One of the best things about summer is all the great food you’ll be cooking outside. Colorful, fragrant, and crispy food straight from the barbecue and just not too burned – summer is a plate full of food to share with family and friends. No matter if you’re planning a themed BBQ party for the rest of the neighborhood to envy, or you’re simply considering to heat up the grill and invite a few friends over, here are some great idea to get you inspired and hungry.
Preparation
Sometimes, a bit of preparation can make your party a whole lot better. Especially when it comes to the grill – it should be cleaned and oiled before welcoming any meat or veggies. Make sure it’s hot and ready before you start, too, and have a long look at and drinks in advance; after all, it’s not always as easy as just feeding the grill a few pieces of meat and forgetting about it.
Try not to overcomplicate it, though, better hosts than we have confused and exhausted themselves by getting too excited about the dishes. If you’re all about the food, and I know I am, think about serving some dishes that can be prepared the evening before and rest in your fridge. It is summer, after all, so we should try to stay cool while eating.
To make it even easier, you can always put on a sweet smile and ask your friends to bring a side dish.
Barbecuing
One of the best things about a BBQ is that you get to stay where it’s happening and show off your great cooking skills. You’re also able to beat the heat; imagine staying inside, grilling steaks by yourself, and trying not to melt while everyone’s having a grand time without you. All of this is enough to heat up my grill, but it doesn’t stop there – the best thing about a good old BBQ is that cooking is made easy, and the result is always fancy.
It’s almost too easy to pimp up a simple dish by just adding something unusual; what about grilled corn on the cob with chili, lime, and parmesan? Or make the perfect kebabs by learning how to thread the vegetables on, rather than just sticking them through, to avoid seeing them fall off the skewers. Although it looks fancy and colorful to put different types of food on, it’s better to dedicate each skewer to different food as some take longer to cook than others. Have a look at this article for some more advice on grilling skewers.
When it comes to keeping the lid of the BBQ off or on, it’s all about what kind of food you’re cooking. If it’s fish or chicken, it’s a good idea to leave the lid open as it cooks fast – for food that needs a bit longer, you can safely close the lid.
Hosting
Sure, your friends are excellent entertainment, but it’s nice to make it easy for them while you’re occupied with the food. Provide some outside games for them; it’s particularly helpful of you if all of them don’t know each other already – just to make the initial socialization a bit less painful. After a few hours, they’ll be good friends in any way. Here are a few fun games you can set up for your guests – the last one on the list, KOOB, is great and it’s surprising how many have never played it before.
Remember that if you are the happy owner of a pool, you have to do the responsible thing and prepare it for the BBQ party. Even if you plan to host it during the evening, or they said it wouldn’t be that sunny – it doesn’t matter. Prepare it today, or see them swimming around in a dirty pool after a few hours. Hire a professional to do the dirty work for you; Neave Pools is a good option or just clean it yourself if you have the time. Nonetheless, you’ll end up with a clean and sparkling blue pool.
If this is your one big BBQ party of the year, and you want your guests to leave with not only full stomachs but also happy memories of having been at the best party in town, you should consider a theme. Just make sure you stay true to it and make it fun for your guests – and don’t be afraid of thinking out of the box by asking your guests to dress up as a fruit or something silly.
Summer BBQs are about having fun and eating deliciously smoky food, after all, and everyone should try to dress up as a pineapple once in awhile.
