HERE IN IRELAND, the weather can go from gale-force winds to beaming sunshine in mere minutes, meaning you can never quite tell when the opportunity to dine al fresco might present itself. It could be tomorrow, or it could be a month from now, or (fingers crossed) it could even be this evening.
Rather than dashing around the grocery, homeware and DIY sections of your local supermarket trying to get ready for a last-minute BBQ once the sun comes out, save yourself the inevitable hassle and have the majority of stuff planned and ready to go.
Read on for a few things you can do ahead of time in case the sun makes a surprise appearance – and to be even more prepared, head over to the Uncle Ben’s Ireland Facebook page where you could win yourself a brand new BBQ.
Even the hyper-organised among us won’t have a fridge full of meat and summer salads ready to go at the drop of a hat, but you can at least be sure that other basics are always to hand. Large bottles of ketchup and mustard are essential, along with the fixings for vinaigrette and other dressings. It’s also worth keeping a stock of tortilla chips, nuts and other snackables to keep everyone satisfied while you set up the BBQ.
A few bowls of crisps will always get polished off by hungry guests, but if you want to take your BBQ game up a notch, keep some ideas for easy starters and sides in your back pocket. A board packed with cheese, crackers and olives is the perfect starter for a group. Throw in a rice bowl and some potato salad as sides for all that grilled meat and veg, and you have yourself a five-star worthy meal.
That last-minute al fresco meal will seem like less of a good idea at midnight when you’re still cleaning up wine glasses and scrubbing the fancy plates you had to use when the rest ran out. Keep things simple with a pile of paper plates, or – even better – plastic ones that can be rinsed easily and reused any time.
Soft drinks, cans of beer and bottles of Prosecco or wine can all sit happily in your kitchen or garage until they’re needed. On the day itself, an empty plastic or metal rubbish bin filled with cold water and ice will work a treat for keeping drinks chilled.
So your two-person dinner has suddenly turned into a BBQ for the whole street and their kids. Great, but where are they all going to sit? If the current seating options in your place are lacking, take advantage of all those sweet supermarket pre-festival offers to pick up some cheap camping chairs.
The second the sun comes out and the seed of your BBQ idea begins to form, set up a message thread to figure out who’s free at short notice – and more importantly, who has time to help you with food prep and setting things up. You can’t beat some hive-mind power.
Whether you’ve resorted to the radio or have a four-hour long Summer BBQ playlist ready to go on Spotify, it won’t matter unless your guests can hear the music. A set of bluetooth speakers will be your best friend here – and it means anyone can pair up their phone to act as DJ.
Nothing ruins the buzz of a spontaneous summer get-together like an hour spent trying and failing to light a BBQ. If yours hasn’t been used in a while (or indeed, ever) make sure it’s clean, functional and that you have charcoal and lighter fluid to hand. Less time figuring out how the grill works means more time spent grilling.
Want to up your BBQ game even more? Uncle Ben’s Rice & Grains range features heaps of tasty rice and quinoa options, all ready in just two minutes. Head over to the Uncle Ben’s Ireland Facebook page to find plenty of summer recipes like the one below – and to be in with the chance of winning yourself a brand new BBQ. Happy grilling!
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