Three barbecues must be rated

Am I a lucky girl? Three barbeques across three weekends. It’s almost a story, like Goldiocks and the Three Bears and Baby Bear’s food that was ‘just right.’

BBQ #1 was at Ben’s and it was almost too sunny with not enough shade! Ben’s friends are very siloed so we don’t really know each other much; getting-to-know-you was tiring, particularly in the heat. The quality of food (Ben bought all the food) was superb I must say. Lack of hygiene was also something that has to be mentioned. though. Fingers that made contact with raw meat also touched iPhones, sweaty brows, door handles and drink glasses. 7/10.

BBQ #2 was on Summer Solstace at Evonne’s. The usual suspects were there so it was comfortable socially. We all brought something. Andrew and I bought sausages, breads, cheese and two bottles of wine from Waitrose; IMHO Waitrose sausages still can’t compare to Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference ones. Evonne made fantastic burger patties - beef and turkey. Perhaps they could have had a tad more salt but you could taste quality mince in the homemade burgers. 9/10. Neighbour had a shouting match over the phone which was irritating otherwise I’d have given it a 10.

BBQ #3 was in Ipswich (otherwise known as Ulu Ulu) at Andrew’s sister’s house. Irritating brat of a 4 year old spoilt ‘princess’ had a 9 year old to play with but still demanded (and received) the attention of two sets of grandparents. Food was pretty disgusting to be honest. Beef patties were of the frozen variety that looked like reconstituted beef flavoured starch sheets; I had half and found ‘extras’ of unknown origins that looked like it could have been bits of bone or cartilege. There was an iceberg lettuce salad. Since I don’t like iceberg lettuce I bought some rocket thinking, “Oh that’s easy, all it needs is olive oil, salt and pepper!” Unfortunately the only olive oil was the ‘light & mild’ spray variety and there was no pepper at all in the house. I’ve never met anyone without olive or pepper in their house. And the house, kitchen in particular, was filthy, with all sorts of crumbs on the floor. We also had to have warm Pimms & lemondae and Coke because there wasn’t ice although I would have questioned the hygiene of the ice. I was so bored. Overall, 2/10 - I did take a nice picture of a tree with apple green leaves against a beautiful blue sky. Kill me.

So there you have it - three barbecues. Rated.