BBQs

Nothing worse than trying to cut up a steak on a paper plate so I tend to use hard plastic ones or crockery.
I also start the BBQ long before guests arrive so that the garden isn't full of smoke .
As BBQs can annoy neighbours I invite them !

French life is generally more formal and more private, I think it is a good thing.

I too hate bbq, why not cook the food inside and bring it outside, just take a box of sandwiches etc and tell them you're allergic to certain foods, it's no big deal

A tad dramatic don’t you think?
Unless of course they did have Joan of arc on their bbq. I suppose it might have been Jacques de Molay

My adult French student found our way of having a barbecue completely different from his family and friends at home. He told me they set a garden table and chairs, the host cooks and serves each guest with food and pours their drinks like a formal sit down meal.
We take turns to cook, help ourselves to rolls, salad etc and everyone helps clear up after. I think French culture is much more formal, or perhaps our family is a bit slovenly lol.
I don't enjoy barbecue food never have. I tolerate it as my whole family loves it.

Our neighbours told us they were going to BBQ for a birthday a few years ago. From the kitchen sink one Sunday afternoon I saw plumes of black smoke wafting over the fence into my newly washed sheets. I ran out and took them in but had to rewash them. Never saw a sight of their BBQ again.

I'm a meat eater but sadly when I smell burning flesh outdoors my over active imagination conjures up pictures of martyrs burning at the stake so I avoid BBQs.

We BBQ a lot too, well Mr. S. does the cooking but always eat inside.

We bbq a lot , my dh is a keen bbqer and has even cooked joints of meat , whole Chickens and whole salmon or sea bass on the bbq , ours is a Webber , so charcoal and we always check our neighbours garden first to see if she’s got washing out.
We used to have South African neighbours and they were big on bbqing . They even cooked their turkey on the Braii .
We also do veggies , including cauliflower steaks for our vegan friends, veg kebabs are popular.
I admit I do the prep and the salads which I enjoy doing , although my dh watches YouTube videos and often preps meat, fish and chicken . We have friends who are big on bbqs and the men stand around discussing the various bbqs and charcoal.
If we’ve got guests , we make sure there’s enough chairs , I’m not a fan of juggling plates etc whilst standing .
And during this hot weather we have a hose on standby , even though the bbq is on the patio .

The trouble with wasps and a bbq is that they are very difficult to put on a skewer, they burn very easily and they are not very filling

Has nobody been bothered by a neighbour's BBQ giving off smoke and smells ? I would be annoyed if my house was filled with smells if the BBQer hadn't had the courtesy to warn me to shut doors and windows or take in washing.

pably15

Talking of wasps, I've never seen one this summer, and that's strange

I was topping up my garden water feature recently and one came to have a drink alongside me!

We went to a family 1st birthday barbecue recently. Lots of people there, friends and family and not everybody knew each other.
It was a great ice breaker for all the men!
Over the course of the afternoon there was a constantly evolving group of them, all taking a turn at flipping the food, giving advice and putting the world to rights over a beer.

I'm not the biggest fan of barbecues and my husband's never been interested, but it was a good choice on this occasion 🥳

Talking of wasps, I've never seen one this summer, and that's strange

We all sit there with one of these each!!

Oh yes, wasps everywhere.

We have had one barbecue this year when every wasp from a radius of several miles joined us.
I don’t remember this happening so badly before,
we took our food indoors and said that was it for barbecues for us.

I love a BBQ as I don't do anything other than eat (and drink), surrounded by my close family. My DS does all the shopping, preparation and cooking including setting our large outdoor table. My DH and I contribute by stacking the dishwasher afterwards. It's been such fun this summer especially.

We love a bbq, for friends, family or just ourselves, charcoal not gas, MrJ does the cooking, I’ll make salads etc, family muck in if they’re here.
Halloumi and vegetable skewers are tasty, stuffed aubergines and courgettes work well too.

M0nica

Barbercues are too much like hard work. I like to relax into my chair with a glass of something in my hand and a delicious plate of food in front of me and not having to constantly leap up and watch the barbecue to check on the food, or have any other member of the party doing the same,

Eating al fresco is a time for peace and quiet and the gentle cadence of conversation.

I'm with MOnica on this.

They work if there's one family member who is willing to detach himself (usually a him) from the event and be solely in charge of the process right from lighting-up - bobbing up and down to check on the food during it - and then scraping and cleaning the BBQ and associated tools at the end of it.

Otherwise it's too much of a faff. But, each to their own, obviously...

I enjoy BBQs because my husband does the cooking! He never cooks in the kitchen and says it is because I am a much better cook ( true - more practice!) The problem here is the flies and mossies which descend when you eat outside and I am not super keen on flysprays etc. We do have a bug zapper but it doesn’t work with all the little so and sos.

Georgesgran

Sorry - I should’ve said I’m a non-meat eater. I do eat some fish and certain types of seafood.

I think that makes you a pescatarian Georgesgran.

As a vegetarian it is the smell of meaty barbecues I really loathe.
As soon as the weather is even warm my neighbours are outside with their horrible burning flesh.

My son in law occasionally does a bbq but they have a vegetarian one. I do think sweetcorn and broccoli are both very tasty and when a little smokey but he also does halloumi (delicious with a lime and caper sauce) and sort of spiced (Indian style) vegetables on sticks, home made nutburgers, and also spiced chick pea spinach Indian sticks that are a bit like falafel.

There's always lots of salad and flatbreads and side dishes and sauces.
It IS a LOT of work it seems to me.

I don't stand about eating. I prefer to sit at a table with cutlery and conversation - fortunately we can all do that in their garden.

There is usually some sort of pudding - bbq mangoes and pineapple are nice....

I love properly barbecued food. My son is very good at barbecuing but DH, even with a gas barbecue, never managed to get it quite right. I agree with Monica - it’s just a lot of hard work - and the you have to clean it! I recently put my barbecue out for the scrap man! DD and SiL use a Ninja grill outdoors and produce wonderful food on it but it has limitations because of its size.

Barbercues are too much like hard work. I like to relax into my chair with a glass of something in my hand and a delicious plate of food in front of me and not having to constantly leap up and watch the barbecue to check on the food, or have any other member of the party doing the same,

Eating al fresco is a time for peace and quiet and the gentle cadence of conversation.

You could try my vegetarian stuffed tomatoes!
We enjoy eating outside. Our barbecue is a plancha, so it's not as smoky as charcoal.