This Super-Cool Hack Offers Up a Major Upgrade for Summer Entertaining

Summer is just around the corner, and that means there will be a lot of opportunities to entertain family and friends for happy hours and backyard cookouts. But as the entertaining season flourishes, so does the heat of summer, and we begin to worry how to keep our snacks cold and fresh while they sit outdoors for hours.

Luckily, parenting and lifestyle blogger @athomewith.shannon knows exactly how to solve that problem for us. The self-proclaimed “super mom of four” shared a simple but quite smart tip on her Instagram for keeping food chilled while eating outdoors on a hot day.

Shannon fills large aluminum trays three quarters of the way with water and freezes them overnight. The next day, she puts smaller trays inside those frozen trays and fills them with fruit. That fruit will stay fresh all day!

While this could theoretically work with foods other than fruit, we still want to consider that anything perishable could become unsafe to eat after sitting out for hours — cold or not. So you might not want to do this with your mayo-heavy pasta salads or a tray of cheese and charcuterie. But for fresh fruit and veggies — and maybe even some refreshing dips — it seems like a great way to go!

Now, all we need to do is figure out how to do the same with our cocktails!