A Picnic By the River

Hubby had a really early start at work today, the up side of which was that he was home early in the afternoon. James also had his nine-month check at the baby clinic today, which meant a tedious hour spent hanging around before we were seen and told he was just fine (which I already knew). My mood was not improved by having to go to the supermarket on the way home to stock up on tins, cartons of fruit juice, bags of rice and all that sort of gubbins.

For a more cheering end to the day we decided to take our supper out and have a picnic. I made a Bacon, Pea and Mint Tart and wrapped it, still in the tin, in a double layer of foil. We packed it into the hamper along with some washed Gem lettuce leaves and tomatoes, then drove down to Black Covert near Trawsgoed and sat at one of the tables by the river. The tart was very successful, I was a little worried about how the inclusion of mint would be received, but it worked really well and every last crumb was eaten, Bang go my lunch plans for tomorrow!

Bacon, Pea and Mint Tart

300g plain flour
150g butter
cold water to bind

Make the pastry, roll it out and line a 20cm deep fluted tart tin.

150g bacon, chopped
100g frozen peas, defrosted
few sprigs fresh mint, leaves only
200g crème fraîche
2 large eggs
25g cheddar cheese, finely grated

Preheat the oven, with a baking tray already on the shelf, to 200°c. Fry the bacon in a little oil until just starting to brown. Put the bacon and peas into the bottom of the pastry case, then scatter over the chopped mint leaves. Beat the crème fraîche and eggs together with some black pepper and pour this into the pastry case. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and transfer the tart to the oven, putting it on the hot baking tray. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the surface is nicely browned and the centre of the tart still a little wobbly. Best eaten warm, not hot.

After we'd eaten we played 'football' with Christopher for a bit, then walked down to the edge of the river. Chris was very impressed by his Dad skimming stones over the surface of the water so that they 'bounced'. He was even more impressed by the large splashes he could make by lobbing large stones into the river himself. Poor James was a bit jealous that he couldn't really join in, I think, he got quite cross with us in the end. I had already had to resort to chasing the football around with him in his pushchair (which he loved), but I wasn't taking it into the river, oh no.

A bit Enid Blyton? Probably, but we had great fun and it is definitely something we'll be doing again soon.