Eating al fresco with the Hettie Family
Our family joke is that Mum / Gran / Sian always makes us sit outside to eat . I love it ! Love being outside as much as I can , and although the family tease me they enjoy it too :-)
We have a lovely big garden , and a big outside table so there is plenty of room. Barbecues are a favourite meal , with the men usually cooking the food and the ladies preparing the pretty bits to go with it . Even if the weather is a bit cooler you can light the fire pit , or wrap a throw around your shoulders and sit and sip your wine.
We are very fortunate as a family to have a second home in France and we spend a lot of time there especially over the summer months. We love the lifestyle and how all of the generations spend time together. And a lot of the socialising is done around the table eating outdoors. The French are very good at outdoor markets , and each village hosts a fête with food , music and dancing throughout the summer. So easy and great fun for all of the family. It's lovely to see the older generation chatting to and dancing with the younger one.
And there is always a French market open somewhere each day of the week to go and choose your fresh food for today's meals .
And one of our favourite things to do whilst we are there is to sit in a cafe and watch the world go by. Slow and easy days
The meaning of Al Fresco is :taking place or located in the open air - especially of food and eating outside . Nothing beats having your morning cup of tea , snack or any of your meals outside in the fresh air .
"Fresh air is as good for the mind as for the body. Nature always seems trying to talk to us as if she had some great secret to tell. And so she has "
So much of our socialising is done around food and tables. I always say that our two big garden tables , here in the UK and in France hold so many happy memories of time spent together eating and laughing with friends and family. Precious and very simple days
When tourists are in a restaurant and want to eat outside, they usually say they want to eat ‘al fresco’. Italians use the expression ‘al fresco’ to mean ‘in the chill’ or ‘in the cool’. For example, when they want to convey keeping things in the right places, they’d say ‘keep the cheese al fresco’. But these words have also another meaning.This is a funny mistake. In Italian, the expression has a completely different meaning. ‘Al fresco’ literally means ‘in prison’! The reason why it means that is probably because in the past, prisons were very cold places with thick walls (‘fresco’ means ‘cold’).