Our (Nearly) All American BBQ

Cast your mind back, if you will, to my National BBQ Week with Homebase post where I had planned an all American BBQ for my family. Well, it wasn’t the weather that I had to worry about, it was family matters, and sadly, the barbecue didn’t quite go according to plan…but I was still able to put together a smaller barbecue, just not quite all the goodies that I’d promised in that initial planning post.

Hubs built the barbecue which took around an hour – he said it was easy enough to do, but he did have a panic when he couldn’t find a couple of the nuts and bolts, which were tiny and mixed in with the packaging *phew* He then put the chimney starters to work. We ended up using just the one side of the oil drum barbecue, and as it’s quite a big space, two of these filled with coals was just the right amount. If you haven’t got a chimney starter, I highly recommend them – they get the coals hot and ready to grill with minimum stress!

I did stick to the original plan of hamburgers and hotdogs with all the fixin’s, but the plan for the salads had to go out of the window and I bought ready-made instead. I know you’ll forgive me…especially since here are some of my older recipes for you: coleslaw, pasta salad, sweetcorn and black bean salad and potato salad; not quite what I had planned, but there will always be a next time.

Create a Burger Bar

I did get all the fixin’s though, and my fixin’s I mean toppings…

• cheese slices – cheddar, Swiss,
• tomato and onion – thinly sliced
• lettuce leaves
• sliced pickles and jalapenos
• finely diced onion
• pineapple rings (great grilled)
• fried mushrooms
• coleslaw
• various sauces – ketchup, BBQ, salsa, mustard, mayo

I made use of the wooden tray I bought, it was fab! I laid some of the toppings out on a platter, making them easy for people to help themselves to. I don’t know if you make out the brown/yellow bowl in the top photo – it’s actually a ceramic half pineapple – perfect for the pineapple rings!!

Hubs always makes hamburgers from scratch using our burger press and beef mince. That gadget is one of the best we have in the kitchen! You can see the hickory wood chips underneath the grill. Hubs is in charge of the cooking at barbecues, and he shut the lid of the oil drum bbq to turn it into a smoker – worked a little too well, hence the flames! The burgers were tasty and juicy though – perfect!!

I did make a batch of Quick ‘n’ Easy Cowboy Beans though, as planned – without meat as my brother-in-law is vegetarian. And we also bought some bratwurst sausages which were delicious cooked on the barbecue.

Barbecues for me are all about spending time with loved ones and having fun. With my sister, brother-in-law and niece over, and the sun (thankfully) shining, we laid out a blanket to sit on the grass and space for Sephy to play. She had lots of fun with Uncle Steve watching him blow bubbles – her new favourite thing! And check out that dragonfly that landed on a straw!

Sadly, I didn’t get the chance to make my peach cobbler…but I have the ingredients and will make it at the next available opportunity to share with you. We did make S’Mores though! Hubs tells me he saw Grahams Crackers in our local Tesco – score! This pleases me because it means I don’t have to panic buy when we go on holiday to America, and it means I can make s’mores all year round! Plus Sephy loved Grahams Crackers, so it’s win-win all around.

I hope you enjoyed reading about Our [Nearly] All American BBQ – didn’t quite go as planned, but as always I made the best of the situation, and we all had a lovely time – Sephy definitely helped to keep us all laughing and smiling ♥

Disclosure: In association with Homebase

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