A beach picnic

I've noticed that when the sun shines, humans like going outside and taking their food with them. At our house, Martin will fire up the barbecue whenever there's a break in the clouds, although Annie isn't quite as enthusiastic. At the weekend, they often go out walking with sandwiches and fruit packed into bags that they carry on their backs. Today was sunny so they went to Heads of Ayr, which is the seaside, and walked for miles on the beach. (When they got back they smelled of seaweed.)

I've never been to the seaside, but I can't see the appeal of eating bread on a windy, sandy beach when you could have your head stuck in a nice bowl of fish on the floor of your own kitchen. Having said that, I quite fancy the idea of a beach; I imagine there would be quite a few birds to chase, and perhaps some small creatures to fish out of rock pools.

Martin made sandwiches early in the morning, using ciabatta rolls. He made some with slices of chorizo and a tomato relish he bought at the farmer's market yesterday. Then he used emmental cheese, sliced red onions and something called Bombay Sandwich Spread to make some more. The spread is a vividly green, tangy paste made by a company called Natco and available at some branches of Tesco. It's not to my taste, but Annie and Martin love it. You can make it yourself by putting a big bunch of coriander leaves and a small bunch of mint, half an onion, a small handful of roasted peanuts, a tsp. of roasted ground cumin, a tbsp. of yoghurt and as many green chillies as you fancy into a blender. Add salt to taste and blitz until smooth, adding lemon juice or water to get a thick paste. If it's home-made, it will last a couple of days in the fridge. The commercial stuff will keep for weeks.

Spread it on bread when you're making sandwiches with cheese, chicken, salad vegetables or whatever you fancy. Or stir some into yoghurt to make a quick raita. I've seen Martin mix it in to tuna, which is a criminal waste of decent fish if you ask me.

Talking of fish, it can't be long until I get my sea bass fillets for dinner. I can't wait!