A Picnic in the Park

Making a picnic should be SUPER easy - it's supposed to be a more relaxed version of eating after all! Deciding that you're having lunch in the park on a glorious Sunday in September should be as easy as wrapped salmon bagels, potato salad with white anchovies and fresh watermelon. Peeling boiled eggs on the grass always makes me think of days by the seaside as a child so I can't help adding them to a picnic for pure nostalgia. This gingham oilcloth has served as my picnic blanket (for food) for years, it's perfect, practical and totally looks the part! (I highly recommend investing in a piece when you're next in a fabric store). Paper plates, knives, forks and cups all in Swedish yellow and blue were left over from our Midsommer party. The roller disco in Central Park was just at the bottom of the hill so the music and atmosphere were infectious, the sun was shining and the food was delicious. A perfect picnic :)

How to make Homemade Sausage Rolls

This is for Colin. And for Dave. And for anyone who thinks putting these bad boys in their mouth is a good idea. Here's how you make homemade sausage rolls with minimum effort and maximum effect.

+ Buy Dafour Puff Pastry in any supermarket freezer section. Thaw 1 hour in the fridge (as per instructions), flour a surface and a rolling pin, roll out to approximate rectangle. Slice length ways with a sharp knife into three long rectangles.

+ Release 6-8 sausage from their casing. Buy really good sausages, or loose sausage meat, in the flavour of your choice. I love the Sweet Italian variety because they go with my sweet Italian nature. Ok that's rubbish, I just like them cause they're so New York and we don't have them in Europe. I wish I was Italian.

+ Lay the sausage meat in a fat line along the pastry. Brush the inside of the rectangle with beaten egg. Fold over the pastry to meet the other egged side to form a tunnel, seal by gently pinching the two sides together neatly. Brush the top of the tunnel with egg and sprinkle with fennel seeds (optional).

+ Using a long flat spatular and care, transfer the 'rolls' onto a baking tray. Make sure you have a baking tray long enough - or indeed that you only roll out your pastry to the length of your tray! Align the rolls next to each other in parallel, not too close.

+ Bake on a high temperature (390F/200C) for approximately 30-35 minutes. I cover them loosely with foil but take care to make sure the foil is not touching the egg/pastry or it will stick. Approximately 10-12 minutes before the end I take off the foil to allow the pastry to get it's lovely colour. This is all approximate because I made this recipe up, but as long as the sausages are cooked through (test the middle part of the middle roll to see if it's cooked), you're good to go!

+ Take out of the oven. Allow to rest before transferring to a board to slice. You want them to still be warm when you slice them otherwise the pasty is too crumbly, but you can't move them to the board until they've stood for a few minutes to firm up. Serve in bit size pieces with healthy servings of ketchup and dijon for dipping. Bada bing!