Menu: A Southwestern Canyon Picnic

Set the mood for your picnic by playing Kellie's Canyon Picnic Playlist.

Everything on this menu can be made up to a day in advance, and transported in a cooler. Beware the food danger zone—especially for things like mayonnaise-based potato salad. Use common sense: Bring it chilled, eat it chilled. In lieu of ice packs, which take up unnecessary space, freeze water bottles and then drink them as they melt.

After your relaxing day in the sun, you're not going to want to do dishes. Resealable plastic bags of all sizes (gallon, quart and sandwich) and biodegradable tableware like these sets from Branch make transport and cleanup simple.

Bring a cushy picnic blanket, especially if you choose to set up on rock, because it will get hot! You can use something you have on hand, or one made specifically for outdoor use, like this water-resistant one. And when the sun goes down, so does the temperature; bring a jacket!

For beautiful cupcakes that won't get smushed on the trip, don't frost them before you transport; instead, bring the frosting along in a resealable plastic bag. When you're ready to eat them, simply snip off one corner to make an impromptu piping bag.

For a behind-the-scenes look at what went into making the photo of our canyon picnic featured in Issue #146, see this story »