What are your thoughts on that question? Curious, I queried my family and folks in our neighborhood. The responses were varied. Most weren’t surprising, but all were accompanied by enthusiastic endorsements the whole idea of picnicking. It’s what summer’s about, right?

Anyway, see if any of these suggestions would be what you would have said:

“Bug spray! Whether it’s ants or wasps, we’ve experienced more than one great picnic ruined because of these uninvited guests.” [And it can be non-toxic, homemade, remember.]

“Because of the winds so typical in our area, no matter what the season, we’ve come to rely on a weighted tablecloth. We also bring inexpensive glass dinner ware (as opposed to paper cups and plates), again, because of the wind factor. The added bulk and pounds to our load is worth the exertion, just to not have things blow away.”

[I have a cute idea for this. I found some vintage flatware at our thrift store and had my husband drill a small hole in the handle of each piece (4 spoons, 4 forks, and 4 knives). I grouped them into 4 sets of 3 pieces (a spoon, a fork, and a knife), then I ran about 4 inches of heavy string through each set and tied the string to safety pins. So now I pin one flatware set to each corner of the picnic tablecloth. We’ve gotten a lot of compliments from picnic neighbors on this. Come on wind…my tablecloth ain’t goin’ anywhere!]

“Lots to drink. We like to pair a hike with our picnic, and when we finally reach our picnic site, we are always extra thirsty. We were caught once with not enough to drink, so we’ve learned our lesson—lots to drink is now our picnic motto.”

[And I would add to this that if a hike is part of your picnic itinerary, consider making real coconut water your extra drinks. See my Jul 27, 2018 Cook’n Newsletter article, “Coconut Water: What to Know So You’re Not Cheated!” to know which brands to buy.]

“We wouldn’t think of holding a picnic without Grandma Gillespie’s potato salad. She’s been gone a long time now, but that salad lives on!” [Wouldn’t you agree…there are just some recipes that belong to certain events and places!]

“A can opener and matches are always on our packing list. Not necessarily because we always need them, but because sure as shootin’, there’s always someone nearby that needs them. So many times we’ve been able to help out a neighboring picnicking bunch because we came prepared.” [“Amen!” to that one. There’ve been too many times when WE were the ones needing to borrow something for a neighboring picnicker!]

“We’ve learned the hard way to be sure to bring the camera. I cringe every time I think of some of the cutest or most poignant photo opportunities we’ve missed because we didn’t have our camera. Picnics make memories, and the camera can catch them!” [Thank goodness for our cellphones today…the camera’s always with us.]

Finally, I would add that all in all, it’s about the company as much, if not more, than the food. Picnics are such a perfect excuse to get together. Seems like in this rat-racy life today, there’s not enough of that. So grab some grub and those you enjoy the most, and enjoy what’s left of summer. And when you have a minute, tell us about the one thing you make sure to bring!