Elite Picnic Backpacks

I found this great article in E-Zine and thought I would pass it on to all my readers.  In todays ecomony this seems like it would be a great idea for all you restaurant goers.

Do you think that $10.00 is too much to pay for a glass of wine when you dine out? Would you like to enjoy a bottle of wine at your favorite restaurant without feeling like you’ve been taken to the cleaners? If you said yes, then you should check out a bring your own bottle restaurant near you soon.

There is a growing trend in the Country toward bring your own bottle restaurants. The concept is simple, you bring the wine and the restaurant provides the glasses, ice and corkscrew. In many cases, the server will even open the wine bottle for you. The idea of a bring your own bottle restaurant is good for you and for the restaurant owner.

You will benefit from visiting a bring your own bottle restaurant in a few different ways. First, you’ll have a great bottle of wine without worrying about paying next month’s rent. Second, the two of you won’t feel like you have to agree on what kind of wine you want. Carrying two bottles to the BYOB restaurant still won’t break the bank. Finally you can bring any wine you can find at the store. You’ll never be limited to what’s on the menu again.

A bring your own bottle policy can also benefit the restaurant’s owner in several ways. First, in many states and localities, liquor licenses are very difficult to get. In places where they are available, they can cost close to a million dollars. This places them out of the reach of many restaurant owners. These facts make opening a bring your own bottle restaurant an attractive option to potential owners.

In addition, since there aren’t many bring your own bottle restaurants, owners can increase their market shares by tapping into the increasing number of people who want to bring their own. Finally, allowing customers to bring their own wine and spirits has positive cash flow and operating expense implications on the business. The restaurant’s cash flow benefits because it doesn’t have to maintain a large wine and liquor inventory and operating expenses benefit because the owner doesn’t have to employ a team of bartenders.

If you decide to go to a BYOB restaurant, you’re going to want an attractive wine carrier. Wine carriers come in a great variety of sizes, styles, materials and price ranges. There are wooden, canvas, wicker, aluminum and leather wine totes made to hold one to four bottles. You’ll have no problem finding one that you love and that won’t break your budget.

Most bring your own bottle restaurants allow you to bring your choice of wine, beer or other spirits. Some establishments do place limits on the volume of alcoholic beverages each person can bring so you may want to call ahead before you go. Enjoy a new experience and check out a bring your own bottle restaurant near you soon.

Alan Kassirer is an executive at Youth Advocate Programs, a large not-for-profit serving over 10,000 youth and families per year. He’s also been going to bring your own bottle restaurants in the Harrisburg, PA area for well over 10 years.

He also owns Picnic Baskets and More, an internet store offering wine carriers, barbecue tools, wicker picnic baskets, picnic backpacks, and other picnic accessories.

Summer time is a great time to get out doors.  We all know there are lots of out door activities that are fun for the family.  We all need to be careful when out doors in the summer if it is really hot out there.  We can dehydrate really easily when it is hot and humid out there.  Just be sure you have plenty something to drink and keep hydrated.

If you are planning a day at the park with your family bring along things to drink, you can pack a great rolling cooler full of drinks for you and your family.  I know that this type cooler makes things so much easier as it has wheels and a great extendable handle, nothing to carry to make you hot and sticky before your day even begins.

I don’t know about you, but I am trying to skimp and save my pennies these days.  I cook extra for the week and that helps me to pack a lunch for work during the week.  Brownbagging is nothing new, when times get hard.  I think right now qualifies as hard times.

I don’t per say brownbag, but I do have a modern day lunch tote that I pack my lunch in.  It is very stylish and could even carry other things when I am not at the office.

In my opinion, I have found a remarkable new cooler,it is the Collapsible Rolling Cooler. When collapsed it is as small as a computer laptop bag.

The cooler is made with SuperFoam High Performance Insulation, and is lined with a Therma-Flect reflective barrier, which simply means this collapsible, light weight cooler keeps things cool and also is guaranteed not to leak. 

I bypassed the usual dread of hauling the cooler down to the beach. The cooler’s wheels are heavy duty, designed to be used off the road. The wheels didn’t bog down in the sand like heavy plastic and Styrofoam coolers. This cooler also has a retractable, telescopic handle, which makes pulling easy. There’s no bending and stooping to reach a handle as with traditional coolers. The Collapsible Rolling Cooler was the easiest cooler I have every carried on or off the beach.

So. if you are planning a day at the beach or a day at the park or even a day trip this Collapsible Rolling Cooler will make your trip a much easier way to carry all your packed goods.

It has been a long winter and being couped up inside during these months makes me crazy.   Now that the warmer weather is coming, there will be lots of families getting outdoors.  That could range from doing their gardens to going to outdoor concerts.

The outdoor concern could be a great way to enjoy the warm weather and enjoy a great concert.   With the troubled times that have come upon us, packing things to eat and bring along would be a great way to save some money. 

Bring along a Picnic Cooler to bring your food from home or even it is to keep your drinks cold.  Some times an outdoor concert can be very packed with people that just sitting on a blanket with your picnic cooler is the way to go.  Fighting the crowds to get a drink just isn’t worth it.  With the picnic cooler you would have your drinks at your side and save you from missing any of the concert.

Historically, a picnic basket was literally a basket used to transport food and other supplies to have a meal, usually lunch, out in nature. These days most picnic baskets are more like backpacks, but their fundamental purpose — to transport food, plates, drink, and cutlery — remains the same.

Classic-style picnic baskets are still available from a number of manufacturers. The classic-style baskets are usually made of wicker or a similar material. Usually consisting of a single large storage space, usually with a handle and flaps that open at both ends on the top. These baskets are suitable for transporting food and liquid relatively short distances, but temperature control is not possible and often the food will undergo some shifting around during transport. More advanced wicker picnic baskets, such as English style hampers, have clips on the inside to hold plates, utensils, and a large picnic cloth.

Picnic totes are the other basic type of picnic basket available on the market. These serve essentially the same function as a traditional picnic basket, but more closely resemble a backpack. The picnic tote also comes equipped with a wide array of clips and sleeves to secure flatware, napkins, cloths, and plates. They also usually have holsters on the side or front to hold bottles of wine or juice. The obvious advantage of a tote over a traditional basket is the greatly reduced difficulty in carrying it for long distances, as the weight is much better distributed. Additionally, totes are usually well padded to help protect the food from damage during transport.

More expensive totes include systems to help regulate the temperature of food and liquid being transported. This may involve heavy insulation on the entire tote, or different areas for hot and cold food. Many totes, even those which don’t regulate the temperature of the food, have insulation on their wine sleeves to ensure that the wine remains at its appropriate temperature.

Picnic baskets and picnic totes come in all manner of shapes, sizes and different colors. Varieties are available for specific functions, such as plastic beach totes. Prices vary drastically, from US$20 for a simple traditional basket to over US$300 for a well-insulated, durable picnic tote.