Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Eat, Drink, and Play at the Grill

Sometimes we have so much fun around the grill that we don’t want to go inside to eat. We’d rather stay outside by the grill enjoying the day and visiting with each other. This is my very simple answer to those kinds of afternoons.

I like to create an interactive game and food that can be eaten straight from the grill without utensils or even plates. This week I cooked sausage and store bought potato skins on the grill. We played a homemade version of “mastermind” while cooking and eating. This game exceeded my expectations and proved my theory that the simplest ideas work best.  This meal is not as focused on the food as much as the time spent with friends and family.
Food list:
Sausage/hotdogs (I used a polish sausage with jalapenos)
Tortillas/buns
Mustard (any condiments you like)
Potato skins (we used store bought frozen skins due to time constraints but prefer fresh)
Charcoal/lighter fluid
Cooler with favorite drinks

Very easy: start cooking sausage on grill when coals are white, place potato skins on foil and place on grill to heat, when ready to eat, each person can heat their own bun or tortilla on grill. Simply grab food off grill and eat.




Game time:
Six different colored items (I used white buckets with colored construction paper taped to them)
Pad of paper and pen
Timer (optional, I didn’t plan on this but my kids became competitive and used their phone to time each other)
**For a different twist, I also bought 6 different tall boy beers to use. My son and his frat brothers came over to eat and play and they preferred the beer cans over my buckets.

**Other items to use could be six different pieces of silverware, nail polish bottles, or playing cards. The larger the items the more activity is involved to move them around. Wrapped or painted shoe boxes would be good for this.

Rules:
One person, the game master, writes down the colors in a random order.

The player or team tries to place the buckets or beer cans in the correct order.

After each attempt the game master will tell the player how many colors are correct but not which ones.
The player continues to move the buckets until he is told that he has all six in the correct order.


I thought this would be a fun thing to play while eating off the grill but I was thrilled when the game lasted for a couple of hours. Each person took several turns and then they decided to start timing each other. This entire game cost me approximately $10 and about 15 minutes of time to prepare.
We had a great time and visited for several hours while enjoying food and fun. I’ll definitely keep this idea tucked away and use it again. Have fun hanging at the grill!

5 comments:

  1. HA! Fun fun fun! I can't wait for this weekend. We are getting together with family and friends for some good grilling, pool and games! Love ya

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  2. What fun. It is so great to know as you watch it that your party is going well. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

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  3. Holy cow! What a great way to enjoy grilling. What fun, Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Hey, that does sound like a lot of fun!

    Thanks for stopping by my blogging and commenting today!
    ~ingrid

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  5. Isn't it amazing how something so simple can be so fun! I bet they will play again at some point in the future.

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