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THERE'S something quite exciting about going on a picnic. It could be the fresh air and just being outdoors or the thought of all that extravagantly indulgent' food and drink.

However, I think it's about being allowed to lean on a tablecloth or sprawl on your back in a most ungainly fashion without the usual conventional restraints!

So, pack up a picnic basket, backpack or any holdall, even a carrier bag, and make a day of it.

If romance is on the menu, look out the wicker basket and wine glasses and think about attending an outdoor concert or a day in a remote and scenic spot.

If you're taking the family, then a holdall would probably be better, particularly if you're planning an active day by the seaside or up a mountain.

It's possible, with our unpredictable weather, that even if it isn't raining the ground may be wet so, if you're on the floor, a plastic sheet under your seating area would be a good idea - that's if you havent gone the whole hog with a camping table, chairs - and possibly a large umbrella.

The food, of course, has to be tempting, something to look forward to and filling.

There's two choices here. You can make it yourself or buy it.

Supermarkets offer fine quality products but, if food's your passion, find one of those individual delicatessens and go for the connoisseur's choice.

Delicatessens can be found easily by just following your nose because there is always that inviting, lively, herby, garlicky, freshly-baked bread aroma that finds its way to the outside, whether tucked away in a shopping centre side street or part of a garden centre on the outskirts of town.

Wherever you visit, it's a guarantee for cosmopolitan choices, fine foods, best cuts, a variety of cheeses and oils and vinegars to inspirationally lift the plainest recipes.

2 At Oakchurch Farm Shop, in Staunton-on-Wye, Isobel Farndown has been looking after the deli for five years with a kitchen team led by Garry Starkey and her helpers, Hazel Christopher and Jean Rea who cook on the premises daily.

It's a foodies' paradise, with 180 different cheeses, cooked meat, pies, patés, chocolates, puds, fresh organic breads, wines, liqueurs, spirits, oils and vingars on tap.

Try a fig vodka, a strawberry balsamic vinegar over ice cream or raspberry, lemon balsamic vinegar over salads, or walnut and raspberry mix drizzled over goat's cheese and pine nuts.

"I do all the buying and try to bring in as big a selection as I can. We put picnic hampers together all the time and, depending on who it's for, pack it with what we think they would like," said Isobel.

"Older people like to have a nice pickle and jam and ham and chocolates. If we are making perishables up, it has to be done on the same day and we either have the wicker basket or a throw-away paper hamper," she said.

Famous for her turkey, ham and apricot pie, which attracts shoppers from all over the county, Garry, who has worked in the kitchen for eight years, has no qualifications other than the love of cooking.

"I am a farmer's wife and cooking is something I've always done," says the woman who creates up to 400 ready meals a week. "I've never measured anything, I just know how much to use and I don't really follow recipes."

Closer to town in Aubrey Street, Hereford, Philippa's Deli attracts people wanting a ready meal.

The place is run single-handedly by 23-year-old Philippa Highley who took over the shop just over a year ago.

Originally, planning a career in law, she gained a degree but swiftly moved into food after taking a part-time job at the delicatessen she now runs.

"I just decided it wasn't for me so took a job here and when the person who ran it decided she was going to give up, I thought I'd like to try, simply because I love food, cooking and creating recipes," she explains.

With no formal qualifications but experience at a ski centre cooking a nightly five-course meal for 10 over four months, she took a chance.

Philippa makes most of her own food and cooks daily, making sure she has the freshly baked baguettes ready for lunchtime customers and quiches that she says always turn out a little different.

Quiches such as a mouthwatering leek and stilton, roasted vegetable and spinach and ricotta.

Ready-made meals, cakes, puddings and biscuits are made in batches, some are sold fresh from the oven and others frozen for another day.

Take your pick-nic - recipes for your hamper Couscous salad This is really easy to make and has offers a different flavour.

Ingredients 225g/8oz couscous, bunch fresh parsley, chopped, bunch fresh coriander, chopped, 1 onion, finely chopped, 1 lemon or lime zest and juice, good size piece of cucumber, deseeded and finely diced, 30g/1oz sesame seeds, toasted, 4 tbsp olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper Method 1. Cover the couscous with twice its volume of hot water and leave to soak for 10 minutes.

2. Mix together with the remaining ingredients and leave to stand for 30 minutes to let the flavours develop.

3. Serve at room temperature.

Chicken wrap Ingredients 2 garlic cloves, crushed, juice of one orange, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 3 tbsp honey, tsp mild chilli powder, 8 chicken thighs, 8 small tortillas, mayonnaise, lettuce.

Method 1. Put the garlic, orange juice, soy sauce, honey and chilli into a bowl. Season and mix well.

2 Put chicken into a large shallow roasting tin in a single layer then pour over the honey mixture and coat well. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least one hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7. Remove the plastic wrap from the roasting tin and cook the chicken for 25-30 minutes, turning halfway through and basting with the glaze, until tender and slightly blackened.

5. Remove chicken from roasting tin and leave to cool. Cut the chicken into strips and set aside.

6. Fill tortillas with mayonnaise into the centre and spread out a little. Add a little lettuce and top with several strips of chicken.

Raised pork pie Ingredients For the fillings: 1.2kg/2 frac12; lb boned pork shoulder 225g/8oz lean bacon, 1 tbsp chopped fresh sage, 2.5ml/ tsp each ground mace, freshly grated nutmeg and ground allspice, salt and freshly ground black pepper For the jelly: 900g/2lb pork bones, 1 pig's trotter, 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 bouquet garni (celery, bay leaf, thyme and parsley), 12 black peppercorns, 4 cloves, For the pastry: 450g/1lb plain flour, 1 tsp salt, 275g/10oz butter, cut into pieces, 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, 2-3 tbsp cold water Method 1. For the jelly: put all the ingredients into a large pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer gently for 3 hours.

2.Strain into a clean pan and boil vigorously until reduced to 600ml/1 pint. Season to taste and leave to cool.

3. To make the filling: cut the pork and bacon into 1cm/ in pieces. Put half of the pork and 55g/2oz of the bacon into a food processor and process until coarsely chopped.

4. Scrape into a bowl and stir in the rest of the diced pork, bacon herbs, spices, one tsp salt and some pepper.

5. Fry a little of the mixture in sunflower oil, taste and adjust the flavourings if necessary.

6. Sift the flour and salt into a food processor or mixing bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.

7. Beat the whole egg with the egg yolk and water and gradually stir into dry ingredients to make a soft dough.

8. Roll out and line base and sides of a 20cm/8in clip-sided cake tin, leaving the excess pastry overhanging the edges.

9. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Spoon the pork filling into the tin and slightly round the top of the mixture.

10. Brush the edge of the pastry with beaten egg. Roll out the remaining pastry and use to cover the top of the pie.

11. Cut a small hole into the centre of the lid with a small pastry cutter, remove the plug of pastry and leave the cutter in place to retain the hole during baking.

12. Brush with more beaten egg and decorate with a twisted rope of pastry and pastry leaves. Brush the top with beaten egg.

13. Bake for 30 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and continue to cook for a further 1 hours, loosely covering the pie with a triple-thickness sheet of greaseproof paper once it is nicely browned.

14. Remove the pie from the oven and leave to cool for two hours. Warm through the jelly and pour into the pie through the hole in the top. Remove cutter. Leave overnight.

10:04am Monday 16th June 2008

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