This year, it’s felt like the summer is never going to come. The spring started far too early for most of Europe, and then we were plunged back into winter. Consequently, any ideas of summer picnics and barbecues have been put right to the back of most people’s minds.

However, just in the last week or so, the sunshine has come back and it really feels now like summer is on the way.

Time to get the barbecue out and clear off the cobwebs, located the barbecue tongs and dig out what’s left of last year’s charcoal and fire lighter supplies.

One thing that’s making me think about barbecue-ing more often is seeing the sunny world of the Foster’s good call boys – Brad and Dan. If you haven’t seen any of these ads yet, you can see them all on fosters.co.uk as well as catching them on British TV.

They’re great because they’re funny and always set in sizzling sunshine. And sometimes you see the boys enjoying barbecues in the beach shack along with the perfect complement of an ice cold beer.

So next time you’re going to have friends round for a meal, why not make it a barbecue? They’re fun, easy to prepare for and generally much more relaxed than a usual dinner party. With the approach of the London Olympics and Euro 2012, there’ll be plenty of sporting occasions to base them round too.

If you’re going to have a lot of people coming, then make sure you get enough preparation done the day before, so you don’t have to spend too much time in the kitchen when your visitors are actually there. Meats can be marinated the day before, and kebabs can also be prepared in advance. You can toss the salads first thing in the morning and store them somewhere cool until you’re ready to eat.

Make life even easier for yourself by asking a couple of the guests to bring a dessert and don’t forget to put the beers on ice in plenty of time.