Avoid Heating Your Home with Outdoor Cooking

There is a reason that so many people enjoy cooking outside during the hot summer months. Turning on your oven can instantly add unwanted heat to your house, combating your efforts to keep it cool. In order to keep the temperatures down indoors, grills across the country are being fired up! Other than the typical charcoal grill or gas/electric grill, which have become beloved family classics, there are many other exciting options that you can use to create backyard delicacies.

An outdoor brick oven has become a popular choice for permanent outdoor cooking solutions. These wood-fired ovens are not only beautiful, but they are also perfect for cooking everything from pizza to lobster! They are a perfect way to turn your backyard into a gourmet kitchen. A Turkey Rocket Roaster is a great way to prepare delicious poultry dishes outside of your home. It has a unique roasting chamber that acts like a Dutch Oven and not only cooks a delicious chicken or turkey, but will also cook ribs, pork, seafood, vegetables, and more. It uses charcoal to cook the food, providing that great charcoal flavor while sealing in the juices. The Rocket Roaster costs up to 2/3 less than comparable gas and oil cookers. A grill with a built-in BBQ smoker is also a great way to add variety to your meals. The smoke chamber on these devices can use charcoal or specialized wood chips that smoke meat to give it a unique and mouth-watering flavor!

With any of these cooking methods, you gain the ability to cook without heating up your entire home. The clean up is a breeze, and the food is prepared with ease. Give them a try and you might never want to cook inside again!

Brick Oven Turkey Rocket Roaster Smoker Grill

Hammock Swings Are Perfect Comfort

Traditional hammocks are an inviting place to nap the afternoon away or snuggle up with a friend, but sitting up and reading in a traditional hammock is not particularly easy.  Hammock swings, on the other hand, combine the body-hugging comfort of a traditional hammock, the back and head support of a chair, and the rhythmic movement of a swing.  These qualities make the hammock swing a perfect place to relax and enjoy a good book, admire the scenery, or just daydream.  Of course, napping the afternoon away is easy to do in a hammock swing, too.

Pool Area Privacy Screens

Privacy Screen

Having space and open areas around your pool is a good idea – lots of room to run and play and plenty of places to relax. However, all that open space can also leave you open to the public’s prying eyes. Nosey neighbors or passers-by will have a full view of your every move. A privacy screen can give you a sense of security and a place to feel free of wandering eyes. Outdoor privacy screens are weatherproof and mildew, UV ,and fade resistant. They are foldable and lightweight making them easy to move.

In addition to protecting you, privacy screens can also be can be used to hide unsightly areas like garbage cans, compost bins, and air conditioning units. They can save you from having to see busy streets, messy yards next door, or other things that obstruct your view. Whether you are using the screens to shield yourself or block an unsightly view, you can rest assured that you will have a beautiful and useful addition to your back yard.

Teak Privacy ScreenSunburt Privacy ScreenTall Teak Privacy Screen

Sandboxes Are a Never-Ending Classic

 

Experts agree that the simpler the plaything, the more effectively kids are able to create and imagine.  Nothing is simpler than sand, and nothing gets a kid’s creativity and imagination going quite like an old-fashioned sandbox.

Kids of all ages flock to sandboxes in parks and at schools, and who can resist that ultimate sandbox — the beach.   It doesn’t matter whether children have elaborate sand tools, cups and spoons from the kitchen, or nothing but their hands and feet, there seems no limit to the fun they can have with sand.

Put a sandbox in the backyard and your kids will spend hours building, pretending, creating, and experiencing the best kind of play, active play that engages the mind and the body.  They may even forget about the TV and the computer games that so easily lull them into a zombie-like stupor.  It’s amazing how such a simple substance as sand can offer so many possibilities and bring so much enjoyment.

Beach Chairs of All Kinds

Beach Canopy Chair

Are you and your family going to the beach this summer? If you are like me, you have already spent endless hours day dreaming about your trip. I already have most of my “equipment” ready to go, but I recently decided that we would get new beach chairs to take along with us. After you total the cost of renting a chair everyday, I knew that we would save money in the long run. Also, we can use the chairs year round for other activities.

I quickly discovered that there are some VERY cool chairs available! For example, the Beach Canopy Chair (pictured above) is a low profile, light weight chair perfect for digging your toes into the sand or letting the ocean waves wash over you. It has variable reclining positions and an adjustable canopy to shade you from the sun. It even comes with a carrying case which makes it perfect for beach travel. (There are children’s versions available, too!)

Another great chair is the Folding Sports Couch. This seat is big enough for two adults or three children and holds up to 500 pounds. It has two zippered pockets to store water, keys, sunglasses, etc. It has a strap for easy carrying, and it comes in four different colors. There are several other chairs that I am interested in at backyardcity.com. I am sure that they have the perfect one for you, too!

Folding Sports Couch