Family Outdoor Fireplaces

Archive for the ‘Outdoor Activities’ Category

With an outdoor fireplace in your backyard or on your patio you can extend your outdoor activities long past the warm summer months.

The newest trend in entertaining is entertaining outdoors. New? After all, barbecues and picnics and deck parties have been around for decades. These days, though, the outdoor deck is more likely to be an extension of your indoor living space. All summer long, families breakfast under the trees, enjoy lunch under the shelter of a patio umbrella and lounge into the night beneath a sparkling sky. An outdoor fireplace on your deck or patio or in your backyard means that you can extend your outdoor entertaining year round.

Why put your backyard or patio under wraps when the first frost hits your area when you can plan an outdoor extravaganza around your outdoor fireplace? Here are some hints and ideas for throwing a winter party around your fireplace.

1. Plan an activity or theme. Outdoor parties in summertime are easy – everyone expects to be outdoors and enjoy the sunshine. In winter, you can plan an outdoor skating party, a snowball fight, an igloo building competition or a night of star-gazing. The key is to keep things interesting and active.
2. Keep the fire stoked. Since most people will be using the fireplace to warm their toes and keep their hands toasty, keep the cooking over the fireplace to the minimum. Some food suggestions for an outdoor fireplace winter party include:
- Grilled cheese sandwiches, preassembled and ready to heat over the coals
- A big pot of chicken dumpling soup simmering to the side with cups for easy dipping
- Hot chocolate, of course!
- Mulled cider is a must, simmered over the fire in an enormous pot and kept warm on the grate
- Toasted marshmallows to finish up the evening
3. Throw a pizza party. Set up tables beside the fireplace area to hold pizzas and thermos bottles full of mulled cider, warmed sangria and hot chocolate. Gather everyone around the fire for campfire sing-along’s!
4. Have you got an incline in your backyard? Take a step back to childhood with a sliding party. You can slick the ride ahead of time by building up the ice with a garden hose. Provide snow saucers, cardboard boxes and other sliding apparatus – and keep the fire warm for everyone to gather after sliding.

An fireplace outdoors can be romantic, offering a level of intimacy and warmth that will spark up any party.

Turn the fun-meter up on your outdoor party. An outdoor fireplace is the perfect setting for an old –fashioned camp-out and sing-along party.

Pitch some tents (a safe distance from the fire of course) then gather around your outdoor fireplace to roast some hotdogs and marshmallows. Break out the graham crackers and chocolate bars and make some s’mores. Mmmm. There’s nothing quite like the gooey-goodness of s’mores for a good time. You can place a grill over the fire for cooking other such delights as steak and chicken. Wrap potatoes in heavy tin foil and place on top of the hot ashes at the edge of the fire for baked potatoes. When they’re done, use tongs to retrieve them safely from the fire. How about some popcorn? There are popcorn makers specifically made for use over a fire. These keep the hot corn kernels from popping out and hitting someone in the face. It’s really neat to watch and listen as the kernels heat up and then begin popping. You can melt butter in a pan that is safe to use over a campfire. Don’t forget to use tongs, and an oven mitt to remove the hot pan from the fire to avoid getting burned.

Get everyone involved in singing several choruses of row; row your boat and other favorite songs that everybody can easily join in singing. When you have exhausted your recollection of songs to sing, try playing the “Camping Memory Game.” This is an alphabet and memory game that is lots of fun. It begins with the first person saying: The first person says: “I am going camping and I need to bring?” The player must choose a camping related item that begins with letter ‘A”. Food, clothing, camping gear, and even animals are accepted choices. Subsequent players need to state: “I am going camping and need to bring?” and then say all of the previous items chosen, and then add an item beginning with the next letter of the alphabet. Point out the different stars and planets visible in the night sky. This is educational and fun at the same time. No campout would be complete without the telling of a good old ‘ghost’ story. Just remember to keep them from getting ‘too scary’ for young children.

Gather around your outdoor fireplace for an outdoor party like none other. It will be a fun-filled, good time for all.