PASSIONATE RATIONS

Summertime finally is upon us, which brings to mind the pleasures of eating outdoors.

The picnics of my youth consisted of peanut butter and jelly or bologna and cheese sandwiches, maybe some chips, maybe some soda.  The adults had beer.  Sometimes we would grill hot dogs or hamburgers.  They were fun affairs and I remember them fondly.   You may think it odd that I had no concept they could be more until I was in college.

I went abroad one summer to study English Literature at Trinity College, Oxford University.  One of our professors, a resident expert on Joseph Conrad, arranged an excursion to Blenheim Palace, Sir Winston Churchill’s birthplace and a stunning Baroque work of architecture surrounded by over two thousand acres of parkland.  This was no journey into the Heart of Darkness.  With the palace as backdrop, we ate in the gardens.

The view alone would have elevated even the most humble of foodstuffs, but my professor was fond of the good life and, hence, of good food.  I watched with awe as he unpacked bottle after bottle of French wine, a variety of English and French cheeses, multiple styles of bread and crackers, an array of fresh fruits, vegetables, and high quality lunch meats, and a diversity of tea cakes and pastries.  There were only eight or so of us eating, and bounty enough for at least double that.  The food required its own blanket. 

While picnics since have verged on the anticlimactic, I credit the experience with showing me how truly magnificent simple pleasures can be.

No longer can I live on peanut butter and jelly alone.