Today I needed to pop into town to get some things. I decided to incorporate an Autumnal picnic into my trip. There is a big park in the middle of town and I knew that the trees would be looking stunning at this time of year.
Buying picnic food
I went into my favourite whole-foods shop to see if they had any Autumnal themed foods for my picnic. They do fresh, hot pasties and homemade cakes, and I hoped there would be something seasonal like a pumpkin pasty, and a Autumn-themed cake. Unfortunately they had no such thing, so I wasn’t able to make my picnic especially Autumn themed.
I opted for a hot ‘beans and sausage’ pasty (it was vegan sausage because this shop does vegan food only). I was very tempted to also get one of their apple doughnuts because apple is quite a seasonal food. In the end I decided not to because they looked very sugary and I am trying to cut down on my sugar consumption.
I did however treat myself to a bottle of Jasmine Kombucha. If you haven’t heard of Kombucha before, it is a fizzy, fermented drink made from green tea (or sometimes black tea), sugar and a bacterial culture called scoby. This might not sound very appealing, but Kombucha actually has many health benefits. It is probiotic because it contains beneficial bacteria for the gut. Although it is made using sugar, most of this gets converted to alcohol and acid in the fermentation process. (Yes it is slightly alcoholic, but you’d have to drink a lot of it to get drunk!) This means it is actually low in sugar.
I think Kombucha is an acquired taste, but I really like it, especially knowing it is good for me. It’s a bit like drinking cider but without the alcohol and with more health benefits.
An Autumnal picnic
The scenery in the park exceeded my expectations. The trees were so pretty and colourful, and the ground was strewn with leaves. It was truly a classic Autumn scene.
It was a mild day but there was still a slight Autumnal chill in the air, so it was lovely to warm my hands on a hot pasty and I savoured every bite.
When I opened my bottle of Kombucha, it had obviously been shaken up in my bag because it fizzed up and overflowed. There was me sat on a bench in the park looking like I had just opened a bottle of beer or something, trying to stop it from going everywhere – slightly embarrassing! But never mind, I enjoyed drinking it!
Overall it was a lovely Autumnal picnic although I wish I had been able to find some slightly more Autumnal foods!
When did you last go for a picnic?
Have you had an Autumnal picnic lately, or do you tend to only have them in the summer? What are your favourite picnic foods? Let me know in the comments.
