Continuing with our picnic theme…
Now, don’t snicker — a food umbrella is a lot more practical gadget than you might think at first glance!
Or maybe you enjoy a bunch of flies sharing your picnic?
Ah, I thought not!
The idea is that you set out your salads and whatnot, then cover them over with this self-supporting net to keep off the flies while you queue up at the barbecue or dash back into the house for the beverage tray.
A couple years ago, my aunt gave me a pair of little mesh umbrellas, just the right size to cover a plate of food. (I think she picked them up at the dollar store.)
But this particular table-size food tent 
or this one, spotted on Amazon, both open up to 24 x 48 inches. That makes your food tent big enough to protect the better part of the average family-sized picnic buffet, keeping the bugs off while you’re waiting for all the kids to come eat!
I saw lots of smaller food umbrellas on there too, but having just one to cover the whole spread, the large picnic-table size, seems like a good idea — less fussing about, but it won’t take up a whole lot more storage space, when it’s time to tuck it away at the end of barbecue season.
