Use Your Grills and Fire Rings Safely
May 27th, 2010 by Kathy
If you’re having a picnic in your backyard, it’s no big deal if you forget something when you’re setting up your picnic table and grill. In most cases, you’ll either have it in your house, or you’ll simply have to go to a convenience store and get it. However, when you’re going to a park, or out to the woods, you will have to be extra careful not to leave anything behind.
Just for starters, make sure that you not only have the right containers for transporting everything, but that you have enough of them. I mean, one picnic basket is rarely sufficient for all of the food that you’ll be taking (and that’s not even counting the stuff that will have to go into coolers). You can use a couple of baskets for food, and another one (or more) for carrying the dishes, glasses, utensils, and napery. You should also have coolers of all sizes, whether they’re the regular, old-fashioned kind, or the newer ones that are like combinations of coolers, backpacks, purses, briefcases, and luggage (some of which even have wheels).
The type of tableware that you’ll use will largely depend upon the occasion, and the location of your picnic. For casual get-togethers, regular paper plates and plastic tablecloths and utensils will do just fine. If, however, you want to dress things up, you may decide to use one of your better tablecloths; but if you do, bring an old sheet to put under it as a liner to protect it from snags. You can also find festive-looking, heavy-duty plates and napkins, as well as multi-colored plastic dishes and glasses that look just like the real things.
Now, if it’s going to be really fancy, and you’re bringing the good tableware, pack it in with the blankets, which are also prerequisites for any cookout. Even if you’re going to be eating at a picnic table, you’ll want to have a place to stretch out and relax afterward; and don’t forget to pack some plastic sheeting to put under the blankets if the ground is moist. You can also bring along a hammock, and, just in case the trees don’t line up right, a hammock stand. For extra seating, load up some outdoor folding chairs or steamer chairs as well.
If you’re cooking out at a park, you’ll probably be in a pavilion with a nearby park grill; otherwise, you’ll have to bring a tent, if you want shelter, and a small charcoal grill or a fire ring for cooking.
Leaving the area spotless is a must, too, so pack paper towels or cloths that you can use to clean the picnic tables, and put all of your trash into waste receptacles. If you’re going to be in the wilderness, where no trash cans are provided, bring some large garbage bags.
Of course, in the latter case, it’s extremely important to make sure that any fires that you have built are put out completely. In fact, it is, literally, a matter of life and death. So, since Smokey Bear isn’t here to write this himself (he’s terrible at typing, anyway!), I’ll say it for him: “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires!”
Wow! I just realized that’s the second blog in a row in which I’ve quoted a bear! Quoted a bear?! Even that sounds crazy (well, if the quote fits)!
Yours Outdoors,
Kathy
