On hot days or for school and other lunches or for picnics, make the sandwiches ahead and freeze them. Take them out in the morning for noon's lunch and it will be thawed in time for lunch and safe to eat (unless in left in severe heat conditions). Pack frozen fruit juices for beverages and they will help keep your lunch cold and will be refreshing to drink. Freeze puddings for tasty desserts. (Do not freeze jell-o because it will separate.) Pack fresh fruit and if sandwiches will not be frozen, make them with sliced fruit instead of meats in the middle. Peanut butter is wonderful with fresh fruit. Sliced raw veggies are great for hot day lunches. Use sliced radishes on butter bread or or cucumbers on zucchine bread. Raw veggies like carrots and celery can be packed in water with some ice cubes in it.

To keep fruits from turning brown, rinse in orange juice or a citric juice of your choice.

Take a large beach towel to be used as a table cloth on a picnic table, or spread on the ground for the picnic or cover a dirty or rough picnic bench. They usually fit the average picnic table and are easy to launder when you get back home.

The towel can be wrapped around the lunch in your tote to help keep it cold until you eat.

Take a wet cloth in a plastic bag to wipe fingers, etc.

If taking a salad, place a smaller bowl in a larger bowl and weight down the smaller bowl. Put water between the bowls and freeze. Before leaving for the picnic, remove the weight and fill the bowl with your salad. The same technique can be used for toting deviled eggs but use a cake pan to set the deviled egg dish in and freeze water as a base in the cake pan.

Snap clothes pins can be used to save a table cloth from flying in the wind if used for clipping corners together. Dish towels can be clipped over dishes until serving time with clothes pins.

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