The smell of freshly cut grass, the Electric Picnic line-up having just been announced and the longing for Bulmers and ice … it must be summer! What better way to prepare for those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer (well, we can always hope!) than by brushing up on your camping and barbecuing skills?
You ain’t a proper home owner until you’ve thrown a summer barbecue – a time for men to put on aprons and play with lighter fluid. But don’t go for the same old chicken skewers and jumbo sausage combo – break out and be adventurous with your choice of recipes and meats.
This blog claims to have the ultimate barbecue sausage recipe of all time, called the Bacon Explosion. It’s a bazillion layers of rashers and sausages, with spices and herbs, all rolled into a giant tube, marinated in barbecue sauce and barbecued. Sounds grotesque, but the end result looks like an amazing heart attack of a feast.
A two-man tent is so called because you can fit in two people like sardines in a can. Trust me. Electric Picnic teaches you these valuable life lessons.
Also, in the wilderness no one can hear you flush. Remember to bring a chemical toilet or some sort of suitable arrangement, or else it will be dock leaves behind a tree.
Head to this blog and check out the great checklist for camping ‘09 and don’t end up with a leaky tent and a lumpy sleeping bag.
You might not get to head out on the highway lookin’ for adventure, but you can read all about the great American spirit of travelling the highways, namely the most famous one – Route 66.
Watching Daithi O Sé’s travel show on TG4 will give any Irish man or woman with an adventurous spirit an urge to drive from Chicago to the coastline of Los Angeles, but if your budget isn’t quite up to it you can always do it through Google Earth.
Did I mention barbecues without talking about beer? For shame! You can’t eat charred meat in the sunshine without an ice-cold bottle of fermented hops.
Pete Brown is a well-known beer expert, who has written several books on the subject, and his blog is a treasure trove. He’s got several posts on the topic of beer and food matching.
Did you know that wheat beer goes best with lemon juice? And cherry beer brings out the fruitiness in cured ham, while a malty ale is great with a juicy steak?
By Marie Boran
