Rachel Savage of Sweet & Savage, shares tips on picnicking with kids, plus her Picnic Pie recipe.
I’ll never forget a work colleague telling me (many years ago) about the time that she and her boyfriend ventured off on a quiet picnic in a secluded spot. She said they were having a really nice time, enjoying each other’s company and one thing led to another (y’know?). That is, until they realised they were inadvertently entertaining a whole paddock of cattle.
Fast track a few years to having kids around (I know that this friend has a family of her own these days too) and sadly for the cows, picnics these days are likely not quite the show that they used to be. On most family outings to date, you’d be pushed to get a word in edgewise amongst the kid chatter, or find time to finally tend to that piece of spinach stuck in your front teeth — whilst being woefully told that “I only have a crumb in my belly!”, or with indignant exasperation that “she’s looking at me!”— not to mention managing the many far-fetched ideas such as wanting to bring every single stuffed toy along. But despite these grumbly ‘real-life’ bits, truthfully, I’m not mad that our adventures now roll like this. The kids have grown to love picnics, and it is quite honestly, one of my proudest moments as a parent. Rightly or wrongly, it’s such a thrill seeing your kids start to love doing the very same things that you love to do too.
Celeriac, Florence fennel and globe artichokes should be ready around now.
Around nine years ago (ever so slightly pre-kids) we packed our bags and left the city, high on the promise of fresh air, free-range eggs and (frivolous, ha!) picnics. It was an adventure with a long journey ahead and a potential exit strategy that we had really given no thought to. In retrospect, there are a lot of things we like to think we would have done differently (sometimes, we even cringe a little on the inside), but then again, that’s all part of the joy of learning. We are the first to admit that naivety brought us here (to a large extent) but we’re also endlessly thankful and appreciative that it did.
We live in a very special place that sits at the bottom of a valley that runs up to the sea — with streams trickling down the hills and a big deep creek on the floor of the valley. A few years back, we found an old glass-bottomed boat at a white elephant market, and our little orange boat sits parked in the creek just down from our house. Over the winter and spring, the creek is home to about six baby seals, and we often stop and watch them play on our walk down to the chickens in the orchard. The creek has big, big eels, watercress and a bountiful supply of wild mint – so much so that I haven’t even needed to plant it in the garden.
Our girls are schooled at home — we felt that we were privileged to live in a place where Papatūānuku could teach them for the most part, and we could fill the gaps in between. Mornings are spent doing a bit of bookwork inside, or baking – but we need no encouragement to ditch the books if the sun is out and someone has an idea to do something. Very high on this outdoor to-do list are picnics! We’ve got many favourite picnic spots, most of them are close to the water. Lighting fires is a major attraction (that’s hereditary, I can’t help that I passed that on – as I inherited that one from my mum), however it’s not always possible during a season where there is a fire ban, or some spots are just too close to bush. This year we found an old sheep trough and cleaned it up — on a few picnics we have boiled up creek water to fill it. The girls love it! Sadly, it’s only kid sized so it’s not necessarily relaxing for all involved, but I like to think that one day they’ll fill a hot tub for me. On the upside, there’s that amazing feeling of total satisfaction where you can stand back from something and smile and think: ‘Yeah, I made that!’.
We like to let the girls learn through experience, so the intention behind building fires is that they will develop humility and a deep respect for a powerful force. It’s a responsibility that you have to be trusted with, and I consider it important that they know the guidelines around this. One thing I love about fires is that these days we are so used to expecting things instantly – when we cook over the fire, you really savour that meal that you’re about to eat. Over time, we’ve become more adventurous with cooking food and trying new things – we’ve loved making pancakes, pizzas and even spätzle. I guess the great thing about eating on picnics, is that you can’t be picky about what you’re eating (here’s looking at you, kids) — if you’re hungry you eat what is in front of you. Plus, adding a bit of smoke and charcoal always does wonders for a slice of bread or a bowl of popcorn.
Setting yourself up for picnicking with the kids
We’ve invested in a picnic set (like a proper op shop one!); cooking gear and utensils (also thrifted) and have even salvaged hot plates from an old BBQs to cook on (we often prop these up with rocks — but have to be careful as some rocks can explode as they heat up). I’ve also found it really handy having squeezy bottles in the cupboard. Having something with a lid on makes it so much easier for transporting and serving once you’re there. Hats and sunscreen are always a good idea, especially if you end up somewhere with little shade. A blanket or something to sit on is a must, plus we always bring a good stash of water because you never can be 100% sure what the water is like where you are (and you will never hear the end of it if you’ve got a thirsty kid).
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There are many picnics where I love the idea of being pre-prepared and blissfully sitting down once we get there. With this in mind, here is a simple rhubarb, raspberry and rosewater picnic pie — easily baked ahead of time and delicious eaten hot or cold. At times, I’ve even stored the uncooked tart lined tin (with fruit in) in the freezer, then pulled it out and poured the egg mixture over, dotted the butter on it and baked it. You can’t really go wrong. It’s very nice with ice cream if you’re at home, or with unsweetened yoghurt if you’re picnicking (in a squeezy bottle of course — for your ‘one-crumb-in-belly kid’) and served up with your best spinach-toothed smile).
Recipe | Rhubarb, Raspberry & Rosewater Picnic Pie
Ingredients
Pastry
125g butter
1 ½ cups flour
Cold water (add this gradually to bring pastry together but not so much it gets sticky — we needed about 4-5 Tbsp)
Pie filling
4-5 stalks of rhubarb, cut into lengths (halve them if they’re super thick)
1 cup frozen raspberries
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp rosewater
2 Tbsp of butter to dot over tart
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C
Grease and line a tart dish (ours was 30cm x 25cm but you can bake this in any similar sized dish, you may need to adjust the cooking time slightly)
Rub butter into flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add chilled water, gradually until pastry holds together without being too crumbly.
Press into tin or tart dish.
Beat eggs, sugar and flour together until combined.
Place rhubarb into tart shell and sprinkle raspberries over the top.
Pour egg mixture over fruit evenly, then add a few spots of butter over the top of mixture.
Place in the oven and cook for around 30 minutes, or until filling is golden and set.
