If you have family coming to visit over the festive period and your house is just too small to host everyone or your shabby chic looks more shabby than chic, then why not remove the stress and take the whole thing outdoors with a woodland winter picnic a bracing walk?  None of the hassle of finding enough matching plates or where to seat everyone and let’s not even start on the expense of it all.

Many woodlands have barbecues or fire pits you can use or hire thus giving your party a relaxed party/festival feel.  Delegate the firestarting, drink pouring and games organising to your fellow guests while you get on with the cooking and chatting.

I promise you, you will enjoy it, your family will enjoy it and you might even make it a regular event.

Party Menu

Freshly brewed Coffee on arrival (added tot of Irish Cream Liqueur optional)

Sausages Wrapped in Bacon Rolls

Buttermilk Fruit Cake – see HERE for recipe

Turkish Hot Chocolate

Sausages Wrapped In Bacon

(serves 12)

12 chipolatas

12 rashers of smoked streaky bacon

A little oil for frying

12 bridge rolls or French loaf cut into 4 pieces

English mustard to serve

Stretch out a rasher of bacon with the back of knife and then tightly wrap around each sausage.  The stretching of the bacon beforehand means the bacon wont upwind on cooking.

Place pan on fire and once hot, add the oil and sausages and cook for 10-15 mins, turning frequently and checking one is fully cooked before serving (cook’s treat).  You could cook in an oven beforehand and simply reheat on bbq if you wanted.

In each roll, spread with some mustard or sauce of choice and add the cooked sausages.  No need to butter the rolls, the bacon sausages are juicy enough.

Turkish Hot Chocolate (serves 4)

250g Rose Turkish Delight, snipped into small cubes

200g 70% dark chocolate, chopped

1L milk

Heat all the ingredients together, stirring as you go to just below boiling point.  Keep stirring to ensure the Turkish Delight melts along with the chocolate and doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan.

Serve with The Buttermilk Fruit Cake – recipe to follow next time.

Now go and walk it all off and start planning next year’s meet up.