Here at The Kitchn, June is all about the great outdoors. Cooking, grilling, gardening, eating outside... But we're curious: how many of you really like eating outside? We like very particular conditions to eat outside (not too hot, not too cold, a minimum of bugs, etc.). What about you? Do you run outdoors with a picnic blanket as soon as the weather gets warm? Or do you prefer your indoor table?
Regardless, though, of whether you're a fan of eating your food outside or in, there's no question that June offers new landscapes to any cook. The garden, the grill, the fresh farmers markets all beckon. As a cook, what is your favorite part of getting outdoors in June?
Related: In June We Eat Outside
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Outside is great fun! But I live in Arizona, where Thanksgiving and Christmas call for cranking up the barbecue and eating potato salad on the patio. While the rest of you are dining al fresco in mid-summer, we're lying in the direct path of our air conditioner, hoping for outside temperatures below 115.
i love to eat outdoors, but hubby hates the bugs who seem to love him more than they love me!
Love love love to eat outdoors. Don't really care if it is hot (I mean, under 90) and don't see a lot of bugs on my roof in Brooklyn. ;)
I agree with @katiewalker, but under 90 is just a pipe dream here in central Texas from about 7 am to about 9 pm between Memorial Day and Labor Day (and often beyond). We still eat outside a lot around here in the summer - so long as I'm not directly in the sun, I'm fine. And keep those citronellas lit!
I only like to eat outdoors when the weather is nice. It has to be under 90 degrees, not windy, not rainy or snowy. I know, so picky! But the best is in summer when it's warm and a little cloudy so the greenery looks really lush.
I think Mr. Knightley in "Emma" says it best:
"My idea of the simple and natural will be to have the table spread in the dining room. The nature and the simplicity of gentlemen and ladies, with their servants and furniture, I think is best observed by meals within doors."
If there are no flies, and it's not too warm, and the wind isn't blowing strands of hair into my mouth, and it's not raining, and there aren't any weird smells coming from farms or hog lagoons or the sewer or the trash trucks passing by -- and if there's a cute, available (to women) guy involved -- sure, I love eating outdoors! Bring on the picnic basket! (Is that food properly chilled? Do we have adequate tableware? Is there a table? No? Hmm ... I'll have to think about this.)
I cannot stand eating outside at restaurants for two reasons: wind and sun right in my eyes. It always seems to happen when I'm eating out for lunch, but never at a barbecue. So generally, I avoid eating outside if I can.
100% agreed with cremedela. Aside from everything conniving to ruin your fun, eating alfresco is delightful.
In the summer, I'm in a constant state of readiness waiting for truly nice days to eat and drink outside. All day long I've been thinking about coolers I might like to purchase
I think the only time I do enjoy eating outdoors is when we take a picnic lunch on a hike. Stopping and eating sandwiches overlooking waterfalls or evergreens appeals to me. But it's a brief stop, you eat, and move on. I hate eating a sit down meal at picnic tables or on someone's deck/patio/lanai for most of the reasons mentioned above.
I love eating outdoors, but my husband doesn't! Too bad!!
I once insisted that a friend and I eat our chinese take out on my front porch. It was one of the first really nice days of spring and I was dying for the fresh air. He was flipping out the whole time saying the only thing you should eat outside are hamburgers and hotdogs.
I love the IDEA of eating outside, but the hassle of carting all the stuff out always makes it less net fun than I think it's going to be. And I hate washing plastic dishes afterwards.
I love al fresco dining at a restaurant. Especially by the seaside.