The warm, balmy days of summer are perfect for getting outside, engaging in your favorite activities and having a picnic in a nice shady spot.

A picnic is a classic summertime outing, but the art of packing a great picnic seems to be getting lost in the shuffle of today's fast-paced lifestyle. It may be easier to grab a bag of chips, a pre-packed cold cut and cracker combo and a few cans of soda, but if you want to really impress with your picnic stylings, you need to pay more attention to the details.

Before jumping to the actual food menu for the picnic, let's look at some basic information you'll need to make your picnic safe, convenient and fun.

First, let's go over some commonsense safety practices. After all, you don't want the stand-out memory of your picnic to be the trip to the emergency room afterward. Pack and serve your food safely to avoid food poisoning.

Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. You can accomplish this by packing two separate containers: a cooler for cold food and a separate container for the other parts of the meal. If you have foods that need to be kept hot, the second carrier should be insulated. For safe foods like bread and crackers, you can use a regular wooden basket or canvas picnic tote.

If you want a fashionable spread, there are tons of cute picnic carriers and accessories available at department stores and home design centers. You can order a color-coordinated picnic set from a catalog or mix and match all your accessories from a discount or dollar store.

Whatever your style, just make sure you have enough plastic utensils, paper plates, napkins, and cups for all your guests. And don't forget to make certain all your food containers close and seal properly.

Family Picnic Menu

• Assortment of bread and rolls
• Cold cuts (ham and turkey are the favorites)
• Cucumbers, tomatoes and shredded lettuce
• Potato salad and/or macaroni salad
• No-Campfire S'mores
• Iced Pink Lemonade

Some tips for making this meal go smoothly:

• Keep tomatoes and cucumbers whole until mealtime. Don't forget to bring a nice sharp knife to cut them.
• Bring condiments in squeeze bottles.
• You can make your own potato or macaroni salad, or you can buy it prepared from the supermarket. Either way, you may want to add your own twist of flavor. Try adding a teaspoon of spicy mustard to add a kick to a boring potato salad. Or some roasted red peppers and some fresh (or thawed from frozen) green peas for macaroni salad.

For another fun variation on macaroni salad, try using multi-colored or fun-shape pasta. The kids will love it.

For dessert, treat your family to No-Campfire S'mores. This sweet treat is sure to bring out the kid in you, whatever your age happens to be. Instead of chocolate squares, this recipe uses chocolate spread. You can use chocolate-nut mixtures like Nutella, or other varieties, depending on your preference.

No Campfire S'mores

• Graham crackers
• Marshmallow fluff
• Chocolate spread

Add the chocolate spread to your graham cracker, pile on the marshmallow fluff, and place second graham cracker on top. Enjoy!

There are times when you want a picnic that caters more to grown-up tastes. Maybe you want to have a light dinner at an outdoor concert, or a romantic sunset meal for two on the beach. Whatever your plans, well-packed and delectable picnic foods will make it a memorable time.

Here are some tips for a classy and cool picnic:

• Don't overload the basket. Some fruit, cheese, lunch meat, bread and dessert is all you'll need along with your favorite wine or beverage.
• If you're using crackers, bring along an assortment. Cracked wheat, butter crisps or flatbreads work well. Or you can stick with the classic: a loaf of crusty French bread.
• Choosing the meat is simple. It can either be a quality summer sausage or your favorite deli meat. Black forest ham and roast beef both are good choices when bought by the pound unsliced. Just be sure to have the proper cutlery for hand slicing or cubing meats.
• A dry white wine or a nice pinot noir is best suited for this type of picnic, but a chilled berry tea can be just as satisfying.
• End the picnic with butter cookies or biscotti and dark chocolates.

If you like fancy, flavored cheeses, they can be found at your local supermarket. If you're feeling adventurous, you can make your own:

Place cheese in container and spoon mixture around and over cheese. Place your cheese in a secure container and it's ready to be transported in a cold, insulated carrier.

Bringing back the art of the picnic is easy. The magic of a good picnic is to combine family, friends and nature with portable, convenient food that tastes great. Mix it all together on a warm summer day and you can't go wrong.