AD How to Elevate Your Barbecue Experience

This post is in collaboration with Swaledale Butchers.

It’s Time to Take Outdoor Entertaining to the Next Level…

It’s fair to say that BBQ season is here. And I’m here to show you how to elevate your barbecue experience this summer. For us, we love summer for having people over. If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you’ll know that I’ve redone our courtyard garden space and we have enough room to seat four people for dining. So be prepared to see more outdoor dining and fully enjoying the sunshine this year.

If you can’t tell, I’m a big believer that anyone can entertain, regardless of the space they have. I’m also a huge believer that even the smallest gathering, regardless if you have one additional person or 10 people to entertain. Every experience you have can be elevated. And this can be done when it comes to how to elevate your barbecue experience.

So here are my top tips for elevating your outdoor entertaining this summer…

Choose Good Quality Meat.

When it’s the main attraction, you want guests to go away raving about the meat you’re served. When Swaledale, an online butchers, contacted me about collaborating, I was delighted to see the vast range of products they were able to offer. All locally sourced, but shipping available nationally, their barbecue range really stands out.

There’s a wide choice of meat across the website. I don’t want to mention the C-word now, but I’m going to be checking the website come Winter for their holiday offers. What’s more, for premium cuts, everything is priced well. If you’re entertaining a lot of people, you’re going to find value in getting their barbecue meat box. Full of all the classics with a few extras that are really going to wow your guests.

Elevate Your Sides.

If you’re taking your meat to the next level, then your sides have to be on the same level. I find when we have so much heavy meat on the menu, I like to go for light sides to balance everything out. For me, this includes a veggie board with a green goddess dip, an alternative take caprese salad and some loaded sweet potato fries.

I’ll be covering all these on the blog very soon, but going for some fresh and light are great alternatives to the classics.

Prepare Your Table.

I love a good table when entertaining. Even if it’s just the two of you, making an effort for such a simple thing is what elevated everyday living is all about. My table always starts with a vintage tablecloth. From there, I pull out my display plates, napkins and napkin rings.

I also like to decorate my table with potted plants, it helps brings that element of the outdoors to your table.

My final element comes with serving plates. I like to mix different textures and sizes to bring a little interest to the table.

Shop Outdoor Entertaining.

Don’t Forget the Music.

So important when it comes entertaining to get the music right. You want to match the mood of the event to your music. For casual dining, I love a little dinner jazz. Anything that would play in a Nancy Meyer’s film. Alternatively, during summer, I love to play country music during a barbecue.

Grab a portable speaker set it up and get playing those tunes.