Barbecue Etiquette: How to be the Perfect Host
- Burning citrus candles is a great way to keep the bugs at bay and stop them biting your guests – especially if you’re serving any sweet food or drinks. You can buy bamboo garden torches which can be filled with citronella oil to repel insects – and these torches look great and give your garden a cozy glow.
- Make sure you know how many guests are coming to your shore home barbecue and ensure there’s a comfortable seat for everyone. If you have built in seating this is a perfect supplement to furniture that keeps your garden uncluttered.
- When you plan your seating make sure you are seated near to the kitchen. This means you won’t be barging past your guests when going to and from the house – pushing guests is, of course, an absolute barbecue no-no.
- If you’re having an afternoon barbecue, make sure there’s plenty of shade to avoid sticky sun-burnt guests. If you really want to impress pick up a Garden Room.
- Keep jugs of iced water handy – particularly if you’re barbecuing on a hot day. If you stick with the beer or wine your guests will soon be dehydrated (and you maybe too tipsy to tend the barbecue). So pour some water – it’s the healthy choice!
- Many agree that there’s nothing worse than a warm beer. If you don’t want to keep trekking to the fridge you can fill a couple of buckets with iced water to put drinks in – great if the fridge is full and you don’t own a cool box!
- Having a Sunday roast on the barbie? In the UK its tradition for the host to carve the meat and put it on a plate before serving each person. It’s almost the opposite in France where carving meat for people is sometimes considered an insult as it looks like you don’t want your guests to help themselves to too much. Keep this in mind should you have any French guests at your barbecue.
- If you’re having a barbecue at night, don’t forget to consider the lighting – what could be worse than not being able to see your guests!
- Avoid an embarrassing barbecue faux pas by checking with your guests if they have any special dietary requirements. Imagine having nothing but lettuce for a vegetarian to munch on when there are so many delicious alternatives that everyone can enjoy.
- The wonderful aromas created by your BBQ may not seem quite so wonderful to your neighbor sitting in their lounge watching a Sunday evening film. Be aware of wind direction and the proximity of neighbors noses when placing your BBQ. The easiest solution is to invite the neighbors round!