The Perfect Picnic (as told by Pippa Middleton)

When you think of picnics, you probably have the classic image of a red and white checkered blanket, a willow basket and a delicious sandwich with a salad on the side.

Needless to say, this isn’t what the upper class citizens of the United Kingdom have in mind.

Pippa Middleton, the famous sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, wrote her latest column for UK grocery store Waitrose about what the perfect romantic picnic would entail, and it’s getting a lot of criticism for being overly ornate and outrageously expensive.

The picnic, which includes such dishes as Fig and Goat’s Cheese Fougasse and Smoke Chicken and Melon Salad, comes out to £99 (about $150) for the ingredients alone. She also recommends getting quilted rugs, tea towels with French stripes and enamel plates, not to mention traveling to France.

Here’s her perfect picnic:

Here’s my vision of the perfect picnic. I’m in Provence, in a field just off the beaten track, where we’ve parked the car and thrown a quilted rug across the dry, parched grasses. The hazy sky is cobalt blue, cicadas hum around us and it’s hot, very hot. But not too hot for a picnic. Around us are plump peaches, figs and strawberries, oozing ripe cheeses and crunchy baguettes, torn and ready to mop up every last morsel.

While this would definitely be the perfect romantic picnic for two (who wouldn’t want to lounge with their loved one in Provence while eating strawberry and lavender cheesecake?), the meal takes more than two hours to prepare and costs a good amount of money.

To help the average person have just as a romantic picnic as the one Pippa Middleton suggested, we’ve come up with some less expensive alternatives.

Instead of getting the pricey quilted rugs, tea towels and enamel plates Pippa recommends, you can easily get a matching bundle along with a willow basket and utensils by buying the Picnic and Beyond Brio Collection Basket.

This may be a bit more money than you’d want to spend, but this is a one-time investment that comes with everything you’d need for a picnic, including melamine plates, cloth napkins, a waterproof blanket, wine glasses and more.

You can also have a really nice meal from some of the recipes we’ve featured on this blog, including satsuma-cellos, Pappardelle with Veal Ragu, Leek and Butternut Squash Soup and more. Or if you need some more ideas, you can browse the picnic recipes over at AllRecipes.com.

The moral of the story is you don’t have to be rich to have the perfect romantic picnic.