This good weather ain’t going to last for ever, so, powered by Lucozade Energy, check out our guide to the five essentials you’ll need for the perfect summer barbeque.
As soon as a spell of good weather hits this part of the world, Irish people react in a variety of entirely predictable ways.
First of all, you can expect your Facebook and Twitter feeds to become inundated with pictures of said glorious sunshine. Then you can anticipate the inevitable pictures that will surface of the careless folk who forgot to apply sunscreen and lived to regret it afterwards and finally, you can be sure that you will either be invited to, or be tempted to arrange your own barbeque at the earliest convenience.
If you’re going to take it upon yourself and go for the latter option, here are five essentials you’ll need to ensure that your back garden isn’t set ablaze, your guests are entertained and that everything goes off without a hitch.
Meat
You will, of course, need to cater for any vegetarian guests, but without resorting to lazy stereotyping we imagine that the majority of your guests will be hankering after burgers, sausages, hot dogs and the like.
So make sure your fridge and freezers are amply stocked with necessary supplies, make sure that you take the necessary precautions while cooking the aforementioned meat and much like Homer when he had his barbeque in The Simpsons, guests will soon be raising a toast to the host who can boast the most roast.
After all, you don’t win friends with salad.
Music
Sure, everyone has an iPod and a set of speakers these days, but choosing a playlist for a barbeque can be a tricky task indeed.
Basically, you need tunes that prevent any awkward silences between guests, but that are also so inoffensive and can go so unnoticed that there’s no danger that people will stop talking about the quality of the food and instead discuss that track they can hear in the background.
A playlist full of soft acoustic material from the likes of Jack Johnson, Newton Faulkner and the likes should do the trick.
Mates
There’ll be plenty more food for you if it’s only yourself and the dog in attendance, but if you want to at least appear vaguely popular, you should probably invite some mates around as well.
If said mates are in short supply or they all happen to be conveniently busy on the day in question, there are numerous rent-a-crowd services that can cater perfectly for an occasion such as this.
Weather
The weather forecast in Ireland is about as reliable as an England team getting out of the group stages at a major tournament (burn) but be sure to check well in advance that there’s going to be at least a smidgen of sun on the day of your barbeque.
After all, you don’t want to be these guys…
Refreshments
There’s traditionally a lot of sizzle, salt and spicy sauces associated with having a barbeque, so your guests are going to be mighty thirsty, not to mention your good self after spending half the afternoon hovering over the roasting hot cooking surface.
You can do a Homer on it and suggest that the guests bring their own (BYOBB – that’s a typo) but it is often the responsibility of the host to keep his guests watered as well as fed and besides, if you do supply refreshments, you can demand the same of your mates whenever they get around to staging a barbeque of their own.
Always one step ahead.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
