It’s a warm summer evening, the sound of lawnmowers is in the air. The sun is hours away from setting, it’s teatime, and the smell of your neighbours’ cut grass is slowly being replaced by the aromas coming out of your barbecue. What nicer way to spend evenings like this than with your family, in the garden? And with an Arctic Cabin, BBQ-ing isn't just limited to these Summer months...
It’s less appealing when you have to brush a foot of snow off the barbecue, a gentle summer breeze is quite nice when you’re standing over the coals but when the wind is a driving icy blast that would make a polar bear think about his life choices, and your teeth are chattering way too quickly to eat a burger, it’s less appealing.
That is, of course, unless you own an Arctic Cabins BBQ Hut.
Over Christmas, it's heartwarming to see how many families enjoy their BBQ Hut, from Christmas morning breakfast on that fabulous central, integrated BBQ grill, to bangers and burgers to see in the New Year. Arctic Cabins BBQ Hut owners certainly get the most out of their investment.
It’s not just barbecues though. When you own a log cabin, the unpredictability of the great British weather is no match for your desire for getting out of the house. Owning a timber garden building is a great way to extend the range of outdoor activities open to you.
These are some of the ways that Arctic Cabin owners have taken advantage of the shelter of their BBQ Hut.
Poker night is the best night of the week for Andy and his friends and, as the bluffs come thick and fast, what better than having one eye on the hand you’ve been dealt and the other on the mouth-watering steaks sizzling on the BBQ grill.
There’s a poker expression ‘chip and a chair’ which means no matter how low in chips you get in a tournament, you still have a chance; all you need is a chip and a chair. The ‘chairs’ in a BBQ hut are perfect for poker. The adaptable benches around the wall of the cabin make the ideal seating for keeping your hand secret while also allowing eye contact with everyone in the game. Sitting opposite each other in the round, you can try to work out if they are bluffing or fake thinking. Fake thinking is when a player pretends to think about a decision when in fact they have already made their mind up – a bit like when you come to our Nottingham show-site and step inside a cabin – your mind is made up instantly, even if you pretend otherwise to your family!!
The table, fitted around the grill, also gives you a perfect place to put down your hand while you pick up your beer! Or even better, go for an Arctic Bar - these are an amazing addition to your cabin, and perfect as you don't even have to go inside to get more drinks!
That feeling when it’s just the two of you. You can’t beat it, can you? A glass of wine (or two), a romantic dinner slowly cooking on your BBQ Hut’s grill, the world locked outside just for a couple of hours. Lovely!
Your Arctic Cabins BBQ hut is perfect for date night any time of the year. You can have mood lighting that sets just the right tone, lock out the cold on a wintry night thanks to the double-glazed windows and just BE together.
The ‘in the round’ seating allows you to eat side by side or opposite one another so you can look into each other’s eyes over that grill as your ‘Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Dark Cherry Sauce’ sizzles before you. You don’t want to spend all night grilling! A quick and easy grilled pork tenderloin, where the pork tenderloin is basted with a dark cherry glaze made from dark sweet cherries, cherry preserves, shallots and balsamic vinegar is a wonderfully tasty romantic BBQ idea that is fast and easy to prepare and cook. (Hmmmm - makes a mental note to write a blog about romantic BBQ ideas before February 14th).
You should have seen the Arctic Cabin BBQ Hut that we dressed for Christmas at our Nottingham show site! We really went to town on the decor & it was fabulous to see the hut 'all dressed up'
The Arctic Cabins BBQ Hut is based on an original idea from Finland and the Scandinavian influences lend themselves perfectly to the festive period. Even more so if the weather delivers some snow!
There is something very special about that spruce aroma from the timbers of a log cabin at any time of the year and at Christmas it creates an even more magical thrill for your senses. Breathing in that scent just feels ‘Christmassy’. Our tree looked real (it wasn’t) and thanks to the cabin – it smelled real too.
When your family’s faces are lit jointly by the lights of the tree and the coals of the barbecue, as snow falls and settles on the sills of those double glazed windows, and as mulled wine warms in a pan (adding its unmistakable spicy scent to the air) – you’d be forgiven for thinking that you’re in Lapland.
The potential that exists for mood lighting your Arctic Cabins BBQ Hut allows you and your family to get really creative! So, what better time to go all out than at Halloween?
With the lighting options available you can create a spooky, eery orange glow to accentuate the effect of your decorative skeletons, spider webs, ghosts and ghouls. All of this creates the perfect atmosphere for the main event – your spooky Halloween themed barbecue!! Here are some BBQ Halloween ideas shared by Arctic Cabins owners.
Spooky Ribs - Barbecue ribs in your favourite way and then display them like a skeleton and serve with lashings of ketchup!
Meatball Spiders – Each spider is made of one large meatball for the abdomen and a smaller one for the cephalothorax (the ‘head’) and eight twiglets for legs. Serve on a web of spaghetti with a dash of Bolognese sauce for an extra spooky effect!
Cheese Straw Witch Fingers – Create a dough with grated cheddar cheese and fashion into fingers (don’t worry about straightness – witches’ fingers are bent and wizened!). Add an almond slice to the end of each finger (for the nail) and bake on a pizza stone on the BBQ grill or in the oven.
Dough Ball Eyeballs – A pizza stone is a great addition to your BBQ grill accessories and can be used to create monstrous eyeballs. Split dough into balls, making a hole with your thumb into which you push a green olive. If you’re feeling extra creative, pipe on some pizza base tomato puree to add a bloodshot effect.
Sausage Fingers – A twist on pigs in blankets. Once you’ve grilled your piggies, use a paring knife to cut away about a centimetre and a half of bacon and, with the same knife, shave or slice the same amount of skin off the top of the sausage underneath to create a fingernail. The bacon creates a parched looking finger effect and the sausage meat inside makes the perfect nail! (If you’re looking for a simpler way to achieve the same effect, slicing a sausage at a diagonal can also create an effective ‘finger nail’ when grilled – with your knife you can add slits to create folds like a knuckle too!)
Anyone whose birthday falls in the summer will have wonderful childhood memories of parties in the garden with all the jelly and ice cream, the finger sandwiches cut into rectangles (crust off, of course!) and, naturally, the cake.
Looking back now, as a parent, I can see that the whole exercise was designed to create less mess to clear up indoors – any crumbs would be ‘hoovered’ up by the birds, any spillages would either soak into the lawn or dry in the sun. At the time, it felt like such a treat though, an experience that would live in the memory of all who attended forever!
My friend, whose birthday fell in January, never got to hold such a party – those spillages would have turned to ice anyway!
With an Arctic Cabins BBQ Hut, whether a birthday falls on the longest day or the shortest, at the height of summer or the depths of winter, no matter if the mercury is soaring to record highs or plunging to shivering lows – you can celebrate in the same way. You can create the same memories and take consistent photographs (all my childhood birthday photos are in the sun-soaked garden, my friend’s were all indoors with the ‘big light’ on!).
Whenever you use your Arctic Cabin, there are so many memories to be made!!
Call 0115 932 8888, explore our cabins online or, even better, visit our Nottingham Show-Site & meet the team, where you can step into 4 sizes of Arctic Cabins BBQ huts, Cabins with side rooms and a selection of Cabin Master buildings including Offices, Gyms and Garden Rooms and where we can help you with designs, pricing and more.
The great British weather is unpredictable! Thanks to our 10 year manufacturer’s guarantee (ask about this too), Arctic Cabins can give you and your family an outdoor space you can enjoy all year round and not just for special occasions like the ones listed here.
An Arctic Cabin BBQ Hut is the perfect escape whenever and for whatever your heart desires.