Make it a picnic

How to make any meal more special

I love eating outside. Any time this is a possibility at a restaurant, I try to take advantage of it — as long as the weather isn’t terrible. But with a canopy and a breeze, even August can be OK, and they can do amazing things with heat lamps into late fall or early in the spring!

So it’s interesting that I don’t eat outside on my own or for family meals at home more often. I guess there are reasons — carrying out a lot of plates/cups/utensils/serving dishes is just a pain. At restaurants someone does that for you.

But it might be possible to lower the transaction costs and still get some of that picnic magic.

For instance, you can start with meals that are already portable. If you brown bag it to lunch some days, take your brown bag outside. If you can see that the weather is nice, you could bring a picnic blanket too and invite some colleagues to join you. A mid-day picnic might be just the thing to help you power through the rest of the day.

For many people, breakfast is mostly portable as well. Rather than eat your bagel (and banana! See Wednesday’s post) and coffee inside, take them outside. This might be especially doable on work-from-home days when you’ve gotten everyone off to school. Eat breakfast a little later and you might be able to savor some fresh air.

As for family meals, one option is to have everyone plate their food inside (serve it buffet style on the counter), and then carry their own plates outside (with assistance for anyone prone to spilling). People can go back inside if they want seconds, but if you have a table outside that isn’t too far from your kitchen this should be OK.

Or you might eat dinner inside but eat dessert outside. Popsicles might be better outside anyway, where any drips aren’t that big a deal!

A full-on picnic might be a great “little adventure” for a weeknight too. No need to stress yourself out with cooking and packing elaborate picnic food. Just put a blanket in your trunk, stop by someplace like Wawa for hoagies, and go sit in a park. Yes, you’ll need to pack your bug spray (as you may with any of the above ideas!) but you don’t have to hang outside forever. Even a quick picnic makes a meal more special.