Summertime Grilling

Out of all of the weekends in the year, 4th of July is hands down the biggest BBQ celebration.  Whether you are staying in the city for a backyard bash or chilling at the beach, making a simple meal of grilled meat and fish, summer salads and frosty desserts is always a crowd pleaser.

The Lazy Hostess loves this type of stress-free entertaining and has scoped out some of the best gadgets, tools and products to make your BBQ experience even easier.

BBQ in a Bucket
For most urbanites, outdoor space is hard to find.  This Metal Bucket Grill  ($34.95) is an ingenious portable BBQ that works well for small decks as well as grilling on the beach.  All you need to do is fill with charcoal to get the party started!

Marinate Your Meat
This is an easy preparation tip that makes all the difference to the flavor of your meat.  Marinate the night before with a savory and sweet sauce like Jonathan Q BBQ ($4.29), which is made from all natural ingredients and ideal for grilling, baking and broiling.

Perfect Flipper
Here’s a great tool for the grill master in your group!  It’s a stainless steel Meat Hook ($9.96) from Sur La Table that makes flipping food mess-free and safe!

Fry on the Grill
Steaks, burgers and chicken are not the only things that can go on the BBQ.  We love cooking vegetables like sweet Vidalia onions, red and yellow peppers and Portobello mushroom caps in this Mesh Grill-Top Fry Pan ($29.95). Made from heavy-gauge, stainless steel wire, this fry plan creates perfect grill marks, while preventing food from falling into the fire.  And, its dishwasher safe for simple clean-up!

Corn Zipper
Fresh corn salad is a favorite side dish for summer meal but it can be labor intensive to cut the kernels off the cob. Now making it can be super efficient with this Corn Zipper ($12.95) which lets you uniformly strip off the corn.  We like tossing the corn with thinly sliced radishes, chopped parsley or cilantro, red onion, jalapenos, olive oil and lots of lime juice and pepper!

PHOTO CREDIT:  Sur La Table, Crate and Barrel, Williams Sonoma