How to throw a great summer BBQ

Yay, spring is finally here!

This means warmer weather, longer evenings, more sociable friends, and a bunch of BBQs!

We had a fab Swedish style midsummer BBQ last summer, and I thought I'd tell you all about it in order to inspire you for this year's season.

The first thing to think about when throwing a great BBQ is obviously the food. For our midsummer party last year I as a host decided to buy all the meat, but since we were so many people at the BBQ (about 12 people) we decided that everyone was to bring a side of some kind - to match the Swedish midsummer theme of course. We ended up with a great variety of food, including all sorts of meat, potato salad. pasta salad, french bread and cheeses, as well as a mixed salad and lots of BBQ dips (tzatziki, mango sauce... you name it!)

In line with the theme I had also bult a mini midsummer pole out of green leaves and wild flowers. Now what is this, you may ask?

Oh, where to start? It's an ancient Swedish tradition... a pagan thing. It's supposed to symbolise fertility, and you're supposed to dance around the pole whilst singing silly songs. Now, we didn't actually do that, but it was still a nice feature for the garden.

I don't think Melba was too impressed with the midsummer pole, or that I had lots of rowdy friends around...

Another little feature for the garden was my newly planted herbs, which we used for both the food and the drinks. A few weeks before the BBQ I had bought some little dill, chives, thyme and mint plants. We used the dill and chives for the potato and pasta salads, and guess what we used the mint for!

Along with some fresh lime, strawberries and brown sugar we were able to use the mint leaves for both Pimms and Mojito drinks. Yum! Can't get more summery than that!

The best thing about summer BBQs - except for the amazing company of course - its that it's warm enough to stay outside in the garden all evening.

We had propped the garden with plenty of garden furniture so that we could all enjoy the time outdoors - both a big round table and chairs a la this style from Jamie Oliver, and also a couple of lounge chairs. Once it got dark we lit lots of candles, as well as our oil burners, which resultet in a really lovely and cosy atmosphere.

Dessert was Swedish strawberry cake, of course!

What makes yours a great BBQ, and what tips and advice do you have to throw a great summer garden party?