A Brunch Beach Picnic in Ireland

A brunch beach picnic, spontaneously prepared when the weather is fine. This is one of my favourite things to do.

In another chapter when we lived in the Caribbean we went fishing from the pier at dawn with a hamper of jam sandwiches and coffee for breakfast. I felt like we were in The Famous Five, except the bait got on our fingers and the sandwiches suddenly became less exciting to eat, and slightly more fishy.

High tide was at 10. 30am on this day back home here in Ireland now. (I use the Magic Seaweed App on my phone to keep track of these things).

So I suggested to friends that we cycle to the pier for a swim and a picnic breakfast. Needless to say the children thought I was mad, "it would be ok if we were in the Caribbean and could get in the water in swimsuits, but how are we going to get the wetsuits, towels AND the picnic to the beach Mummy?"

Visions of wobbling on a bicycle with a towering backpack of wet neoprene brought me to reality and we drove the car to the pier whilst wearing our wetsuits, with a hamper of oat and banana veggie muffins (recipe below), fresh strawberries, carrot and ginger juice (recipe below) and a flask of hot chocolate.

The sea was icy cold, we were almost the only ones in wetsuits, but we stayed in the longest.

The picnic was delicious. My daughter sat between 2 picnic hampers and ate all the strawberries from ours, and all the lemon drizzle cake from theirs.

Next time we will cycle and wobble!

CARROT AND GINGER JUICE

2 apples

3 carrots

2 cm fresh ginger (or more if you like it spicy)

1cm fresh turmeric (optional)

1/2 lemon - yellow ring removed, but white pith kept on.

Pass all of the the above through your juicer, starting and finishing with an apple to get the most out of the ingredients. This makes enough for one good drink, or shots glasses for a few.

BANANA AND OAT BREAKFAST MUFFINS

(Recipe adapted from Green Kitchen Stories)

100 g / 1 cup walnuts
85 g /1 cup rolled oats

Blend these together to make a flour.

90 g / 2/3 cup spelt flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp freshly ground cardamom
½ tsp sea salt
a pinch black pepper

Mix these all together with the oat and walnut mixture in a big bowl.

160 ml / 2/3 cup natural yoghurt
80 ml / 1/3 cup olive oil or butter
2 ripe bananas, mashed
5 fresh dates, finely chopped
3 large eggs

Mix these altogether and add to the dry ingredients. Mix, but don’t overmix - as with all good muffin recipes, ie. do it by hand and not with a stand mixer.

1 carrot, grated
1 cup of frozen or fresh blueberries (I always use frozen)

Mix through gently.

Fill cupcake cases and bake in the preheated oven at 200 degrees C for 18-20 minutes.

Meanwhile pack the picnic basket with everything else, and get your flip flops ready for the beach.

Enjoy x