My husband loves a good deal almost as much as he loves his BBQ.  So when ACE Hardware recently had a sale on BBQ’s, we had to purchase the biggest one. Why?Because that has the biggest savings of course!

It doesn’t matter that we already own a BBQ or that we live in a building that technically doesn’t allow BBQs.  (Although most people have a small one anyway.)  It doesn’t even matter that the new BBQ is so big it would take up most of our balcony and block our beautiful view of the Palm Jumeirah.  The BBQ simply had to be purchased and  my husband was so excited that I didn’t have the heart to argue.  In fairness we will be moving to a villa in a couple of months where the BBQ will find a more appropriate home but more importantly, one day I will desire something equally ridiculous.  This moment will be remembered.

Photo courtesy of http://www.erento.com

Yesterday, our brand new Weber Summit Series E 670 BBQ arrived, the crown jewel of the Weber family, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen my husband smile so big.  Who doesn’t need 6 burners, 769 square inches of cooking space, a sear station (?), a built-in stainless steel smoker box, a rotisserie system big enough to cook two turkeys or a small pig, a side burner and an infrared burner (whatever the heck that does).  As the huge box rolled through our living room, I could actually see visions of rotisserie chickens, baby back ribs and slabs of perfectly cooked steak dancing through his mind.

We had a few friends over to celebrate this momentous occasion.  Cold beers in hand, the boys methodically tested each of the new gadgets and lovingly laboured over four racks of applewood smoked baby back ribs (my husband has a rule that there must be a whole rack of ribs per guest) and a beer can chicken (for our non-pork eating friend).  I made enough homemade mac n’ cheese and coleslaw to feed an army while my girlfriend and I watched the show with a bottle of sauvignon blanc.  And when it began to smell like there was a raging applewood campfire on our deck I was the voice of reason that suggested the smoker box might just be a little too effective for our current surroundings.

In the end, we all sat down to a delicious family-style BBQ feast.  Meaty, saucy baby back ribs with a perfect pink layer of smoke flavour on the outside, tender morsels of delicious chicken, repeated servings of mac n’cheese and coleslaw (apparently 5 people are capable of eating enough mac n’cheese for an army) and just to make sure no one went home hungry, homemade brownies with sticky salted caramel sauce for dessert.  Overall it was a successful, high calorie BBQ event.

This morning, this shiny stainless steel and black enamel specimen stands proudly on our balcony waiting for its next mission.  It looks undeniably ridiculous but as I nibble on leftover baby back ribs for breakfast, I certainly can’t complain about the results.   Perhaps I don’t mind this whole man/BBQ relationship after all.