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| BBQ King DS#3 with his friend- doing a great job of manning the grill! |
DS#1 sent a text good and early today wangling himself an invite for an al fresco dinner. He loves his independence and his flat but he has no garden and hanging out of a window burning sausages on a BBQ on the flat roof of the single floor extension below is not quite the same as chilling in our garden and drinking his dad's beer. Though actually now I come to think about it his Dad is more likely to be drinking his sons beer....
Luckily DS#1 works for a major supermarket chain and after prompting is happy to bring along food to share that he bought reduced in price at the end of his late night shifts. Last time he came home for a BBQ I pursuaded him to let me "shop" in his freezer and I came home with lamb kebabs, chicken and even a piece of steak!
I say luckily because summer is expensive isn't it? I find myself constantly popping into the supermarket to re-stock salad, fruit and yet more things to cook over charcoal. And whereas you would normally just choose one protein item to accompany your meal, with a BBQ everyone always seems to feel the need to provide multiple meat items!
You always lose a few things to flames or clumsiness but why do I feel I have to cook chicken, sausages, burgers, prawns and then add a couple of salads, corn on the cob, two or three different types of crisps, dips, a variety of different shaped bread rolls.....At the weekend I tried just cooking a packet of "nice" sausages and served them in finger rolls with fried onions, coleslaw and pasta salad. As the sausages sizzled I looked at the table and felt like the worst host. I ended up grovelling in my store cupboard and adding couscous, crisps and some salsa. And even then it didn't feel like a proper barbecue.
My mum in Cyprus often just uses her gas barbecue to cook a normal sized meal. I think maybe it's so rarely warm enough to eat outside in Britain that when we do see the sun and decided to dust off the barbie we feel it's worthy of being classified as a special occasion so we have to turn it into a party!
