Summer bbqs in England

Garden parties are huge in England. On the rare occasion that there is a sunny and 'warm' (mid 60s if we're lucky) day, everyone and their mother are having garden barbeques! This is the popular barbeque apparatus: 

Do we have these in America?? They're available for purchase here EVERYWHERE here! We got this big one at the gas station down the street. It's basically a roasting pan filled with charcoal and on top of that some chicken wire like 'grill top.'  There are some sheets of paper just under the chicken wire to start the charcoal.  Surprisingly, once it's heated up it works surprisingly well!  This cooked all the food we had to feed 10 people!

What happens at student barbeques in Leeds is everyone brings their own food. Sometimes the host purchases the buns and condiments, but that's not always the case. Since I'm pretty much incapable of not providing extra food, this is what I decided to add:  

Camping potatoes a la mama:

-5 medium sized potatoes sliced thinly

-One large onion sliced however you'd like

-4 tbs butter or olive oil 

-Pepper (I use California Seasoned Pepper by Penzy's Spices (you can get it here: http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyscalpepper.html)

-Tinfoil 

Slice up onion and potatoes. Take a piece of tinfoil large enough to fit the potatoes and onions, with enough space to tent it around for cooking.  Add butter or oil (for a healthier option) to the mix.  Sprinkle on your pepper. We had very skinny tinfoil at our barbeque, so when I folded up the tinfoil around the potatoes and onions, I ended up with a very long and skinny little pouch. Cooking time will vary depending on the grill, but it usually takes around 30 minutes. You can open the pouch and test the potatoes with a fork to see if they are done, just be careful not to burn your fingers!

Garlic mushrooms: 

-Large mushrooms- These were white flat mushrooms, but any large (or even small) mushrooms will do.

-Garlic

-Butter

-Cheese

-Tinfoil

This is a free form recipe. I used a LOT of garlic and no cheese (we didn't have any), but these can be made to fit any preference or food allergy.  They're tented like the potatoes and cook well on the grill.  Layout tinfoil and place mushrooms in center.  Add garlic and a few globs of butter to each.  You may want to add some butter or oil to the bottom of the tinfoil to avoid sticking. Wrap up the tent and throw on the grill for 15-20 minutes. Again you can check them with a fork while cooking. When they're tender they're done. 

My ratios: 

7 large mushrooms (in 2 tinfoil pouches)

4 large garlic cloves

1/4 cup of butter

Marinade on veggie kabobs and chicken:

I found this one on pinterest: http://www.food.com/recipe/marinade-for-grilled-vegetables-53503

It was super simple and very yummy! It was only marinating for a little over an hour but still turned out great! 

Here's how: 

2/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup minced onion

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon black pepper 

Mix all these ingredients up and pour over veggies or chicken. 

Here's all these goodies waiting to go out to the barbeque! In all the excitement, we forgot to get photos of the finished food! You'll just have to try it out to see the finished products! 

Our garden, my flatmate Eilidh, the grill and food!

Eilidh and I managed this with her bum knee and my right hand in a brace and our kitchen is on the second floor. We're pretty impressed with ourselves!