Rufty-tufty weather outside

I don’t know if having had Storm Eunice rip the fascias off the front of our house (we consider ourselves fortunate that we had so little damage compared to others) we are having her tail end, or whether the rufty-tufty weather outside is Storm Franklin, but it’s certainly wild out there. I was wondering if I’d written about other stormy events, and came across this from several years ago:

February 24th, 2017: We had a beautiful sunny blue-skyed day today after Storm Doris passed. My washing dried on the line and it was the sort of nice weather I wished I had more washing to do, but I am all up to date. However pleasant the day, February is not really right for picnics, but I was reading my Constance Spry Cookery Book and came across her chapter on food for special occasions, and picnics fall into that category..
She gives a lovely description of what seems more like a camp menu, round a fire:

The nicest outdoor meals are those cooked on the spot… (she does have a chapter on barbecues, so she doesn’t mean that sort of on the spot cooking!) When means of transport are available it is well to take along a frying pan, possibly a primus stove, or if you plan a gypsy fire, and the weather is damp (or you live in the Highlands) a bundle of dry kindling and a fire lighter. Then you will probably settle for a meal of bacon and eggs and sausages…

I have never had bacon and eggs cooked on a picnic!

… or if you have a cook amongst you, an omelet… If you can be sure of a bonfire you will roast potatoes in the ashes, though they take at least an hour, and toast sausages on long sticks. I am not of girl-guide vintage but I am told their suet treacle pudding, cooked for hours in a billy can, takes a lot of beating. But alas, time is often our enemy,and much outdoor food must be carried ready prepared.

Her suggestions for food brought along:

Fillings for rolls – the rolls split lengthwise, the ends cut off, some of the crumb taken out, spread with soft butter mixed with lemon juice, salt and pepper, crushed garlic or french mustard – fillings: banana and mango chutney, and/or fillets of bückling (a hot smoked herring) and dill pickle
triple-decker sandwiches – bacon and watercress, bacon and mushrooms, chicken mushrooms and lettuce, asparagus, bacon and toasted cheese
quiche
devilled chicken
cheese bread filled with cheese
omelet in a roll – plain, fines herbes, cheese with a tomato salad
Cornish pasty
hamburger