What not to serve at a pool party

(ISTOCK)

About a month has passed since Memorial Day unofficially kicked off the summer season, and everything has been going great. Your days are filled with beach excursions, picnics, and pool parties. Your nights are spent sipping cocktails at dives, rooftops, and beach bars. The sun shining, the beer brewing, the pool partying — the beginning of summer has never gone so swimmingly.

Until right now, that is, when you realized that there have been people over at your house basically every sunny day this past month. The positive outlook disappears; the illusion of summer contentment is shattered. Are you ever going to get time to yourself? Or are you going to get stuck playing host everyday for the next 10 to 12 weeks?

Quickly, you start going through all of the ways to discourage these guests from returning. Ask them to leave? Seems a bit rude. Park your cars around the block and pretend to be on vacation? Requires a lot of lying. Invite ducks and other wildlife into your pool for the next swim session? Too much effort (and cleanup, for that matter). Offer your guests the worst pool party foods? That might just work.

Check out our Worst Foods to Serve at a Pool Party. Just lay out these foods for your guests and you will be sure to get rid of them in no time. Not that we are encouraging this or anything…

Cereal in Milk

Cereal, in general, is a pretty awkward food item to snack on mid pool party. Cereal, sitting in some milk, is more than awkward; it's super soggy and potentially lethal.

Chili, Soups, and Stews

All of these foods are perfect for warming everyone up during a blizzard. But featuring these dishes in 90-degree weather? There is a reason that people tend to gravitate toward ice cream and salads come June 21. And there is no need to even address the fact that all of these foods are messy, easily spilled, and require the use of a bowl and spoon.

Sweaty Cheeses

Do we even have to explain this one? The adjective describing this food is "sweaty." Yeah, that's what we thought...

Potato Chips

It's pretty easy to empty a few bags of potato chips and pretzels into serving bowls, but what happens when the snacks get left on the table for too long and are then picked up with dripping fingers? The potato chips lose their crunch, and dipping these soggy snacks into sour cream and onion dip without crumbling becomes impossible.

Overly Decadent Desserts

A snack table filled with decadent desserts — cakes, pies, and cookies — will make any of your bikini-wearing friends cringe. After all, they have spent the last few months following Cosmo's workout regime in an attempt to lose their hibernation weight. Seeing a table full of temptations will just make them run in the opposite direction.

Caesar Salad

A salad, complete with veggies and lettuce, works to counter the overly decadent desserts sitting on the other side of the snack table. However, when drenched with Caesar dressing, the lettuce sops up the moisture and the entire salad becomes super soggy.

More from The Daily Meal

Remembering Nora Ephron's Best Food Moments in Film

American Parties Throughout the Decades

Weekend Brunch Ideas From the Pros

VIDEO: Jacques Torres on the Art of the Ice Cream Sandwich