SouthseaScene

Keeping to the barbecue theme, chicken drumsticks are perhaps the easiest part of chicken to cook on the barbecue. It's easy to handle at the bone end. What to do with your chicken is very easy to answer! Here are some of my favourite flavouring: Oyster Sauce - this very versatile sauce liven up any chicken dish, whether you stir fry it or stick it on the barbecue Teriyaki Sauce - The Japanese answer to a barbecue sauce and it's simply good! Honey mustard - a tablespoon each of honey and wholegrain mustard for 8-10 drumsticks would give it a continental flavour. Garlic and chilli - this must be my all time favourite and the best combination of flavours in the world; try it for yourself! Add some lime for a Thai twist. Light the barbie, or on a rainy day, eat it indoors with your pretty picnic plates.

Summer is about enjoying the long, warm days and not stuck by the stove cooking labourious dinners. That's why the barbecue was invented! The simplest possible way to do the barbecue is to buy some sausages and burgers ready made in the supermarket. Foodie me, however, prefer to know what goes into my food. Making your own burger should not be difficult. Some prefer plain meat which they flavour later with tomatoes, lettuce, a slice of bacon, or a chunk of Stilton. I tend to mix lean steak mince with onions I have chopped up and caramelised in the pan with a spoonful of oil. Then to flavour it I raid the fridge for leftover chutney, chilli sauce or apricot conserve (my favourite!). You want to keep the mixture moist and to stick it all together, add an egg and mix well. This mixture is very good if you want to cut out gluten from your diet. Ready-made burgers often have rusk or breadcrumbs added for volume. What better to drink in the hot summer evenings than the very Brit...

Today the sun is shining gloriously and it's warm enough to walk around without a jacket. I like days like this in Southsea. The town just come alive and everyone seems to be happy. The kind of day that makes you want to sing and think of gardening or barbecuing with friends.