Prosecco on ice - a great way to end a day

Last Sunday we had a busy day in the garden, but I was determined that for once - and on what was the warmest day of the year - that we'd also find time to just be, and sit in our garden and enjoy it. Sometimes it's just too hot for working in the garden isn't it?  So after spending a fair bit of time cleaning the greenhouse so it sparkled and cleaning the barbecue so it was clean enough, well to cook off, we did just that.

And I had a masterplan up my sleeveless top. That was to use two of my recent blog deliveries, as in preparation I'd already bought some ice. That's not something I usually do, but when you need large quantities it's the easiest way, although in hindsight I didn't buy anywhere near as much as I needed to fill my new Wham Flexi-Square carry all. But with three bags of ice and, although I say it myself, some clever use of bubble wrap it worked - note to self, I'll need a lot more ice, or a lot more bottles(!) to make this work - but it'll be ideal for a party. In fact just like the party we're having in June to celebrate our 110th.

I'm a big fan of these plastic trugs and regularly use them for gardening, we currently have four at home - bright pink, boring green, zingy red and vibrant yellow - plus another bright pink one on the allotment, but I didn't fancy using any of these for this.

Those are all round, this one's obviously square and a great lime green colour; so much more subtle than any I already had. It's the larger size, which has a capacity of 25L - so it'll take a lot of ice and more importantly store a party amount of bottles too.

The best things about barbecues are that I don't have to do anything. Actually, scratch that. For barbecues in our house I become the Sous Chef, prepping everything in advance and handing over to the Chef de Partie (MOH) for the manly barbecue cooking ritual. Which is actually fine, as it means I can sit and direct operations. And with a view like this, that's often a good thing.

On this occasion I made use of my "free" time to take a closer look at the Premier Estates Prosecco which I'd been sent to try. I know, sometimes it's a tough gig, hey? I wasn't sure about why, or if, a small 20cl bottle would be a good idea, but actually it turned out well as I made a couple of apertifs to whet our appetite, and it was just the right amount.

I added a splash of elderflower liqueur to the bottom of the glass along with some frozen raspberries which we'd grown on the allotment last year and topped the glasses up with the small bottle of prosecco. I wasn't expecting it to be a screw top (that's just the smaller bottle) and that makes it more useable, but not that I needed to put the top back on...

Meanwhile, the manly cooking was going quicker than expected - I think he needs a bit more practice, but to be fair it's early in the barbecue season isn't it?

With dinner cooked it was time to open the rosè. If I get a choice of normal or pink champagne I'd opt for the pin everytime so I was looking forward to this. And with MOH back in his sommelier role, all was good. I bet you want to know what it tastes like, don't you? Well, it was good and very drinkable. The alcoholic volume was low at 11%, but more importantly it was a dry prosecco and so not too sweet. I think this is why it's so drinkable. And at £7.99 a bottle it's reasonably priced and I'd consider buying for a celebration. Actually it'd be great for those sunny afternoons in the garden, when the celebration is that it's sunny. You have those too right?

So - and as I'm watching BGT as I'm typing this - both of these get a yes from me. 

And here's to plenty more barbecues too. I think the start of April is our earliest ever - have you barbecued yet?

* I was sent the prosecco and trug free of charge for the purposes of this post, but all views and opinions are my own.