Brooke Tucker-Reid, momstown Writer
My mother had it right when it came to entertaining guests; make it look effortless and be sure to enjoy yourself. She is also the queen of delegation and appreciation so she isn’t afraid to put some of her family to work during her soirees so she can get her schmooze on. I tip my hat to you, Mama.
Make the best of you summer BBQ season by planning a menu that won’t take you all day to prepare so when your guests arrive; you don’t have too much left to do.
Finger Lickin’ Ribs
We don’t eat ribs often, but when we do, this is our go-to recipe. If we’re a little strapped for time, we’ll use store-bought BBQ sauce instead of making our own. The key here is tenting your ribs with foil in the oven which makes them fall right off the bone. The ribs need to cook for about 2 hours in the oven before finishing them on the BBQ. If you time that well, you’ll only have 20 minutes of cooking time when you’re almost ready to serve dinner.
Corn on the Cob
Throw a few cobs of corn on the BBQ with their husks still on at the same time as the ribs (turning every five minutes) and they’ll be ready at the same time. Prep time for this recipe is about 25 minutes which you can do before your guests arrive. Bonus points for serving it with a squeeze bottle of crema and some chopped cilantro.
Kale and Bulger Salad
We found this recipe in Food and Drink last year and we tend to make it at least once per month (without the flank steak). This Mediterranean kale and bulger salad recipe is full of bright, refreshing summer flavours like mint, cucumber and lemon. The best part is it tastes even better after sitting in the fridge for a couple of hours. This salad takes about half an hour to prepare.
Ice Cream Sandwich Bar
Your guests won’t mind that you’ve put them to work when they realize they get to create their own customized ice cream sandwich for dessert! It takes no time to arrange cookies on a plate, along with some ice cream and toppings like chocolate chips and sprinkles. If you have the time, bake a batch of cookies the night before you host your guests. If not, store bought cookies will work well too.
Depending on whether or not you want to make everything from scratch, you’ll be spending less than two hours of prep before your guests arrive, and less than half an hour cooking while you’re entertaining.
Bon appetite!
