Page 12 - Barbecue News Magazine SEPT 2020

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
10 TIPS TO MAKE YOUR DISTANCE PORCH-GATIN’ SAFE & FUN
If you’re anything at all like me, you do some serious entertaining/bbq’n year-round. (Yes, up north we’re even more year-round with our BBQ sickness than most y’all southerners ever dreamed of!) Well, we’ve all had to make changes and adapt to our current COVID-be-damned situation. And, with contests and cookoffs being canceled by the day, our options to throw-down on some serious weekends of cooking and fun have been greatly di- minished.
Well here comes Distance Porch-Gatin’ with friends and family! By now, most of you may have probably engaged in a little “social -dis- tanced” gathering on your front porch, driveway, or backyard. So here are the Top 10 tips to make sure we get back to having a great time with friends and family safely. And, more often again, just like the good ole’ days!
10: Plan your event, don’t wing it. (Give guests a chance to add food or beverages to the mix)
9: Have a COVID-safe and normal food-safe standard followed by you and your guests when preparing and serving our food or drinks. If there are 2 couples, then have 2 servings (or 1 per group) i.e.: so, folks don’t share from the same chip bowl, ya dig?
8: Have a game plan for restroom needs. We all know the fellas can “find a spot” usually, but the women will need their place. So clean, disinfect, and have the proper wipes and antibacterial stuff ready if you have a restroom that you're either willing to share or can designate as a “guests only” situation.
7: Don’t forget the jams! Yes, keep the music going as always. Nothing drops the mood of some great conversations going on, people laughing, stories and
lies being told, like the
speaker that just died, or “DJ/host” letting commer- cials blare instead all tunes.
6: Speaking of tunes, ask people what they would like to hear! A little reggae? Some bluegrass? How about some straight-up rock-n- roll? Or maybe it’s a grilled
lobsta and blues night?
5: Always have your meats and dishes prepped! Nobody likes to miss the entire party, and your guests would like to see more than your back while you’re at the grill or counter all night! (Again, plan your meal. You know how long things take to cook and need to rest.)
4: Don’t let your guard down with a few drinks! Have an idea of what 6 feet really looks like on your porch or deck. It’s your respon- sibility just as much as theirs to make sure folks are comfortable and safe.
3: If you have the space and gear, provide each family or couple with their own little table and chairs at a safe distance. Then it’s like a normal picnic, just without the food-stealing from each other’s table.
2: Invite the right people for the right situation. And I know that you know what I mean. If there’s that “difficult person/couple” that has a knack for freaking out over the small stuff, or you know is going to have “5 too many” before everyone has their second, don’t invite them. Pandemic-COVID-Quen’ may not be the time or place for that. Your guests and family will thank you.
1: Don’t be afraid to keep it small, or even just 1 other couple or friend! It doesn’t have to be a “bash of epic proportions.” In these tough times, folks just need to get out, have a distance meal and a drink with a good friend, see another face and have a laugh. So, keep it simple, make some great BBQ, and put a smile back on the faces of your friends and family, just like the ole’ days of 2019.
** Remember to fol- low all local CDC guidelines and state and town restric- tions; we aren’t tellin’ ya to break any rules! Connecting is tough these days, right? Even though we can’t connect as teams, judges, par-
By Craig Kimberley
BarbecueNews.com - 12
SEPTEMBER 2020