As the summer starts in earnest our thoughts turn to barbecues and summer evenings eating and drinking with friends in the garden.

Barbecues are a great way to have a group of friends over for an evening without having to spend hours in the kitchen preparing beforehand. Pretty much every meat barbecues well, and needs very little preparation. There are also plenty of vegetarian options for barbecues like veggie kebabs.

Of course, you can make it a lot more involved, if you enjoy making marinades and doing more elaborate barbecue cooking. There are also plenty of side dishes you can prepare like potato salad, rice salad and green salads.

People often make the mistake of not giving the bread that accompanies the barbecued meats much thought – but if you take the trouble to choose interesting bread and rolls like those topped with toasted seeds or made with wholemeal flour, it can really add to the enjoyment of the meal.

Of course, you’ll need to make sure you have enough cold drinks in supply – with plenty of fizzy drinks and juices for any kids that are coming. If you’ve got a couple of cooler boxes fill them up with some bottled beer, cover with ice and leave them chilling for a couple of hours before anyone is due to arrive. If you don’t think you’ll have enough space in the fridge to keep all your wine, beer and meat cool, then call a favour on a couple of friends and borrow their fridges for the day.

Whether your barbecues are more ad hoc like the ones that feature in the shack on the Brad and Dan good call ads for Foster’s, with just a few sausages thrown on the grill, or you prefer to go the whole hog and turn a barbecue into a dinner party, it’s definitely a great way to mix socialising and food during the summer months.