What is it about BBQs?

[essayel]

We go to endless amounts of trouble outfitting our kithens and making comfortable places to cook and eat so why do we, periodically, light fires in the garden and char bits of meat over them?

I've been told it's because it's fun but, having spent most of last weekend projectile vomiting and the days since feeling decidedly below par as a result of attending such a function, I'm wondering who the fun is for.

Give me a well cooked casserole any day!

Comments

[mcgonagalls-cat.livejournal.com]

Along similar lines, my friend says she pays good money to have a weather-proof house, why in the world would she want to sleep under draped canvas on lumpy ground and eat from pans with ashes and bugs falling into them.


*passes the Pepto-Bismol* You have my sympathies.


.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

eurgh thanks. I'm really looking forward to being able to face a proper diet again.

On the other hand spending a week on reduced rations isn't going to hurt my waistline at all.

[bitchy-brat.livejournal.com]

Plus, a lovely casserole will heat the house as it cooks. Or at least part of the house.

If you want to char bits of meat, throw it in the broiler!

[essayel.livejournal.com]

Meat, unless it's very very good quality meat, takes more cooking than waving it at a flame for long enough to blacken the outside.

Mmm casseroles. Can't wait for the winter.

[bitchy-brat.livejournal.com]

Hmm... heating costs... Summer can stay a while longer :)

[essayel.livejournal.com]

yeah that's a point. I'm buying a few bags of logs at a time. Mind you, kitties mean at least I have a nice warm lap.

[metallumai.livejournal.com]

Proper barbecuing is a skill not to be undertaken by amateurs-- not without an experienced guide. I have never met such a person in the UK, though I have been invited to barbecues in your part of the world. Barbecue virgins, to a man. Barbecue-- right over here with ice cream and baseball. When you come to visit I will wangle us an invitation to Dee and Chris's house where barbecue has NOTHING to do with badly-cooked meat and everything to do with how to survive St Louis summers without going into the kitchen. Also MMmmm. (We will ignore the implications for waistlines, too.)

[kc-risenphoenix.livejournal.com]

Projectile vomiting??? OMG, honey! Why? Certainly not because the food was cooked over a fire! What happened? Are you better?

[cweb.livejournal.com]

Well, the weather here is quite mild year-round, so my husband barbecues year-round. He cooks our Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey(s) on the barbecue (they cook faster and are more succulent), and usually at least 2 meals a week (paella, steak, spatchcocked chicken, prawns as well as fruit and veg). He's an excellent cook and does 75 percent of the cooking, so I'm not complaining. Also, when it's hot...who wants to make the kitchen even hotter?
Since you've been the victim of a bad barbecuer (is that even a word)you have my sincere sympathy.

[britalone.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, I bet it was the chicken, no one ever cooks the chicken enough! I always cook it in the oven first then finish it off on the bbq.
We don't have enough good weather to have many, but it is nice to have the men cook the food for once. Son in law usually!!
Hope you're feeling better soon.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

Possibly because it was cooked over a fire then 'kept warm'. I dunno, love. I was the only one ill. I usually feel queasy after a barbie but this was bleah.

*huggles* though. I'm feeling more cheerful today.

[kc-risenphoenix.livejournal.com]

(((HUGS))) right back..!

[essayel.livejournal.com]

I suspect it was more sheer dumb luck than a bad barbequer. I was the only one out of 7 to be ill so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

The BBQ was done at the last moment because that night was the first for about 6 weeks that it hadn't rained! We just don't get the chance to bbq well here.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

Ah, my husband is a fantastic cook - really adventurous and haute cuisine. I just bash out the boring mid week meals. He does the high day and holiday stuff.

It's his mate who's the bbq fiend - even rebuilt a bit of his garden so he could have a proper 'pit'. Pork ribs in plum sauce were probably the culprits.

[britalone.livejournal.com]

ooh pork!! I don't eat it, can be very dodgy!!
Lucky you to have a trained hubby. I have the 'can't cook won't cook' variety!! lol

[casfic.livejournal.com]

Oh you poor thing! Badly cooked/undercooked/kept warm meat, always deadly. We really have no idea with BBQs do we?

[essayel.livejournal.com]

Or it could just be that I'm a substandard eater? Nobody else was ill. *wibbles* I feel picked on.

*hugs* how are you? I've been reading Corrigan's reviews. They are good.

[casfic.livejournal.com]

Oh I'm toddling along as usual. Had a horrible cough last week which I doubtless picked up from having to mix with all the hoi polloi on the bus instead of driving to work in my hermetically sealed car. The upside of course is that I spend virtually nothing on petrol these days. TFO's reviews are good aren't they! I think he does that sort of thing much better than me, and he seems to trot them out so effortlessly.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

Yack, coughing isn't a pleasant pastime.

Book reviewing is something I would find hard because once I start reading most of my thought processes close down apart from the 'ooh story' receptors. To review properly other than just saying 'i liked/didn't like' would take an extra bit of the brain to monitor proceedings. Not sure I could spare one.

The book series I am fatally tempted by - much as hedgehogs are tempted by dual carriageways - is the Twilight one. Half my flist seem to think it's the best thing EVAH!1! the rest are all 'oh dearie dearie me' about it. I KNOW I'd fall into the later camp but I suspect that the first book at least is so bad it might be entertaining to read. Not going to buy one full price though. By now they'll be 1p on Amazon marketplace.

[katbeseroc.livejournal.com]

Oh dear! Someone had no idea how to properly cook or serve good barbeque. That is a crime against humanity. If the hosts wanted to commit genocide there are easier ways to do it.

We barbeque for a couple of reasons. Mainly because pre-airconditioning, trying to cook a hot meal in a kitchen in 100 degree heat is impossible. Might as well cook it outside where the heat can disapate.

One must not overlook the fact it's cooking without dirtying a pan or pot. Also, it gets the menfolk doing the cooking. Men will happily do a chore if danger is involved. Something to brag about to the buddies. I believe they'd cheerfully do laundry if there was a chance the washer would explode into flames if not set right.