BBQ: simple, right?

Ngire (pronounced Ny-ree), one of our neighbors came over last Friday and invited us to a BBQ. I was still at my office on campus staring at the computer.

Here's the dialogue, according to Ngire, after it happened.

Standing at our door, Ngire says to Ryan, "Do you want to come over for a BBQ tonight?"

Ryan says to Ngire, "Sure, let's do hamburgers and chips. What time? We'll bring the buns, all the fixings for the hamburgers and the chips."

Ngire's thinking. . .What? Who cooks a hamburger at a BBQ? Must be an American thing. Weird. AND chips? What kind of chips? Does he mean cooked chips (American translation: fries), or frozen chips we need to cook? Or, does he mean potato chips?

This is when I get a phone call from Ryan. "Bridget, Ngire invited us over for a BBQ. We are bringing the buns, the fixings and the chips." Of course, I knew exactly what he meant! ;) "Do you want me to come get you so you can go with us?"

Not realizing I was starting to feel the affects of the flu and had no real desire for social interaction, I grumpily said, "Sure."

As soon as we get to Ngire's house, she walks out the door and says, "Bridget, you're going with me to the grocery store." And we quickly leave.

If only I had taken someone local grocery shopping with me weeks ago! It was so insightful. I learned how New Zealanders make their own ice cream sandwiches, that a BBQ is 2-3 meats with french bread, and Hokey Pokey is the best ice cream ever. I learned the difference between biscuits (cookies) and cookies. I learned the condiments for a hamburger are: the typical sauces, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, Edam cheese, beetroot, pineapple, eggs, and bacon! And you don't have hamburgers for a BBQ ;)

Once we returned to her house, I also learned how a New Zealander might make a hamburger. They were shocked when we said we just cook meat patties. Here's a NZ hamburger recipe:

Ground hamburger (called mince here)
eggs
Worcestershire sauce
garlic
onions
pesto
(I guess Ngire usually adds mushrooms as well, but didn't this night)
Mix it all together. Roll into balls. The BBQer makes the patties and adds cheese as soon as possible.

Because of my dairy thing (that is, I can't eat dairy, it makes me sick), I haven't eaten cheese in forever! But I tried a hamburger because I HAD to try her creation. OH MY LAND! Amazingly tasteful. . .for half the hamburger. Then I was done and wanted my boring patty back ;)