Winter doesn’t have to put an end to entertaining outdoors. With long starry nights and balmy days, the cooler months of the year are ideal for hosting outdoor festivities. Whether you want to entertain friends in your own backyard or relax in one of your favourite alfresco settings, you can create a warm and welcoming entertaining space anywhere, by simply following these tips.

1. Keep guests warm

To prevent your guests from shivering with cold, it’s essential you provide them with heating. Consider the size of your entertaining area; if it’s a small, closed in space such as a patio, you may only need one air heater to keep everybody warm. For larger, open-air spaces, a brazier can radiate sufficient heat, while simultaneously creating a pleasant and inviting ambience. If you’re entertaining in some kind of an outdoor structure, electrical heaters can be attached to overhead beams and roofing, providing guests with the means to stay warm despite being outside. For a source of heat that can also provide you with delicious food, consider investing in a wood fire pizza oven.

2. Get the right furniture

Extending your living space into the outdoors for entertainment purposes during winter calls for durable furniture, especially if you live in an area prone to rain and strong winds during the colder months of the year. Furniture especially designed to withstand the elements can take the stress out of entertaining in winter. For guaranteed durability, furniture suppliers like Super Amart use weather-resistant materials such as timber and stainless steel in the construction of their outdoor furniture range.

3. Create a wind barrier

The wind chill factor is often what makes entertaining outdoors in winter so difficult. By creating some kind of a barrier, you can still enjoy the pleasantly cool temperature of a winter’s day while avoiding cold gusts of wind. Sheets of clear plastic can protect you and your guests from the elements without impairing your view of the outside world. Simply attach them to a solid structure with rope or zip ties, ensuring they are securely tied down so as to prevent them from blowing away mid-party. For a more luxurious approach to a windbreak, you could use opaque blinds or erect a canvas tent to create a delightfully bohemian outdoor setting.

4. Comfort food

Nothing warms the soul on a cold winter’s day quite like a hearty meal. When entertaining, treat your guests to some of your favourite winter recipes for an added touch of cold weather comfort. In addition to the kinds of snacks traditionally associated with alfresco dining, such as hamburgers and salad, try serving guests some spicy chicken soup and a flask of hot chocolate. If you’re keeping warm with a fire, why not use it to roast some marshmallows?

Rather than retreating inside during the cooler months of the year, entertaining outdoors presents the perfect opportunity to make the most of the cold weather.

Do you have any tips on entertaining outdoors in winter? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This is an S2 Post.

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The warm weather is rolling in, the skies are blue and the picture-perfect great outdoors look fit for a banquet. It’s time to put the winter blues well behind you, drag out the barbecue and get your friends together for an afternoon of festivities, fun, and fine food. The first and most obvious order of the day is your barbecue, which will need to be cleaned up and made ready for action.

If you don’t have one already, you’re going to have to look for a grill that suits your needs. Whether your priority is size, fuel or portability, barbecue specialists like Barbeques Galore can determine the perfect grill for you – perhaps something from the new Ziegler & Brown range? Now that you’ve got the cooking equipment and utensils sorted, here are a few other tips to help you host the perfect summer barbecue.

Tips for hosting the perfect Summer barbecue

Look to the forecast

As beautiful as summer normally is, it can also be a bit volatile when it comes to changing weather conditions. Depending on where you are, the day can start bright and sunny, only to end with a menacing and violent summer storm. Before picking a date, check out the long term forecasts for an idea of the weather patterns on your preferred day. Admittedly, the sunshine won’t be guaranteed but at least you’ll have an idea and won’t be completely taken by surprise when the thunderheads roll in.

Hone the guest list

Most of us have friends from many different backgrounds and interests. Some will know each other and get on well; some will know each other but won’t be as close as buddies; others will not be familiar with your friends but mix well with strangers; and others still will be comfortable only with people they know. Carefully organise your guest list so you only have people of similar tastes and backgrounds to better help your fellow barbecue enthusiasts meet and mix. The best part of this strategy is it gives you an excuse to hold more barbecues for all your friends!

Simple and light food

You are not going to want to laden your guests with heavy food so they fall about like sand bags after they’ve eaten. The ideal barbecue is in the early to mid-afternoon. You want people to have a few drinks, eat and then socialise or even take part in a few sporting activities. Keep the food light and healthy, with chicken dishes and lean cuts of meat. Also have plenty of summer salads on hand.

Think beyond the food

If the plan is to feed your friends and send them on their way, the food is most likely the pinnacle of your barbecue. But if your intention is to host a wonderful afternoon that keeps your friends together for some fun and frivolity, you’re going to have to look beyond the food. What entertainment you provide will, of course, depend on the personalities of those who attend, but you might consider backyard games such as cricket or touch football. If you have a pool, use it for the afternoon’s activities.

The host of the perfect summer barbecue must be a Jack of all trades – part weather forecaster, part chef and part cruise director. It’s about making sure your guests are well fed and have a good time – this will ensure that everyone will want to return next time you send out invitations.

What other tips would you recommend for hosting the perfect Summer barbecue?

This is an S2 POST.

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One of the wonderful things about summer is enjoying summer evenings outdoors. Families often eat outside and spend happy hours relaxing in the outdoor area. With the end of summer many families head indoors and put away ideas of outside evenings until the warmer months reappear. But there are so many excellent outdoor heating options available that there really is no need to stop spending nights outdoors in the cooler weather.

Barbeques Galore Australia has a number of efficient and attractive outdoor heating options for those who enjoy evenings out of doors. Here are a few options that will keep you warm and cosy while enjoying outdoor evenings in the cooler months.

The Brazier

Braziers are good old fashioned outdoor heating devices. They are inexpensive to buy and also add great atmosphere to your outdoors. They are made from tempered steel that is usually painted or power-coated in black so they will fit in with any outdoor décor. You can buy briquettes to use as fuel. These are not expensive and very efficient at producing heat. Once the briquettes are lit they will look great; the glowing embers will provide atmosphere as well as warmth. You will need to watch the kids though as braziers are hot to touch.

The Fire Pit

Fire Pits are enjoying a return to popularity. Your family will get a lot of enjoyment relaxing around the fire pit and it will keep you all warm. Fire pits use wood, charcoal or heat beads for fuel. They are usually bowl shaped and made of tempered steel. They do get hot, so again you will need to watch the kids. Fire pits add some enchantment to outdoor evenings, a great place to gather to tell stories and spin tales. A fire pit allows you the advantages of having an outdoor fire without the mess or the damage to your yard.

The Mexican Chiminea

Chimineas are basically outdoor wood burning heaters. They were traditionally made from clay but are now available in cast iron as well. They vary in size and are one of the least expensive ways of providing outdoor heat. They provide a gentle ambience to your outdoor area and will keep you warm. The outside of the chiminea will get hot, so care should be taken that no one touches it.

Outdoor Gas Patio Heater

Gas patio heaters have become increasingly common in outdoor settings, both commercially and in people’s home. This is because they are very efficient at spreading radiant heat into the surrounding air. The area they heat will depend on the size of the heater, but they can warm a reasonably large area, up to around 5 metres. They are also very safe as the hot part of the heater is well above children’s reach. They are not great in windy conditions though. They are usually hooked up to a gas bottle that sits neatly within the heating unit.

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I don’t know one person who doesn’t love to fire up the BBQ on a summers afternoon while watching the kids play in the blow up pool or while enjoying a few drinks with friends (the adults not the kids). We are big on barbecuing in our house and why wouldn’t you be? It’s faster to cook, there are less dishes and it gets everyone outside; so when I was emailed asking if I would like to review the Outdoor Chef – Leon I had to say yes! We used Leon for the first time on Christmas Day to glaze our ham and it did a great job. It heated up fast and maintained the temperature required without any effort. I love that you can use it to cook many things; it has a guide on the front of the bbq to let you know what setting and which way the cone should go for whatever food it is that you wish to cook. It comes with an open grill so unfortunately you can’t cook eggs or onion on it without purchasing a flat plate or putting a fry pan on the grill however it is great for cooking up a few snags, bacon or even thick pieces of steak.

The only thing I could fault with Leon was that when the wind blew the gas blew out but that could have been easily rectified by us moving the bbq to a better location out of the weather elements. This modern and stylish BBQ features an enamelled finish, single burner, hinged lid with a thermometer and has wheels for easy mobility. Leon is a great size in terms of how much space it takes up; this gas kettle bbq is small but packs a punch, is easy for one person to put it together in under an hour and as it is readily available at your local Bunnings for $299 it’s perfect for the upcoming Australia Day celebrations!

Disclaimer: I received the Outdoor Chef Leon to review for the purpose of this post. All opinions are my own. 

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Entertaining can be a stressful experience regardless where you live, though I must say when you are confined to the walls of a small dwelling or apartment it can take it to the next level and make you rethink ever hosting again (in your home anyway). It’s not only the lack of space you have to prepare the ingredients and cook your meals that makes for a frustrating event but trying to find the room to dish up, present and serve your meals can be near impossible. Then you can often throw kids into the mix and all their special dinnerware, cups and bottles and you’re really left with no space.

Unfortunately when you are entertaining and trying to have an enjoyable time the last thing you want or feel like doing is hand washing dishes just to make room on the bench so you can pour a drink or prepare the food. This is where the Fisher & Paykel DishDrawer^TMmakes for the perfect appliance in not only a small kitchen but any household. They come in a variety of options to suit every family’s needs and lifestyles. It doesn’t matter if you are big on entertaining or a quiet family with young children; there is a DishDrawer designed to fit your kitchen and your requirements. Just because your kitchen is deficient in size and lacks space doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the conveniences of having a dishwasher to help out with your daily tasks of washing dishes and entertaining guests. The DishDrawer has so many benefits that I can’t list them all but the ones that grab my attention the most are that it reduces water usage, saves you money and comes in a range of sizes: single or tall and double or extra wide so there always a dishwasher to fit your kitchen design – you can even get a dishwasher installed where you would normally have a drawer!

If you are planning on entertaining or even just looking for something delicious to serve up that doesn’t require too much effort to prepare (or too many dishes) than here are some of my favourites. Garlic and Chilli Prawns on rice, Thyme and Lemon Pork Belly, Thai Coconut Chicken on rice, Tomato Bacon and Basil Soup, Chilli and Chorizo Fettuccine and Creamy Bacon and Basil Gnocchi. Once you are finished cooking let simply stack the dishes into the dishwasher and you can enjoy the rest of your night while Fisher & Paykel take care of the soaking and scrubbing for you.

This is an S1 POST.

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At some point in our lives we have all downsized our living arrangements for one reason or another. Whether it be caused by budget issues, lack of availability, personal preference or even retirees who no longer have children at home and don’t require all the extra space. When my husband and I bought our first home we had a 6 month old baby and had saved every cent we could spare to make our purchase. It wasn’t the best property money could buy but it was ours.

We quickly learnt after trading in a large house for a 2 bedroom unit that some de-cluttering would be required. Ok, a lot of de-cluttering! Not only did we have all of our stuff but we had everything a new baby needs as well and there was no way we could find room for it all. There are definite pros and cons to downsizing and the main positive I found was that it took a third of the time to clean and the yard took about 10 minutes to mow which ultimately left a lot more free time to spend together as a family. Being able to enjoy more time with my husband and child was such a fantastic compromise and one I’m glad we made.

One thing that would have made living in a smaller property easier is the use of appliances. We really take them for granted even though they make our lives so much simpler. A dishwasher for example would have saved us not only space on our bench from having to stack dishes but it would have also kept mess to a minimum, saved us money, reduced our water usage, when teamed with Finish dishwashing tablets left our dishes cleaner than we could have done hand washing them (we don’t use anything but Finish these days) and above all else saved us time! However as unfortunate as it was we had spent all our money on the home and of course we had a lack of space in our kitchen so we had to go without with the help of amazing and convenient appliances. I always envied walking into friends and families homes and seeing their basic door and fancy draw dishwashers – something so simple  would have made such a difference. Little did I know that the Fisher & Paykel Dishdrawer^TM came in all sizes and formats to suit every families lifestyle and needs. They are available in single or tall and double or extra wide; as it turns out the lack of space didn’t need to hold us back as we could have simply replaced a draw with a dishwasher and not lost any extra room in our already tiny and cramped kitchen. 6 years down the track we have upsized in house, family and helpful devices around the home. They really make the difference between spare time and blissful living and a hectic and stressful life. Being able to unwind at the end of a long day and not have to worry about washing the dishes from breakfast and dinner makes for a much more pleasant evening. This convenience also means no longer is it required to soak and scrub pots as the dishwashers do it for us.

I love that as every year goes by brands such as Fisher & Paykel redefine the way we use such appliances. They not only look at the dishwasher themselves but they also look at the way people are using their kitchens and designing the product based around how real households work and the problems and challenges we are faced with on a day to day basis. For example the DishDrawer^TM family is created with choice and convenience to suit every kitchen need in mind.

Now that I have experienced first-hand the convenience of life with a dishwasher I am never (and I mean never) going back to filling up the sink and hand washing dishes or baby bottles again.

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