5:44
- food
- July 3, 2023
Easy outdoor entertaining hacks for summer
From the grill to the cooler, check out these ideas for your next barbecue.
5:44
For hot dogs, Costello suggests amping up the condiments and flavor by taking a page out of the Windy City's book -- Chicago dog-style.
She suggests starting with an all-beef frankfurter inside a poppy seed bun, topping it with yellow mustard, neon-green sweet pickle relish, chopped white onion, tomato slices, a dill pickle spear, Vienna Sports peppers and celery salt.
\"If you can't find the right buns,\" she said, \"you can just butter a plain bun with melted butter and add poppyseeds.\"
As for burgers, Costello likes to add mini flags to the top in order to distinguish cheeseburgers from plain hamburgers.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/redwhitebluepops_1688388957378_hpEmbed_21x11_384.jpg\")
To make patriotic-themed ice pops, Costello uses 5-ounce paper cups and combines blue sports drink, cranberry juice and lemonade to achieve a layered look.
\"Just freeze in layers, after you freeze the first layer, stick that popsicle stick in and [once finished] you've got a great red, white and blue pop for the kids,\" she said.
\"Remember cooling racks make great separators for beverages or food and beverages in the cooler,\" Costello said. \"They pop right in and still allow everything to stay cold while not sitting right on top of each other.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/showercapsides_1688388957377_hpEmbed_21x11_384.jpg\")
Her first tip to help ward off unwanted bugs, use a plastic shower cap to cover bowls or trays so that the elastic edge has a secure hold, ensuring a tight seal when people aren't serving food.
Next, she suggested another item from the bathroom that can help keep bugs away while entertaining outdoors.
\"Just grate Irish Spring [bar soap] with a cheese grater all around your yard to keep bugs at bay,\" she suggested.
","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Food/easy-outdoor-entertaining-hacks-summer/story?id=100480729","legacySlug":"/food/story/easy-outdoor-entertaining-hacks-summer-100480729","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"12:00","publishDate":"07-03-2023","updatedTime":"15:30","updatedDate":"07-03-2023","socialImage":{"alt":"Babs Costello shares her Fourth of July and outdoor entertaining tips.","credit":"brunchwithbabs","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/babsbbq_1688385476705_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"7/3/2023 12:00:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":100480729,"headline":"Easy outdoor entertaining hacks for summer","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA BABS COSTELLO RECIPES","description":"From the grill to the cooler, check out these ideas for your next barbecue.","duration":"5:44","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2023/07/230703_gma_costello_0846_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["78856597","78708368","99507082"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"July 1, 2025","headline":"Giant ice hack using a foil pan to keep food cold this summer","section":"food","slug":"/food/story/frozen-foil-pan-hack-perfect-things-cool-summer-78856597","id":78856597,"image":{"alt":"Giant ice hack using a foil pan to keep food cold this summer","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/tiktokpan-hack_1626330977728_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Dan McCarthy","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"July 3, 2025","headline":"Top 4 grilling hacks to level up your Fourth of July BBQ","section":"food","slug":"/food/story/summer-grilling-hacks-fourth-of-july-78708368","id":78708368,"image":{"alt":"Top 4 grilling hacks to level up your Fourth of July BBQ","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/Basics_070621_v01_DG_1625678795163_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"ABC News Photo Illustration, Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"May 24, 2023","headline":"Fire up the grill for Memorial Day with these expert tips, tricks and recipes","section":"food","slug":"/food/story/fire-grill-memorial-day-weekend-expert-tips-tricks-99507082","id":99507082,"image":{"alt":"Fire up the grill for Memorial Day with these expert tips, tricks and recipes","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/KennyGilbert-grilling_1684954657962_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Kristen Penoyer","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Easy outdoor entertaining hacks for summer","description":"From the grill to the cooler, check out these ideas for your next barbecue.","duration":"5:44","uploadDate":"07-03-2023","publication":"07-03-2023","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2023/07/230703_gma_costello_0846_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2023/07/230703_gma_costello_0846_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/food/story/easy-outdoor-entertaining-hacks-summer-100480729"}},"playlist":[{"id":"132054443","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054798","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132033010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131912713","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131830583","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131834976","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554815","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131543053","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131432442","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131121474","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131247079","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131228784","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131178806","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131142257","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131046664","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131048076","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131033212","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"130999943","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"130971027","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:food:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"food","title":"Easy outdoor entertaining hacks for summer","pubTime":"08:00","pubDate":"07-03-2023","modTime":"11:30","modDate":"07-03-2023","taxonomyTags":"none","id":100480729,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Easy outdoor entertaining hacks for summer","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA BABS COSTELLO RECIPES","videoId":100480729,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/food/story/easy-outdoor-entertaining-hacks-summer-100480729"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/100480729","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/100480729","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};