You’ll remember from the last article about BBQs that your guests were just about to arrive! Are you excited? Because I am! Usually when it comes to these sort of things a few people will turn up “fashionably late” (between 20-40 minutes usually), so don’t panic if not everybody is there on the dot. Give your guests a good place to dump their coats, bags, hats, scarves and anything else they might have, like your bedroom or a cupboard somewhere. Better still, pull out all the stops and take their coats and bags for them, make them feel like they’re attending something out of Downton Abbey! Offer everybody a drink of water/juice/Coke/whatever to make sure they’re not thirsty, and guide them to a comfortable seat.
Once everybody is all settled in nicely, and the majority of your guests have arrived, you can actually start cooking your food. You’ve set up your BBQ beforehand (I hope!) so you should be ready to go. If there is a disaster and it doesn’t work, you can use a griddle pan or a grill with your oven. Not exactly a BBQ, but this has happened to me before and it’s saved the day. Before you get cooking, work out your cooking times and temperatures so everything is ready more or less at the same time, so for instance if you’re doing some chips or garlic bread with your meat then make sure it has the right amount of time in the oven. You can always keep things warm, but not too long otherwise it’ll dry out! To make sure the meat is cooked, cut one of the pieces open and see if it’s an even colour all the way through. This is especially important for chicken – it MUST be white and hot throughout, otherwise you risk giving your friends food poisoning! It’s really best to get an adult to do the cooking, if you can.
Usually people will stuff their face at the wonderful buffet you’ve laid out for them, so make sure they’re aware you’ve got a dessert planned! Most won’t want to think about dessert until at least an hour after the main course, but you can always do some preparation. Biscuits, cakes, doughnuts, ice cream, hot puddings and chocolates/sweets are always going to be favourites, so have a little selection going on.
When everybody’s letting their food digest, you can put on a film. Ask people to bring DVDs, and then take a vote on which ones you want to watch. If you’re feeling up to it later, you can start playing some party games. If you really want to play single-player console games, then make sure you have a fair system for taking it in turns. Of course, multiplayer is always better, and everybody has a good time. You could also opt for good old fashioned board games – Monopoly and Scrabble are always good fun!
If you keep all of this in mind, you’ll have a wonderful time, and so will your friends. People will come again and again to your parties, and you’ll get a reputation for being an awesome host (definitely something to be proud of). So get out there and enjoy the beautiful sunshine!
Image from: https://beautyofhome.wordpress.com/2014/08/06/give-an-overwhelming-look-to-your-bbq-party-with-bbq-grills/
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