I send my husband to work every day with a lunch in a small cooler with blue ice packs and he often brings home leftovers, still nicely chilled...and here in the CA central valley, where Summer temps often get into the triple digits his cooler is in his hot car for at least a solid 8 hours. If your ice does melt, don't forget that just about every convenience store, grocery store or liquor store on your route sells bagged ice. I love cold grilled chicken for picnics. I always try to think of things that will suit any special dietary needs when I'm attending a party, and most people can eat grilled chicken whereas many try to avoid fried. (Not that I don't LOVE fried, myself! :D ) Something that is almost always lacking at pot-luck type affairs is vegetables. For a veggie fiend like me, this is a problem. Generally, somebody or other brings a green salad and sometimes someone brings a veggie & dip tray, but often these can be insipid stuff. I love to bring a grilled vegetable medley, which is quite tasty served cold, drizzled with a bit of olive oil & sprinkled with a bit of Parmesan and fresh herbs. Lightly poached (just enough to take the raw off without losing the crunch) broccoli & cauliflower are very nice in a slightly sweet vinaigrette with a few toasted and crushed nuts. Here are a couple of my recipes for salads that go over well at potlucks and are fine either cold or room temp: Asian Noodle Salad Dressing: 1/2 c soy sauce 1/2 c sesame oil (Asian brand, not Indian...it should be dark in color and smell strongly of sesame) 1/4 c balsamic vinegar 1/4 c sugar salt to taste 1 T Asian chili sauce or red pepper oil One bunch green onions-finely sliced...should be 6-8 onions) 4 T cilantro, chopped. One pkg fresh Chinese egg noodles (about 14 oz) You can use a variety of vegetables, meats, or seafood in this salad. I adore it with grilled vegetables like eggplant, asparagus, peppers & yellow squash, but blanched vegetables work very well too, like julienne carrots, bean sprouts, snow peas (slivered), cabbage and broccoli. I like to toss in some raw slices of mushroom, radish & cherry tomatoes. It's a great salad for using up leftover meats, or I like to quickly poach a couple handfuls of shrimp. Really, you can just have fun. Anyway, in the morning, you cook the noodles, toss them in half the dressing and put them in the fridge. Then, just before dinner, you toss in all your vegetables & meats, and then add the rest of the dressing to taste. Generally, I've put so much stuff in the salad that I just use it all. Serve it cold or room temp, and it should serve 4 as a main dish or 6 as a side. Mixed Grain Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash A mixture of grainstry to use at least 3 kinds, of different colors. I use varying combinations of basmati rice, long grain brown rice*, barley, bulgar (tabuleh), quinoa, wild rice, millet, and sometimes, to lighten the texture, I add couscous. Onions, celery, carrots-chopped Green peas (frozen are fineif you have fresh, blanch them first) Roasted butternut squash cubes** Cranberry vinaigrette*** Chopped parsley & green onions Chopped, toasted nuts (I like pecans or hazelnuts) Cook grain selections separately, according to directions, but remember that they will absorb dressing and soften, so a bit al dente is better than over cooked. Saute onions, celery, carrots until tender, but not too soft. Toss with grains, parsley, green onions and vinaigrette. Gently fold butternut squash cubes in. *Short grain rices are too sticky for this dish, in my opinion. **Roasted butternut squash. Peel squash. Cut into ½ inch cubes. toss in olive oil and roast in the oven, checking frequently until just cooked, but not mushy. If it doesnt brown at all, pass under a broiler after cooking just to brown the edges a bit. ***Cranberry vinaigrette. Make a basic vinaigrette with olive oil, red wine or champagne vinegar, garlic & onion powders, salt & pepper. Put the vinaigrette in a blender with about 3/4 Tablespoon dried cranberries per cup vinaigrette, and puree until smooth. Then, add about a quarter cup of dried cranberries for every cup vinaigrette, and pulse blender until cranberries are chopped, but not pureed. Let vinaigrette sit over night. Before tossing the grain salad in the dressing, taste the vinaigrette for sweetness and add a bit of sugar if need be. It shouldnt be too tart or too sweet. Sprinkle the toasted chopped nuts on top and garnish with sprigs of parsley, green onion tassels or carrot curls and a few whole dried cranberries.

Hi there, from a fellow Minnesotan! I like the idea of three bean salad, and you could easily put that together in a hotel room and the day before! How about picking up a cold shrimp cocktail from the supermarket deli? Or a pound cake and some strawberries for dessert? Here ae a couple more ideas to add to your list of considerations: White Corn Salad 2c frozen shoepeg white corn 3/4c chopped roma tomato 1/2 c chopped cucumber 2T chopped green bell pepper 3T white wine vinegar 1-1/2 tsp olive oil 1 tsp Dijon mustard tsp salt 1/8 tsp ground black pepper 1 clove garlic, minced Combine vegetables in bowl, toss. Combine remaining ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously. Pour over corn mixture and toss well. Serves 4 From Cooking Light magazine, date unknown Make the orzo for this one before leaving home and just kkep it chilled in a zip lock bag. Greek Orzo Salad 1c uncooked orzo 2c chopped cucumber 1\-1/2c cherry tomatoes, quartered 1c feta cheese,crumbled 1/2c chopped onion 1/2c chopped fresh parsley 1/2c chopped black olives 2tsp salt 1/4tsp pepper Dressing: 1/3c extra virgin olive oil 1/3c lemon juice 1tsp minced garlic ½ tsp salt 1/4tsp pepper Cook orzo, cool, place in bowl with prepared vegetables. Toss with dressing and chill If you can keep the fruit cold, you could make this in your hotel room, too. Super easy! Sunny Fruit Fiesta 1 cantaloupe, halved and seeded ½ honeydew, seeded 1/4c sugar 1/4c fresh lime juice 2T fresh lemon juice 1T orange-flavored liqueur (optional) 1-1/2 tsp grated lime zest 1c fresh sliced strawberries 1c black or red seedless grapes Using a melon ballr scoop cantaloupe and honeydew into balls, set aside. or just cut fruit into bite size chunks In large glass or ceramic bowl, combine sugar, lime juice, lemon juice liqueur and lime zest. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Add fruit and toss gently to combine. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour to blend flavors, stirring once or twice. Spoon the fruit mixture into serving bowls or hollowed out melon halves, dividing evenly. Serves 6. **For a tropical version, substitute kiwi slices, papaya or pineapple chunks, or mango cubes. Add a little grated fresh ginger, and maybe a dash of coconut extract. Linda

We drove some of my husband's hand carved furniture down to the San Diego area and the buyers treated us to a weekend at their "lodge" in Baja Mexico. It was a main lodge with several small granny unit type cottages owned by different people. They suggested a picnic at the beach which sounded great. We went for a walk on the beach and came back to a table up on a bluff looking over the ocean, set with white table cloth and china, and a full Mexican meal! Best "picnic" ever!

Doesn't the BMW have run flats - so no spare. The convertible story is 20 years old old but I don't think I've mentioned it. DH dropped off my Suburban for servicing and fell in love with a brand new 2003 anniversary edition Corvette convertible. We had it for 4 months and one glorious fall road trip through New England to enjoy the fall foliage. He was leaving work one winter morning and stopped at a red traffic light at a busy intersection. The light turned green, the cross traffic stopped for their red light, and the two cars ahead of DH drove through the intersection and he followed. A driver came speeding down the highway, failed to stop at the red light and hit his car in the engine compartment on the driver's side. He was fortunate that he wasn't hit directly or this would have had a different ending. And the hospital was only 2 minutes away. The car was totaled, the other driver claimed she couldn't see the light due to sun glare but somehow failed to notice that 4 lanes of traffic had stopped and she was speeding. After that DH went back to big sedans.