GRILLING LIFESTYLE

THE PERFECT OUTDOOR EXPERIENCE

Whether you are setting up a full outdoor kitchen or just want to throw a few steaks on a portable barbeque, the grill is a big part of living outdoors… and having the right barbeque can make your summer experience complete. With so many options on the market, it can be hard to figure out just what might suit your life and your backyard. The first step is to consider your lifestyle. Are you a gourmet chef looking to create a whole meal outdoors, or do you just want a good grill to get those burgers tasting great? Al Jackson of Jackson Grills in Duncan, British Columbia says a buyer needs to know what kind of cooking they want to do. “Barbequing and grilling are two different things.” Jackson says gas grills, be it propane or natural gas, are great for convenience. They come up to temperature very quickly and are designed to function well in cold climates. Charcoal, says Jackson, impart a unique flavor but it takes more time. “It’s a bit more of an event. When you want to cook on your charcoal grill you want to do it on a weekend or when you are having guests.” Ninety-five percent of grills in Canada are gas fired, but Jackson says charcoal is seeing a big resurgence in Canada.

Once you’ve settled on the type of cooking surface, Jackson says it is important to think ahead to how you’ll use it. He recommends thinking about rotisserie options. The most popular option is becoming an infrared rotisserie burner. It’s a ceramic burner located in the back of the grill so meat dripping off the rotisserie does not hit a hot burner and cause flare ups. “The infrared energy transmits to the meal and locks in the juices and creates almost like a crust on the outside of the meat that keeps all the juices on the inside.”

Just like your kitchen, having the right tools can make grilling easier, and more fun. Here are a few options to bring some style to your outdoor grill:

*Smoker Boxes: These popular new tools can impart all sorts of new flavours to your food. Hickory wood chips are great with beef while fish is nice cooked with apple wood.

*Grill Stone: This may sound a little odd but these stones are made from quarried porous rock. The stone is placed on the grill and the meat is placed directly on top. The stone slab prevents flare ups but also creates an even heat for superior cooking.

*Lighting: Tired of juggling tongs and a flashlight or cooking in the dark, today’s grill aficionados are making BBQ lighting the most popular grill accessory on the market right now. The LED lights are mounted off the rotisserie grill or off the side shelf and make year round grilling easier.

Try a steam cleaner for your BBQ, these are a twist on the traditional BBQ brush, they add water to the mix which the hot grill turns to steam for an easy, non-chemical, way to clean the grill.

TIPS FOR CREATING YOUR OWN VACATION AT HOME

So you’ve decided to take your vacation at home this year… but before you settle in you may want to set some ground rules to make sure everyone is ready to relax together.

• Act like you’re on vacation. Turn off your blackberry or cell phone.

• Do you want the kids buried in their DS or iPod? If this may be a hazard, lay down some rules about when and where the use of electronics will be allowed.

• If you were away on vacation you’d have things planned. Plan a family game or buy a volleyball net for the pool to keep people together and having fun.

• Take some pictures. Every other vacation has photos of the kids swimming or playing around, why should this be any different?

• Eat like you’re on holiday. The BBQ can cook different things at the same time. Why not make burgers for the kids while making something more adventurous for the adults?

• Decide who is on vacation with you. Is it just family or do you want the whole neighbourhood dropping in? Maybe have a pool party to see your friends but keep some time for yourselves too.

• Don’t treat this like a second choice. Whether you have decided to stay home for financial reasons or just because you’re tired of being on the go all the time, make this a time for you and your family. Get in the pool, go bike riding or go for a walk. Have fun!

STAYCATION

A VACATION GETAWAY RIGHT IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD

Blackberries and iPads, telecommuting and flex-time: they were all contrived with the idea of making our lives easier. Instead, they seem to tether us all the more tightly to work. The ever present call of the office makes quality vacation time more important, yet a still suffering economy and the rising cost of travel make getting away from it all harder to do.

It’s a conundrum Maureen Shade solved by building her own vacation getaway right in her own backyard. “We decided this would be our country home,” she says about her family’s plan to redesign their Toronto backyard. “I don’t feel like I’m in the city.”

The result has been a pool with cabana, a hot tub, a basketball court, as well a fire pit and eating area. “It gives a peaceful, tranquil feeling.” Shade says she often comes home after a stressful day and just steps outside for a moment to feel the atmosphere help release her tension.

“I love it. I love it. I even put a heater outside, she says, adding the outdoor spaces get used more than the indoor rooms. “My kids do homework out there. We’ve gotten to the point that they can watch television out there. It’s really like a home outside.”

The idea of creating that vacation atmosphere at home is one that’s really catching on says BonaVista Leisurescapes owner Jennifer Gannon. “Over the last few years we have seen noticeable growth in the number of requests for people who are seeking a backyard oasis as an alternative to a cottage.”

Whether’s it’s just a hot tub or a full redesign of the yard, people want to use their backyards in ways they haven’t in the past. “People are designing space outdoors with the same care and attention as they decorate their interiors,” says Gannon.

For her part, Nova Scotia mom Nancy Bossuyt was tired of taking the kids out to the lake after a busy week. “That was just way too much work.” Putting a pool in her yard has changed more than just the family gas bill; it has changed their whole lifestyle. “Last summer we took two weeks off and we just stayed at home.”

Bossuyt credits the change to her local pool and spa dealer Holland Home Leisure. Part owner Brad Sweet says he started promoting the idea of a vacation at home when his own family vacation became more work than fun. The cottage lawn had to be mowed more often than the family could get away, and the trips down south didn’t seem to have the staying power they hoped for.

“My wife works and I work. We have done the trips away and it’s a fantastic time but when you get home it’s done. What do you do for the rest of the 50 weeks?”

Instead Sweet opted for an inground pool and has never looked back. “Live life now is my theory. Everything is based on payments today. It’s affordable, whether you’re putting $200 away a month for a family vacation or $200 for a hot tub or pool.”

For her part, Maureen Shade says after three summers of having their new backyard, her three teenage kids don’t even ask to go away on vacation. “I would do it again in a heartbeat, and I would do it as opposed to a cottage.” Friends and neighbours refer to the yard as heaven and Shade agrees. You can almost hear the tension drain from her voice and she looks into her yard. “It’s our oasis, really it is.”

THE BENEFITS OF HYDROTHERAPY

For centuries mankind has been using hot water to cure what ails us. From the Roman baths to the backyard hot tub, we love to soak in warm water to relax and soothe our aches and pains. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, is reputed to have prescribed hydrotherapy to his patients thousands of years ago. Today, people suffering from arthritis, fibromyalgia, soft tissue injuries, diabetes and even the common cold are seeing benefits from simply soaking in a relaxing hot tub.

“We discovered the real benefit of it quite by accident,” says Nova Scotia orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Eric Howatt. His wife suffered injuries after a serious car accident in 1999. She was talked into trying a friend’s hot tub one night when she was in particular pain. “She got in the hot tub at their request and she was like a new person when she came out.” It wasn’t long before the Howatt’s had their own hot tub and she was using it two or three times a day. “It was the thing that kept her going,” says Dr. Howatt.

Saskatoon writer Bonnie Zink too finds relief soaking in hot water. She uses a jet bathtub, but the result is the same. A long time sufferer of osteoarthritis, she often finds medications don’t alleviate the aching in her back and neck enough. She says soaking in hot water works wonders. “It loosens my muscles, which then alleviates the pains that I experience. Headaches dissipate. Joints become limber and almost pain free.”

Hydrotherapy is commonly used in physiotherapy and rehabilitation activities but having a hot tub at home can provide immediate relief for everything from diabetes to sleep problems. Doug Gillespie of Hydropool Hot Tubs in Toronto says a lot of customers report a calmer, healthier lifestyle after buying a hot tub. “The number one reason people are buying hot tubs is for well-being and stress relief. If you can hop into a hot tub and the snow is falling or the stars are out, spend a little time with your family and friends, a hot tub allows people to reconnect. Outside of the health benefits it certainly promotes a lot of togetherness for the family.”

New products are also improving the hot tub experience. Lorette Kalender, CEO of Pharmaspa, is promoting the use of aromatherapy and herbal supplements in the bath or hot tub. “One of my customers, since they started using our tiger balm crystals, no longer takes pain killers. They soak in that every day and they no longer have to take medication.” The theory behind the therapeutic fragrance is that while the body absorbs the water care products in the hot tub water, it is also absorbing the beneficial extracts in the aromatherapy product.

Regardless of the marketing spin, medical evidence supports hot tub health claims. Soaking in hot water lowers blood pressure and allows the blood to bring more oxygen deeper into the tissue, while at the same time more efficiently cleaning out the carbon dioxide. More antibodies are produced, therefore boosting the immune system, and endorphins, which are the body’s natural pain killer, are released easing aches and pains. So do something good for yourself and go soak in a hot tub to allow the warm water soothe your body and mind!