Happy St George’s Day!

No sooner do we see the first signs of spring, than summer decides to hint it might be on its way. Rejoice!

If there’s the slightest chance of a warm front on the horizon, us Brits will don shorts, light barbecues or head off to a big open space for a jolly pleasant picnic. And why shouldn’t we? Before you know it, summer will officially be here, it’ll be cold and wet, and we’ll be stuck in the house watching re-runs of Wimbledon finals because it’s cold and wet in SW19 too.

So to help you enjoy whatever sunshine we’re blessed with this year, Belvoir Fruit Farms has five snazzy picnic rucksacks to give away. These nifty holdalls come with crockery and cutlery for two, plus a special insulated compartment to keep your cold stuff cold or your hot stuff hot (but probably not at the same time – we don’t recommend chucking some hot jacket potatoes in a bag of ice and hoping for the best).

But as with all our competitions, winning will require a little bit of thought.

We’d love for you tell us about your perfect picnic. Who’d be there: Her Majesty? Shakespeare? Burt Bacharach? Where would your picnic take place: Hyde park? By the Seine? On the moon? And perhaps you’ll let us know what delicious and refreshing drink you’d take with you. (Clue: it’s a no brainer.)

The choice, of course, is yours. It doesn’t have to be an essay – just tap a few short sentences into the comment box below and and we’ll get the Belvoir Fruit Farms team to pick their five favourites. Make them as topical or irreverent as you like – it’s meant to be fun! (If you’re desperate to read the full terms and conditions, they’re here.)

Good luck to all.

A big week for Blighty!

Today is Her Majesty’s birthday (her actual birthday, not the official one with all that colour trooping). Perhaps one shouldn’t mention how old dear Elizabeth is, but if you’re baking her a cake we suggest you pop down the shops and pick up about 83 candles.

Here on the farm, we’ll be raising a glass to Her Majesty. And what better way than with a glass of something from the beloved Belvoir Fruit Farms recipe book – the Dragon’s Breath cocktail.

Let’s be clear: we are not implying HRH has a bad spot of halitosis. Not at all. The Dragon’s Breath cocktail is in celebration of St George, dragon-slaying patron saint of England (and Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal and Russia, according to Wikipedia).

The cocktail makes use of Belvoir’s delicious Raspberry & Rose Cordial – available, of course, from our online store.

Here’s the recipe in full:

Method: lightly crush the chilli and raspberries in a shaker. Add all remaining ingredients and shake for 8-10 seconds (if you’re feeling brave, throw in a few tricks to make you feel like a Las Vegas bartender). Double strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a long red Thai chilli.

Toasting the Queen with a Belvoir Fruit Farms cocktail on St George’s Day. Could anything be more quintessentially English? (Perhaps watching the London Marathon with a slice of victoria sponge while moaning about the weather.)

Best of luck if you’re running the aforementioned marathon on Sunday. Remember to refresh yourself with plenty of water (or delicious cordial from you-know-who) during and after the race!

And if you do decide to make the Dragon’s Breath cocktail – or any of the Belvoir Fruit Farms recipes – please send us your pics. We’d love to post them on this blog.