Page 10 - July 2020 Barbecue News Magazine

President
Kim Stanfield, kstanfield@nebs.org
Treasurer
Chris Clegg, cclegg@nebs.org Mike Strout, mstrout@nebs.org
Recording Secretary
Anissa Ladd, aladd@nebs.org
Vice President
Tom Ryan, tryan@nebs.org
NEBS Board of Directors Michael Strout
Peter Kelleher Jim Morey Craig Kimberley Mike Leger Anthony Mardenly Alex Burke Paul Dahlstrom
679 Washington St.; Unit #8-170; South Attleboro, MA 02703 www.nebs.org
Putting the ‘Que in Quarantine: The New Way to Party
Summer is here and its time to get and enjoy the weather, our friends, and great food. Just because we have to live with COVID does not mean that we still cannot have a party. My family just hosted a party and it turned out much better than everyone ex- pected. Hopefully, I can motivate you to host your own party, or feel comfortable going to one.
Knowing that several people on our invitation list fell into the high-risk group, and also knowing that in general good precau- tions would need to be followed no matter what, we made sure to provide assurances to all our friends that the party would be a safe and fun event. It wasn’t that hard. OK, maybe that’s because I have a several card tables, a bunch of 6’ folding tables, and a cou- ple dozen plastic outdoor chairs. Add to that a BBQ trailer fully loaded and ready to cook and you have the makings for a great party.
Before the party started, it was important to make sure that everyone knew to make sure they were not ill, at least as far as a thermometer can tell. It also means that anyone with allergy symptoms needed to stay home too. Masks were also recom- mended, but we did not make it mandatory.
Let’s start off with tables and seating. In order to comply with so- cial distancing, we arranged to give every family their own table. Each table was located at least six feet from each other. Singles or couples shared a 6’ table with another single/couple each seated
at opposite ends. Did I mention I have big yard too? This arrange- ment worked out great. Everyone felt comfortable with their own home base for the day. While it is the hosts responsibility to pro- vide a safe environment, in the end you cannot control the actions of consenting adults. If people want to mingle, we didn’t stop them. That said, we did insist that people respect each other, es- pecially our high-risk friends.
Serving food revolved around a single simple philosophy – no one shared anything. Every group got their own serving spoon for sal- ads and sides. $10 at the dollar store gets a lot of serving spoons. Paper plates and disposable eating utensils were set at each table. Everyone had their own chip bag and
dip at their table. Hot food was served by the cook at a separate table from the cold food. No lines at the food tables were allowed, just one group at a time. Drinks were BYOB and everyone had their own cooler with refreshments.
After the meal we lit a small bonfire for twilight ambiance and smores. Turns out that charades makes a great game for a group practicing social distancing.
Come on folks, you can do it! Get out and have some fun.
Questions on charcoal?
Reach out to Craig Kimberley via email at ckimberley@nebs.org or find him on Facebook at @bbqit !! You'll find links to all his YouTube videos including the char- coal one!
BarbecueNews.com - 10
JULY 2020
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