Sun Protection Tips For Picnic

Picnicking is always fun. Now that the warm seasons are back, we all want to enjoy the nice weather and get our shorts out of the closet. Before preparing our cheap picnic baskets, let’s take a moment to think about protecting our skin while we enjoy the bright sun.

We are all aware that skin protection is essential when we are exposed to the sun in a picnic day. Everybody should get protected even if you plan to stay in the shade. Doctors recommend the use of sunscreen, a sun protection hat (not a regular hat) and sun protection clothes. They recommend to combine them all if the UV factor is high and the exposure time is long. Here you will find some tips that can help you better protect your skin in your next outdoor activity.

The sunscreen is the most known form of sun protection. The main problem with the sunscreen is that most people do not apply it correctly. You should apply a thick layer 30 minutes before sun exposure and then reapply every 90 minutes if the exposure continues. The experts recommend the use of a sunscreen with a SPF (Sun Protection Factor) of 30 or 40. A sunscreen with a higher SPF is not needed because the UV protection will increase only by 3% or 4% while the risk of allergies increases because of the extra chemicals. When buying your sunscreen, also look for a sunscreen with “broad spectrum”. The SPF only refers to protection against UVB. A sunscreen labeled “broad spectrum” also includes protection against UVA.

Another option to protect your skin against ultraviolet rays is the use of sun-protected clothes. These are not the regular summer clothes that we usually wear. The materials in these clothes are chemically treated to guarantee an Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) that can go from 15 (good) to 50+ (excellent). The UPF is used in clothing to measure the effectiveness against both the UVA and UVB. This is an important different between sun protection clothes and sunscreen. When you wear sun-protected clothes, you are being protected against both types of rays. The clothe guarantees that you get the protection indicated in the label. If you use sunscreen and this is not applied correctly, you end up less protected, regardless of the SPF of the sunscreen.

A sun protection hat is also made with treated materials to guarantee a UPF. In order to have total protection, you should look for a hat with a brim of 3 ½ inches or more. Depending on the activity, you may want to consider a hat with a chinstrap.

A picnic day is an activity in which we typically expose our skin to the sun. It is therefore important to also include in our wicker picnic baskets some form of skin protection that allows us to protect our skin while we enjoy our picnic experience.

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Father’s day is in three weeks! It is time to start thinking about the perfect present for an exceptional dad. In this post, I will talk about a BBQ Tools Set that comes as part of a picnic basket.

There are in the market Picnic Baskets that come equipped with a BBQ Tools Set plus a full service for two or four persons. This type of basket is an excellent present for the BBQ lover. They are very convenient because they come with glasses, cups, plates, cutlery, cloth napkins and a set of BBQ tools. Some of them also feature a cooler bag or an insulated food compartment. These baskets will take the hassle out of your next BBQ Picnic! You will only need to pack your food and you are ready to go.

If you are thinking in surprising dad with a unique and useful gift, a Picnic Basket with BBQ Tools Set is an excellent option.

Happy Father’s Day! 

Picnic on Father's Day

Having a picnic to celebrate dad is a very nice way to enjoy an outdoors moment with family. It can be a very entraining day for everybody. You can plan the day with a lot of activities, like hiking or biking, or you can plan a very relaxing day and give daddy a relaxing time.

If you want to celebrate Father’s day with a day full of activities, you can take dad in a biking day and end the day with a BBQ picnic. Now you find in the market picnic baskets with BBQ tools set. These baskets make easier all the preparations; they come with a full service for 2 or 4 persons plus the BBQ essential.

If you want to offer a relaxing day to dad, you don’t need to plan too much. Sometimes the simplest way is the best. You can take dad to the park. Just prepare your picnic basket with an easy meal, like cheese and wine, and you are ready to go. We can show dad how much we appreciate his hard work by giving him a quiet and peaceful time.

Happy Father’s Day!

Protect Your Skin From UV In Your Next Picnic

Picnicking is always fun. Now that the warm seasons are back, we all want to enjoy the nice weather and get our shorts out of the closet. Before preparing our picnic baskets, let’s take a moment to think about protecting our skin while we enjoy the bright sun.

We are all aware that sun protection is essential when we are exposed to the sun, like in a picnic day. Everybody should get protected even if we plan to stay in the shade. When we talk about sun protection, we usually think on sunscreen, but there are other ways to protect ourselves from UV exposure. I really like the idea of  sun protection clothes. These outfits are designed to protect your skin from the UVA and UVB. Even if they cover a maximum amount of skin, they are cool and comfortable to wear. Sun protection clothing is less expensive that sunscreen, as you can wear them many times, and it is less messy.

No matter what kind of sun protection you prefer, don’t forget to protect your skin while enjoying the outdoors.

Have a Happy Picnic! 

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Find the right gift for that special woman can be a tough job. Of course we want to offer her something very special, beautiful and useful. Theses qualities are hard to find in a single product. But this time, you don’t need to look around for the perfect gift; you can offer her a picnic basket! She doesn’t need to be an outdoor lover to enjoy a beautiful basket that can be used in a simple gathering at the park.

There are many types of picnic baskets, to find the right picnic basket for a very special mom follow these tips:

The Wooden Picnic Basket is the old elegant traditional baskets. If your mom love the old elegant fashion way, this basket is right for her. You can find baskets that come with full service for two or four persons with large food compartment.

The Willow Picnic Basket is the classic of all the baskets. These baskets are very elegant and you can find them in different sizes, shapes and accessories. Some baskets come with full service for two, four or even six persons. Others come with an insulated food compartment or cooler bag inside. If your mom loves the classic style, this basket will definitely make her happy.

The Picnic Backpack Basket is the free hand picnic basket. This is not a traditional one, but definitely the most practical one. Your mom can use it in a picnic day or for tailgating. If your mom is a sport person, this basket will work great for hiking or biking. You can find this type of picnic basket with a full service for two or four persons. You can also find picnic backpack baskets that come with an insulated food compartment.

The Picnic Cooler Basket is the tailgating ideal. This basket is very light and can be store very easily. It will work perfectly for a picnic day at the park too. This basket is very convenient to transport all your food supplies. It can also be found with service for two or four persons.

I hope that these tips will help you to find the perfect gift for that very special woman that we all owe her our life and we simply call her MOM.

Happy Mother’s Day!

French Fondue Recipe

This is a very easy and stylish recipe to take in a picnic, the harder part is to find the ingredients, but these tips can help you to make a great dinner for a special picnic.

A French Fondue is made by the combination of 3 or 4 cheeses very easy to find in France, not that easy to find in the States. The cheeses are Compté, Gruyère, Tomme de Savoie and French Emmental. But you can prepare a French Fondue with common cheeses in America.

You can use an Emmental cheese (Swiss Emmental or Emmentaler) as your main cheese and then a combination of Aged Manchego, Aged Cheddar and Gouda. To prepare a French Fondue for 2 persons you will need 1lb of cheese. The quantity needed of each of these cheeses will depend on the strong flavor that you want to give to your Fondue.

For a strong flavor French Fondue you need:

1/3 lb of  Emmental Cheese

1/3 lb of  Aged Cheddar Cheese

1/6 lb of  Aged Manchego Cheese

1/6 lb of Gouda Cheese

1/3 of a white wine bottle

1 baguette

For a light flavor French Fondue you need:

½ lb of Emmental Cheese

¼ lb of Aged Cheddar Cheese

¼ lb of Aged Manchego Cheese

1/3 of a white wine bottle

1 baguette

Preparation

Cut all the cheeses in small pieces. Cut the bread in medium size pieces (about 1in. tick). Place only half of the cheeses and add the white wine. Wait until the cheeses are melted and then add the rest.

You will also need one can of jelled chafing fuel.

The Spring Break is Here

For those who are lucky to live close to a beach, or those who are traveling to enjoy their spring break in a sandy beach, here are some tips to make a successful beach picnic.

The first thing that you must have is a cooler, or even better a picnic cooler. Picnic coolers are very light and some of them are equipped with a set for two or four persons, others also come with wheels.

If you only want to have a relaxing time, you can plan your picnic very easily. Bring food that doesn’t need to much preparation. Remember that serving a meal in the beach can be tricky. If it’s windy, you will have sand all over your plate. If you only want to lay down and enjoy the relaxing sound of the waves, sandwiches or panini are good ideas.

If you picnic is part of a big day full of activities at the beach, I recommend that you bring a full meal with appetizer, entrée and dessert. Having fun at the beach can be very tiring and you and your companions will get very hungry. Plan to bring snacks to keep up with the activities.

Have a Happy Picnic!