Equipped with your outdoor flat top grill, you would think that everything will work out fine. But at times, this little party can go sour or bland if you do not prepare. Here are some tips to help you make your weekend barbecue enjoyable.
1. Prepare Something for Everyone
Despite being a barbecue party, some of your guests may be vegans. It is best to know each one’s preference before inviting your friends or relatives. With people becoming more health conscious nowadays, you want to make sure that these diet choices do not impact the experiences of your guests. Prepare meals that do not contain meat. One of the things you can do is to prepare salads. Here are some recommendations:
- Cornbread Salad
- Grilled Romaine
- Macaroni and Cheese
2. Keep Everything Cold
There is an unwritten expectation that all drinks served with a barbecue are cold. The problem is that your refrigerator can only store enough food and beer bottles. The key here is preparation.
You need a high-quality chest that can maintain internal temperatures. The night or morning before the barbecue, fill this with all the drinks you plan to serve cold. Put in the beer, soda, the sparkling wine, and top it all with ice.
If you have a good chest, the ice should still be frozen in the afternoon. Your guests will be relieved to have drinks that are almost below zero.
3. Prepare Your Grilling Materials
The worst thing that can happen is to run out of fuel. The other thing? Your grill doesn’t work. If you are using a propane grill, make sure that it is working. Test the tubes if they fit. Turn on the grill and check if the flame is evenly spread. And most importantly, make sure that your propane tank is full. It would help if you install a meter to your propane tank which displays the content. If you do not have this, a trick is to weigh it. If you are using charcoal briquettes, then it is wise to have at least four bags. It is always better to have excess charcoal than to run out of it.
4. Do Not Forget the Entertainment
You know your guests. Some might enjoy music while some would rather watch a sport. Surely, your barbecue party must have a theme. Take the television out and put it in the backyard. Watch UFC or boxing if that’s what the get-together is all about. If music is your theme, you do not need to prepare huge speakers. There are many small yet powerful speakers for sale online today. Most of these have the Bluetooth technology. Pair it with your smartphone and play the music. If you like Shakira but your guests want something else, let them pair their device to the speaker.
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5. Prepare Nibble Foods
While waiting for the entrée, it’d be wise to serve some finger foods to keep the guests from getting restless. Some peanuts will be good. But if you want a delicious barbecue weekend, you must prepare something better than nuts and fries. Here are some suggestions:
Spicy Buffalo Wings – you can prepare this the morning before the afternoon barbecue.
Coupled with beer, this will take the attention of your guests off the main course for a while.
Green Curry Guacamole – impress everybody with this blend of avocado and green curry. Prepare it the night before and chill it. Serve with chips.
Bacon Wrapped Potato Wedges – this is easy to prepare. Slice the potatoes into wedges and boil them. Wrap with bacon and fry.
6. Put Up Some Decor
Surely, it may not be Thanksgiving or Christmas, but a few lights here and there can make your backyard more appealing. It also adds panache to the experience. Here are a couple of tips to decorate your backyard.
Light bulbs – put a series of light bulbs on a string and hang them on trees. You can also install a metal wire from your house to your fence and hang the bulbs from there.
Create a DIY fire pit – this is great if you are expecting your barbecue to last until the night. Just round up some rocks, make a circle and burn wood in the middle. Put some chairs around it and have a drink.
7. Prepare Take-Home Materials
If your guests enjoyed the meal, who can say no for a take home? Sometimes, you might overestimate how much food you need to prepare. As such, you might cook more than what is needed. Or your guests are just too well-mannered, not to eat a lot.
Prepare zip lock bags, wax papers, and cardboard food boxes where you can put food and distribute them to your guests. This will make the barbecue unforgettable and will extend the experience even after they get home.
Barbecues are fun. Despite some problems that may come along the way, you can eliminate them by being prepared to anticipate what potential problems you may have and prepare solutions for them before they even exist.
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