Bring the table outside

Whether it's at the cabin, a campsite, on the boat, at the beach or right in your own backyard, there's something about enjoying an outdoor meal with friends and family that just can't be replicated indoors. And, although the weather doesn't always co-operate, Vancouver in the summer provides myriad opportunities for al fresco dining. With long days, lots of out of the way beaches and few pesky insects to interfere, planning an outdoor dinner here is relatively easy.

My family is fortunate enough to live a short walk from the beach, so we tend to enjoy most of our outdoor dinners by the sea. One Mother's Day about 10 years ago, I received what immediately became one of my favorite gifts – a red and green "Little Tykes" wagon that we could load up with a cooler, blanket, sporting equipment and, of course, the kids, so we could head off to the beach for the evening.

Truly, with small children, it is much more relaxing to eat outdoors than it is to eat in a restaurant, or even at home, for that matter. We don't worry so much about manners, the volume of their voices or the crumbs left behind on the floor. The kids have a great time running around and come home tired and ready for bed.

I usually just pack some nice bread and fixings for make-it-yourself gourmet sandwiches. I include a selection of good artisan cheeses, nice lettuce (arugula is a favorite), lots of veggies, including avocado and roasted red peppers, and some spreads like hummus or pesto. I also bring along a salad or two (quinoa salad or pasta salad is great) and some fruit. Then we usually join the kids at the concession stand for a dessert treat. After dinner, we kick a ball around or engage in some serious beachcombing, often coming home with a yogurt container full of precious, multi-colored sea glass to add to our collection.

Our style is definitely casual. We set up a blanket on the beach with some old plastic dishes and camping cutlery – we don't bother with folding chairs, a table or anything as elaborate as a barbecue, but these items are relatively inexpensive and we usually end up envying the other families we see cooking up a gourmet dinner of ahi tuna steaks or something equally enticing.

One of my friends told me that, when she was young, her family – mom and dad, plus five kids – used to have a fancy beach dinner once a year. They would bring along a linen tablecloth, china plates and real glasses and even a centrepiece and set the whole "table" up in the sand. She has many great memories from these special family meals. I think we may broaden our horizons this year and try out this great idea. If nothing else, it will be a good use of the wedding china.

We also try to stay out of the way of the smelt fishermen. Once, before we were married, my husband-to-be and I were having a very romantic dinner just feet from the water at Spanish Banks. We had great food, some good wine (carefully concealed in a paper bag and drunk out of plastic mugs, of course) and even some music playing on the portable cassette player, when one of these enthusiastic, if completely silent, older gentlemen in waders and rubber boots claimed the one foot of sand that remained between us and the rising tide and proceeded to cast his net into the sea. Then he turned his empty bucket upside down inches from our blanket and sat to wait and wait and wait.

As we watched, dumbfounded at his choice of location on this vast beach, he finally pulled in his bounty.

I guess the 10 or so fish he wrestled out of the net was enough to encourage him to remain in that spot and continue fishing until we finally finished our meal and got out of his way. We learned our lesson that evening: first come is not always first served at the beach!

That's just one example of the many adventures that await you should you choose to enjoy a picnic dinner. You also have to contend with begging sea gulls and the odd sand flea. But, as it turns out, if you bring along children, the smelt in the fishermen's buckets provide hours of entertainment that allow you and your significant other some precious alone time as the sun sets.

Kelley Korbin is a freelance writer living in West Vancouver.