Springtime Al Fresco Dining

There’s just something about dining outside, especially once the days get a little warmer and longer. Spring has sprung in Michigan and we are flocking outside to enjoy it! As soon as the temps pass freezing, Michiganders waste no time taking the activities outside. This winter has felt especially long due to a second state-wide COVID shutdown. So you can imagine our excited for some Springtime Al Fresco Dining, right?

We recently visited our family on the west side of Michigan and I helped my cousin prepare for an Al Fresco Dinner with family in her beautiful back yard. She has the perfect outdoor setting for this type of fun! We set up by their beautiful firepit that kept us warm as the temperatures started to dip. By the way – if you want to explore West Michigan – check out her airbnb rentals which will give you this backyard dining opportunity and chance to explore all that West Michigan has to offer!

The Menu

Al Fresco dining can be easy and fun if you keep the menu simple. And that’s just what our cousin, Stephanie did. Don’t let the beautiful China fool you, this was a simple menu and we had a blast preparing it. The meal started with a baguette and some seasalt butter which was great for dipping in the soup, too! The soup recipe, linked below, has minimal ingredients but tastes incredible! The flavor combination is an all-time favorite of mine!

Alongside the soup, we prepared a salad that consisted of arugula mixed with crispy prosciutto, a lemon vinaigrette and topped with prepared Beef Tenderloin from Trader Joe’s. The recipe for this salad, also found below, is a go-to favorite of mine when entertaining. Thanks to the tasty (and already prepared) Beef Tenderloin, it’s an impressive salad that takes just minutes to prepare. I love shortcuts that don’t look like shortcuts when entertaining!

The Main Course was a classic Chicken Marsala. Again, an easy dish to prepare, requiring minimal ingredients, but tasty and enjoyed by all! You can’t go wrong with a classic chicken dish and Chicken Marsala is perfectly light and satisfying for a third course. Stephanie served it alongside some steamed carrots and asparagus – the perfect touch!

This menu was just amazing! And it was so fun to help prepare! We loved it and the kids enjoyed it, too! As you can see in the pictures below, it was hard to get them all smiling at once because they were so busy munching on the meal (we also added some butter noodles and punch to the kids menu).

Al Fresco Dining is perfect for the kids, as pulling them inside on a nice day is a huge task! This way they just stopped to eat and went back to the fun while the adults continued mingling and eating.

The Tablescape

Al Fresco Springtime Dining can be whatever you make it! It can be as simple as throwing out a blanket on the grass, with some pillows, and family style serving. Or it can be elegant with fine china and formal silverware. In this case, we used my cousins beautiful china because – well it’s beautiful haha. And isn’t it gorgeous…

When you have china and silverware as beautiful as this, the table doesn’t really require much else. We placed a simple bouquet of baby’s breath and purple flowers (don’t know the name) we picked up from Trader Joe’s that morning. The flowers were the perfect touch on the table!

Recipes

French Carrot Lentil Soup

Arugula Salad

Chicken Marsala