Protecting Food Outdoors

I usually avoid baking in summer, preferring to serve ice cream cakes at summer birthday parties. But one memorable birthday I decided to bake a cake - and cool it outdoors, to avoid heating up the house. I'd keep my eye on the cake, bringing it in before any outdoor critters noticed it... or so I thought.

I was gone for only a few minutes, when I returned to see a squirrel sitting IN the still-steaming cake... gobbling it up as quickly it as he could! That day I learned my lesson!

Since then, I avoid cooling food outdoors! If I absolutely need to, I cover it and put it in the trunk of the car! But recently I needed to quickly cool some poached salmon I had cooked. (Terry is allergic to fish, and even the smell of fish can make him sick, so I didn't want the smell to penetrate the car either.)














I put the fish and broth on the picnic table - covering them well. But I didn't leave the containers there for long! Raccoons are strong enough to knock over even the heaviest cover!

(At times like these, I feel like I live in the woods!)