The Best Way To Keep Dips & Drinks Cool Outdoors

We like to entertain. We enjoy having our friends and family over–kids running around, everybody enjoying themselves. But you know, it’s a lot of work. We’re always looking for things to make our lives easier, and this is one of those things.

I’m one of those people who want my chilled food to remain chilled. It just makes sense: why would you refrigerate your hummus and vegetables, only to leave them out for hours on a hot day? Not appealing. And you certainly don’t want to kill anybody with anything that may be mayonnaise-based and must stay cold.

But really, it works like a small, inflatable raft. There’s one type where just the sides are inflatable, and the bottom doesn’t inflate. Or there’s another one that has three compartments separated by inflatable walls. You inflate, dump some ice in it and add your food.

You can buy these year-round, but I recommend getting it in the fall. Since fewer people have outside parties then, the price usually drops from $22 to between $10 and $15. And if you take care of it like you would a normal pool toy, then you’ll get a good amount of life out of it—and, by extension, your party food, too.

We will never be without this ingenious product. It makes all of our outdoor entertaining much easier…And to date, we’ve yet to give anybody food poisoning.