Liven up the summer grilling season with this great vintage Tabasco Barbecue Sauce recipe

The birds are chirping merrily, the sun is shining like mad, and all eyes are gazing out the window. After another long winter and soggy spring, it's time! Time, that is to put on our favourite vintage sundresses, patio ensembles, and open-toed shoes and head outside for a fabulous al fresco meal, be it cooked indoors and brought out in Mother Nature's living room or prepared under the wide open June sky.


{Bust out the corn skewers, checkered table clothes, acrylic dishes, and charcoal briquettes, it's time to fire up the grill and settle in for a season of thoroughly scrumptious outdoor eats again. Image source.} 



So long as one isn't plagued by too many pesky insects, I could happily eat every last one of my meals outdoors all the way until early October, when autumn's distinctly nippy chill returns to the air. I'm by no means the first person to make this observation, but, I swear, food just tastes better outdoors - especially it happens to be accompanied by a soothingly warm summer breeze and a stunning sunset waltzing across the horizon.

Today's yesteryear recipe is one of those handy mid-century gems that we'd all do well to add to our cookbooks, especially at this roasty, toasty time of the year when grilling and campfire cooking come out in full force once more.

Hailing from the 1940s or 50s, based on the illustration on this recipe page (no background information was provided for it by the person who shared it on Flickr), this lip-lickingly appealing vintage Tabasco Barbecue Sauce recipe would be scrumptious way to dress up everything from chicken beasts to beef steaks, pork chops to veggie burgers, kebabs, hot dogs, seafood, meatloaf, even pizza cooked on the grill.



{Tangy, aromatic, and seriously tasty, with a good hit of spicy kick to it as well, this great mid-century Tabasco Barbecue Sauce recipe is a breeze to whip up and easily be multiplied however many times you need to feed the hungry crowd of diners you'll be feeding this summer. Image source.}



If you're not a fan of (or aren't, as is the case for me, able to safely eat spicy foods for medical reasons), fear not, you can leave out the Tabasco, and this sauce will still sing! I usually up the brown sugar to three or four tablespoons, reduce the vinegar by a tablespoon, and add in a little more (1/4 cup) ketchup, as I generally prefer a sweet, moist barbecue sauce to one that's searing with spicy heat.

You could easily toss in some of your favourite dried or fresh herbs here as well. Switch out the white vinegar for a flavoured one, opt for shallots or scallions instead of the onions, use oil instead of butter or margarine (especially if you wanted to ensure this sauce was vegetarian or vegan), use honey instead of white sugar, give it a good grinding's worth of freshly cracked black pepper as well (which I always do and it makes a noticeable improvement here). Or, of course, you can just as easily leave well enough alone and enjoy it precisely as it appears here.

After years of living in places that didn't permit one, very shortly after we got our own condo here in Penticton back in 2012, we invested in great barbeque and it's been one of my all-time favourite home related purchases we've ever made. It's already been fired up multiple times this spring and will continue to help us get many a tasty meal on the table all throughout the coming summer months.

Even if you don't have a barbecue of your own or ready access to one, you can still grill indoors with an electric grill, griddle, or under the broiler, and top your tasty creations with this wonderfully flavourful vintage barbecue sauce.

In fact, you can apply it to food cooked any old way you prefer (grilled or otherwise). Like any good sauce, this one is as versatile as the day is long and as a fabulous as summer is sunny, meaning it will work just as well drizzled over breakfast burritos in January as it does on plump rib eye steaks in June.