How to create a feast for 14 for $80

My family used to go out to restaurants to get together, but last year we individually got interested in cooking at home. It was probably prompted in part by the hassle of parking, getting a table if you didn't book ahead, and the high prices in restaurants.

Mum isn't too happy about her sons and their families crowding into the house, especially to eat - no space around the table - so I've settled on barbeques, which are consumed outside the house. It helps that I took over a Charbroil gas-powered barbeque pit from a friend who was moving. It has a good flame and a lid, which makes things much easier to cook - less chance of the "burnt outside, inside raw" problem so common in barbeques.

Just set up a couple of mahjong tables in the drive, cram chairs around them, and turn on the garden lights.


On the menu:

Australian chilled boneless lamb leg at $35.55, from QB ( I go down there once every few weeks to top up on meats and stuff), two packs of lamb sausages from Rudi's, opposite QB, ($11), and two bags of potatoes ($2).

I found half a bag of quinoa in the house and made a salad, using some leftover tomatoes, cucumber, mushroom and sour cream. (All essentially free, because they were all bought for other reasons and were in danger of dying in the fridge.) The sour cream was also offered around to go with the potatoes.

Dessert was white wine jelly, made with a bottle of Moscatel I got on sale at Shop n Save for $11.95.

For drinks, decided to go with sangria, because it is refreshing. Used an old orange (the last from a bag that I bought because it was on sale), which was a little dry because it was old, but usable for my purposes, a lemon (50 cents), three tins of pineapple juice ($1.95), a bottle of Sprite ($1.80) and a litre of orange juice ($1.80), a bottle of red wine on sale at 10.95, and a cup of rum - I asked someone who was going to Manila to get me some, and got a bottle of Tanduay rum, aged for 5 years, for less than $10. These ingredients made three jugs, which could be topped up with more Sprite.


The really convenient thing about barbies is that everything cooks over the same fire, which makes cooking simple. The sausages can be put on the grill just like that, the potatoes wrapped in foil, and the leg of lamb marinated with salt and fresh ground ginger, then wrapped in foil.

Because everyone was eating outside, I used disposable plates and cups, which saved the trouble of cleaning. Not very eco-friendly, I know, but these disposables were taken home from another barbeque, where the host wanted to throw them away, so at least they were used before being chucked. Anyway, I wouldn't have bought cups - I wash out those plastic ones that they serve me drinks in, and would have used my stash.

I used the car as a serving table, putting the jugs of drinks on it, spare plates etc.

The evening was cool and dry, like so many nights have been recently, so everyone was in a good mood, and anyway, the sangria would have seen to that. Being outside, there was no TV to distract us from the bonhomie and conversation - notice how some kid will always turn on the TV and set the volume high, on some dumb show whenever you're eating indoors in someone's house?

A good time was had by all, and they have suggested I have another barbie soon.

Considering how everyone stuffed themselves, and was happy, and my cost was about $80, I might just do that.