goods is kept on hand a picnic can be an easy matter for everyone. A vacuum flask is almost a necessity for picnics, while the large, wide-mouthed ones, necessarily more expensive, may be commissioned to carry quite elaborate dishes if required. Plenty of fruit should be included, and a tin of small cakes to provide snacks for the hungry after their swim. A good home-made lemon syrup 01 orangeade carried in a screw-top lemonade jar is excellent to have in the hamper, and may diluted with fresh cold as required. Here are a few suggestions for varying the menu:

Aberdeen Sausage. For this dish, which must be made the day before, mince together Ilb steak and lib bacon. Combine with twe cups breadcrumbs, one or two eggs, halt a teaspoon salt, pepper, a pinch ot powdered mace, and a dessertspoon of Worcestershire sauce. Form into a roll, and place in a greased pudding-cloth, tying at each end. Boil for two hours. If more convenient, pack the prepared mixture into a greased piedish and steam for two and half hours, or bake in the oven slowly for one and a-half hours. Mix a French dressing of salad oil. vinegar and paprika, and put into a small screw-top bottle. When cold, this meat loaf can be packed in a hamper, and later cut in slices and served on lettuce leaves. Egg and Bacon Pie.

For the egg and bacon pie, which is easily carried and can be cut into slices and eaten in the fingers, thus dispensing with a good deal of the packing, make half a pound of good shortcrust. Roll pastry out to -Jin. thickness, and line a deep sandwich tin. Beat 5 eggs with salt, pepper add a little chopped parsley. Over the pastry tin arrange slices of pared bacon, and pour the egg mixture in. Cover with a round of pastry, pinching the edges together, and glaze top with little milk or egg. Cut a slit in the top of the pastry to allow steam to escape. Bake in a moderately hot oven till the pastry is cooked through. i Savoury Stuffed Eggs. Hard boil as many eggs as required, allowing two to each person. Shell, and remove the yolks. Pound the yolks with a little butter, and season with one of the following mixtures. Then stuff- the whites with the seasoned mixture, put in lettuce leaves, and pack. Egg Fillings.

Curry.—Fry 1 teaspoon curry powder in 1 dessertspoon butter, add 1 teaspoon hot chutney, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice to taste.

Anchovy.—Add to egg yolks 1 tablespoon anchovy sauce, lemon juice, cayenne pepper to taste. Salmon—Pound small quantity of tinned salmon, adding to the egg yolks with cayenne pepper and a little vinegar. Sardines, whitebait, or lobster (all tinned) may be used in the same way. Ham and Salad Rolls. Use round or oblong Vienna rolls, splitting them through the centre. Butter liberally, and place sliced ham, shredded lettuce, a slice of tomato, and hard-boiled egg in each roll. Put a little creamy mayonnaise over filling and pack. French Apple Tart. For French apple tart (a firm tart, which is easy to pack), make a rich, sweetened shortcrust, using one egg to mix it, and line a tin tart dish with the pastry, rolled to |in thickness. Peel and core some new cooking apples, and cut each apple into eight sections. Arrange the sections symmetrically on the pastry, and sprinkle liberally with granulated sugar mixed with powdered cinnamon in the proportion of one teaspoon of cinnamon to each three tablespoons of sugar. Glaze pastry and bake in a moderate oven till apples are tender. Cut into neat slices to serve. This sweet can be eaten comfortably at a picnic without the aid of plates, spoons and forks, which is an advantage when packing space is limited. Bottled Fruit Salad.

Cut up the fruit salad, add the sugar, and place all in a wide-mouthed thermos. or in a large screw-top bottle. Make a sponge sandwich in a large square tin, and cut up into finger lengths to serve with it. Or you can cut up a pineapple, and place in a large screw-top jar with sufficient sugar to sweeten. The sugar will penetrate the fruit while you are on the way to the picnic.