The new picnic

Queen Victoria did it, with liveried footmen standing by. Mole and Ratty did it with cold chicken in The Wind in the Willows. Your parents probably did it a lot as you were growing up.

And so here we are in 2015, packing a picnic and heading out into the glorious sunshine. The only trouble is, we're taking what is essentially the same old picnic as they took: dips and carrot sticks, quiche, soggy sandwiches, potato salad. It's our dad's picnic, not ours.

While it's great to have family favourites and time-honoured rituals, we need to build new family favourites as well, and start designing this most excellent of outdoor meals to our own taste, because a picnic is a state of mind, as well as of place.

It could be a a quick bite on a park bench, a rug in the backyard, a flat white and a brownie on the office rooftop, or a bucket of fried chicken at the beach – great picnics all.

Here's a hamperful of picnic ideas, recipes, and a cocktail that will turn you into a basket case in no time.

The new Nordic picnic

What is it?

Take a tip from those fabulous foraging Danes, Swedes and Norwegians, and put together a DIY smorrebrod of open sandwiches, built on crispbreads and dark pumpernickel, topped with delicious spreads, and extras that range from the healthy to the decadent.

The best thing?

You just assemble everything, and your pals get to put it all together on the spot, just how they like it.

RECIPE Do-it-yourself smorrebrod.

Outsource it Go directly to IKEA for Swedish crispbreads and rye breads, marinated herrings, smoked salmon, dill pickles, and a couple of tubes of smoked fish roe in tubes, plus bottles of glogg, lingonberry syrup for cocktails, and a pack of ginger thins. ikea.com/au

Don't forget To forage for some wild wood sorrel when you get there.

The fried chicken picnic

What is it?

Fried chicken, tangy slaw, plenty of pickles and fresh white bread.

The best thing?

If you have ever tucked into the leftover fried chicken in the morning, you'll know it's just as delicious cold as it is hot.

RECIPE Sriracha fried chicken

RECIPE Cucumber gin and tonic (pictured above)

Don't forget the bottle of Sriracha.

The breakfast picnic

What is it? Just like a normal picnic, only earlier. Hence the need for coffee, green smoothies, and jars layered with yoghurt, cous cous, coconut and berries. Make your own breakfast boards with avocado, boiled eggs, tomatoes, olives and flatbread, or bake egg-and-bacon tarts and crunchy muesli bars. It's like all the best breakfasts at your favourite cafe, in one basket.

The best thing You get the pick of the picnic spots, because you're the first there.

RECIPE Breakfast brownies made with muesli, banana, peanut butter, nuts and seeds, see recipe.

Don't forget the coffee. Either pick up hot take-away, or pack flasks of cold-drip single-origin.

The clean and green picnic #paleo

What is it? It's a basketful of fresh, beautiful, local, seasonal and organic food that just so happens to be healthy. Paleo pals will love you forever if you avoid grains, rice, legumes and refined sugar, and stick with organic meat, vegies, fruits, nuts, seeds, eggs and cold-pressed oils.

The best thing You won't need to sleep off all that gluten-heavy bread.

RECIPE Massaged kale salad with quinoa, date and pomegranate, see recipe.

Don't forget The natural, low-intervention, biodynamic wine.