SCENT OF GARLIC permeates the air as Randy lifts the lid from his Weber grill, smoke momentarily pouring out. He flips the pork chops, adjusts the packets of potatoes and asparagus. I can hardly wait to taste the food he’s preparing. It’s always delicious.
I feel fortunate that my husband enjoys grilling year-round. Yes, even in the depths of a Minnesota winter, although he draws the line on cooking outdoors when a snowstorm rages. I appreciate the break from meal prep. And there’s nothing quite like food cooked over charcoal. Randy is a purist when it comes to grilling. No gas grill for him.
He’s a meat-and-potatoes man. So if I want something beyond the basics, I come up with a vegetable side. On this day, it’s fresh asparagus purchased at the Faribault Farmers’ Market. Asparagus is one of my favorite veggies. I keep it simple, drizzling the spears with olive oil and sprinkling them with freshly ground pepper and sea salt.
We dine outdoors this time of year. Randy carries the card table up from the basement. I select a vintage tablecloth from my vast collection. And then we settle onto lawn chairs grabbed from the garage. Nearby a tabletop fountain, which he gifted me years ago on our wedding anniversary, burbles. It helps mask the constant din of traffic along our busy street.
If the mosquitoes and flies aren’t hovering, it’s a lovely dining experience.
There’s nothing quite like dining alfresco in Minnesota this time of year. If you live in a mostly warm weather state, you perhaps take eating outdoors for granted. I don’t. Once the weather warms here, I prefer to eat outdoors—on our patio or, on the rare occasion we eat out, on a restaurant patio/deck. We also often pack sandwiches, yogurt, fruit and nuts for a picnic lunch at an area park. It’s all about being outside, sunshine warming our backs, breeze brushing our skin, birds singing, lush green filling our vision.
Great food consumed outdoors, now that’s a Minnesota dining experience that feeds body and soul.
© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
lovely.
Thank you, Kathy.
Agreed! Gary and I feel the same way.
Gotta enjoy these lovely days. Today we packed a picnic lunch for our day trip, but ended up eating in the van because of the fierce wind. 😦
I LOVE how you describe backyard dining at the card table; hauled up from the basement and lawn chairs pulled from the garage. You make eating outside normal and accessible – and provide no excuse not to eat outside.
We don’t need no fancy lawn furniture from the HOM store, etc.
I too pretend the local sounds, for us, 35W northbound traffic into downtown MPLS is the roar of the ocean.
Thank you for your thoughtful invite into summer life in MN.
Nancy, thank YOU for appreciating my version of dining al fresco in Minnesota. Happy outdoor dining near the “ocean.”
i’m all about grilling most anything and i so love eating al fresco! the best –
Gotta love grilled food and eating outdoors. I think, coming from cold weather states, we appreciate it even more.
you are so spot on
Sadly, I have no Weber, and Thankfully I have no ??? Smoker, Grill that needs to be towed around by a truck (Yes – they do make them that big here in Texas. One such “grill” is a semi trailer that has been converted! I can not imagine how many helpers the cook needs to keep that think going. A neighbor cooked up some brisket – and that process took well over 12 hours. Just trow a shrimp on the barby for me – they only take a minute or two. But then again, I have a hankering for a Raspberry BBQ Sauce covered shrimp wrapped in bacon! Ohhh – I gotta get out of this house! Enjoy!
Oh, Gunny, that raspberry BBQ sauce covering shrimp wrapped in bacon sounds beyond delicious. This sounds like something I will need to share with the griller in this house. I hope your neighbor shared his brisket with you. Yum.
That looks like a deliciously perfect summer meal! Yum.
It definitely was.
My absolute favorite place to eat is outside and we enjoy lunches and dinners and sometimes breakfasts on our back deck and dock. That meal looks fabulous, by the way!
Randy makes the BEST grilled meals. Yes, you have an ideal setting to dine outdoors.