Outdoor Dining

In the Upper Midwest, we've reached the time of year where it's not too hot, not too cold, not too buggy and often the biggest concern is how breezy it is outside. The perfect weather for outdoor dining is upon us and I'm taking advantage of it as much as possible. Every evening when I get home I've been asking hubby if he thinks it's too windy to eat outside.  I'm asking his opinion, because otherwise I'd be out there every evening, too windy or not!  I can just see us chasing down the napkins, or biscuits or my daughter's half empty cup across the yard.

Enjoying a glass of tea while watching Kirsten and hubby play ball.

Since I do tend to push the limits of when it's suitable to eat outdoors and when it's too windy, I try to do a few things in order to make dining outdoors a little easier.

If possible, put the food on your plates in the kitchen rather than serving "family style".  That way you are just carrying dinner plates outside and not all the dishes and condiments and other things you might need.

Wrap the napkins around silverware to prevent them from flying off until you are ready to sit down.

Stick to heavier veggies and fruit speared kebab style, rather than lighter things like spinach salad.  I watched almost half my spinach salad blow off my plate one evening with one particularly gusty breeze on an otherwise lightly breezy day.

An outdoor table cloth with a bit of elastic sewn to each corner to wrap around the table edge or heavy washer weights sewn to the hem will help keep your tablecloth from blowing up and taking other things with it.

Do you have any tips that make dining outdoors easier for you?