Great Grilling Get-Together

• Make Herbed French Bread, but do not grill; wrap in foil and freeze.

Up to 1 Week Ahead

• Make Chex® Barbecue Snack Mix.

 
Up to 2 Days Before

• Make sauces for Design-Your-Own Kabobs with Fruit Sauces; cover and refrigerate.

 
The Day Before

• Make Brownie S'mores; loosely cover.
• Cut up meats and veggies for the kabobs. Refrigerate each separately in plastic bags. If you pack a picnic, freeze the cut-up meats. When it's time for your picnic, add the frozen packets to your cooler and take out 45 minutes before grilling. Cubed meat will thaw quickly.
• Make dressing for Garlic-Basil Tomatoes with Mozzarella; pour over tomatoes. Cover and refrigerate.
• Make Lemonade Tea; refrigerate.

 
The Morning Of

• Thaw herbed bread in foil at room temperature.
• Complete Garlic-Basil Tomatoes with Mozzarella.

 
1 to 1 1/2 Hours Before Serving

• If using a charcoal grill, heat grill.

 
About 20 Minutes Before Serving

• Grill herbed bread.
• Grill kabobs.
   

• To move your feast from the house to the backyard, use a child's wagon or wheeled garden cart to transport the setups and cleanups.
• To transport your feast to the park, wrap large beach towels, hobo or knapsack style, around some of your supplies, such as paper products and fun games or toys. Whether or not your park has a beach, you can use the towels to cover the picnic table and seats or to spread on the grass for extra seating. Most parks and some beaches have grills. If not,
  read on.
• To take your feast anywhere on the road with you-when you're searching for that perfect photo spot-take along a portable grill. Place briquettes in a large metal coffee can or metal popcorn container, and use a smaller can to soak with charcoal starter. And if your perfect picnic spot lacks tables, clear out the car trunk or drop the tailgate on the SUV,
  line with beach towels or a blanket and, voilá, you have a serving area!

 
Safely Moving the Feast

• Pack your food cooler so that it's full and tight, which helps keep food cold and prevents spilling. For lightest toting, use plastic food containers or resealable bags. Pack the foods to be eaten first on top.
• Freeze small ice packs in sealed plastic bags, or fill pint-size plastic containers (with tight-fitting lids) three-fourths full with water and freeze solid. When packing salads, place these frozen packs inside your plastic salad container and spoon the salad right on top. Your picnic salads will stay cooler longer!
• Take along extra resealable plastic bags for leftovers. But remember that any extras must be kept cold, so make sure your ice packs are still frozen or very cold. Do not allow any hot or cold foods to set out at room temperature for more than two hours, including preparation, because bacteria thrive in warm weather.
• Don't forget the long-handled grilling tools, mitts and aluminum foil. Create a stack of foil squares on paper plates for the grillers' workspace when assembling the skewers. Discard the foil used with the raw meat, then use the plate for serving. (Crumple the discarded foil to use for cleaning the picnic-area grill.)

 
Stick It to 'Em
Lots of fun metal skewers are available that can complement your party theme, with whimsical sailboats, vegetables or animals for the handles! Choose square rather than round skewers, so foods don't spin when kabobs are turned over. If using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them in water for at least 30 minutes prior to grilling (a resealable plastic bag works well for this) to keep them from burning.