- To simplify summer picnics, keep a basket packed with all the essentials, ready to go. Suggestions to have in your basket include:
- Plates - silverware - glasses
- Napkins and paper towels
- Small cutting board - knife - cheese knife
- Salt and pepper
- Matches
- Corkscrew and can opener
- Table covering
- Handy wipes or baby wipes
- Thermos
- Before packing food such as a cake to take to a picnic, cut it into serving-sized pieces, reassemble and wrap. This saves the hassle of cutting when you arrive.
- A disposable pie pan can help protect you against burns when roasting marshmallows or hot dogs on sticks. Make a hole in the center of the pan, slide the stick through the hole, and let the pan serve as a heat shield.
- If your picnic cooler leaks, try plugging the leaks inside and out with melted paraffin wax.
- When you’re outdoors, consider storing ice in a sugar bag, rather than in a plastic bag; its thickness offers better insulation.
- If you accidentally jab a hole in a cooler when breaking ice in a plastic lined model, dab the hole with fingernail polish and fill in. Don’t use household glues as some can attack the liner.
- Use thumb tacks to secure paper plates to a wood picnic table so you don’t have to worry about them blowing away in the wind.
- A plastic window shade makes a wonderful tablecloth for a picnic. When the picnic’s over, just wipe off the shade, roll it up and store it.
- To keep ants and other crawly creatures off your picnic table, set each table leg in tin cans filled with water. On permanent concrete tables, saturate strips of cloth with insect repellent and wrap around each table leg.
- A great way to keep food hot for a picnic is to wrap it in several layers of newspaper. Wrap paper tightly around food, tape closed and place in a paper bag.
- Water frozen in a milk carton that has been taped shut makes a very effective medium-size block of ice.
- Hot ceramic tiles are a useful way to keep food warm.
- Old fashioned quilts probably make the best multifunctional ground covers. First, they’re made from cloth so they have the feel and washability of a table linen. Next, they are colorful and attractive. Finally, they have a little padding to make sitting easier.
- A great ground cloth that’s comfortable and easy care can be made from those inexpensive woven scatter rugs. Buy several and whip stitch them together, patchwork fashion, using heavy cord and a tapestry needle.
- Don’t overlook painters’ drop cloths as ground covers. They’re sturdy and not too expensive. If you’re feeling creative, paint a bold design on the cloth with acrylic paints or try your hand at stenciling.
- Plastic shower curtain liners or paint drop cloths are great as liners for your picnic blanket.
- Washcloths make great picnic napkins.
- When cooking over an open fire, coat the bottom of your cookware with dish soap. The soot will wash right off when you are finished.
- Votive candles in paper bags, called laminarias, makes a good picnic light source. Fill a medium sized paper bag with a small amount of sand or pea gravel to hold the candle in place.
- Hardware caddies and carpenter boxes make sturdy carryalls for bottles and jars.
- For best results with plastic coolers, pre-chill the interior by allowing the chest to stand with ice and cold water in it for at least fifteen (15) minutes. After pre chilling, drain, then use ice cubes or blocks, crushed ice, or dry ice to keep contents cold.
- Plastic laundry baskets make great carriers. These baskets are usually available in bright crayon colors and in several styles. Since the sides are open, they won’t trap sand and dust. They can carry supplies and food all in one basket.
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