How to Know What Dish to Bring to a Picnic

A picnic to which you are invited carries with it certain responsibilities. The picnic is a much less formal type of entertaining than even an informal inside dinner. Dress is casual as are all the elements involved in dining. Many a picnic has become less than it might have been because multiple people showed up with the same dish so always use a little creativity when deciding what to bring. The best way to know what to bring to a picnic when the dishes are not assigned is to use common sense associated with those things about the picnic that you do know.

Weather

You can let the weather determine what kind of dish you should bring to a picnic to some extent. A summer picnic held in hot weather conditions means bringing a dish that helps contribute to beating the heat. Good choices for a summer picnic includes a mixed salad, gelatin based desserts, potato salad and fruit salad. A winter picnic in cooler weather opens up the opportunity to bring chili, soup and freshly baked bread that is still warm when you arrive.

Location

The site of the picnic is another indication of what dish you should bring. A picnic held in somebody's backyard opens up the possibilities for just about anything because food containers can always be kept inside the house for safety, convenience or to keep hot or cold. A picnic held in a large grassy area means avoiding sweet foods that will attract ants and other insects. A covered dish is also a good choice when attending an outdoor picnic in order to keep your food protected.

Theme

Prepare a dish that appropriately reflects any picnic theme if applicable. A 4^th of July picnic affords the possibility of making a dessert dish that is colored red, white and blue or is decorated to look like a flag. A December picnic means dishes that are traditional for the holidays. Make a dish that fits the occasion when a picnic is being held to celebrate a holiday or revolves around a certain party theme.

Cleanup

Food for a picnic eventually means cleaning up when it's time to go home. Think ahead about how much effort you will be willing to put into cleanup at the end of a picnic. Bring a dish that not only is easy to clean up at the picnic itself, but will easy to clean when you get home. Think about serving issues when you are considering this element of food preparation. Some dishes will require additional serving materials while others can actually be fully served from a container that requires no more cleanup maintenance than being tossed into a garbage can.