Last Chance Pickles for the Final Bank Holiday Cookout

Right, let's be honest with each other: this is probably the last proper BBQ weekend of the summer. The August Bank Holiday has a bittersweet job to do — one final cookout before jumpers, jacket potatoes, and pretending we're all fine about the nights drawing in.

So we're not going quietly. 

We're going out with the best pickle spread of the season.

Here's how to send summer off properly.

Build a pickle board nobody can resist. Little bowls of pickled onions, cucumbers, and something spicy laid out alongside the usual crisps and dips instantly makes a BBQ spread look like you tried (you did, but nobody needs to know how little effort it took).

Pickle your burger and hot dog toppings the night before. A quick pickle needs next to no lead time, but doing it the evening before means you're not stood at the hob mid-cookout while everyone's waiting for their food. Dill & Mustard for the classics, Scotch Bonnet & Lemon if your crowd likes it hot.

Don't sleep on pickled fruit. Late-summer stone fruit — peaches, plums, nectarines — takes brilliantly to a quick pickle in Spiced Apple with Cinnamon & Cardamom. Sounds unexpected, tastes like the best thing on the table. Great alongside grilled halloumi or a cheeseboard as the evening winds down.

Make extra. Whatever you pickle for the Bank Holiday will keep in the fridge for weeks, so you might as well make a full jar's worth. Future you, eating leftover pickles straight from the fridge in your pants on a Tuesday, will be very grateful.

As always: Pick it, Prep it, Plonk it, Pour over it. Ten minutes of effort, days of payoff.

However you're spending the last long weekend of summer, we hope there's a jar of something pickled on the table. Here's to one final cookout before autumn properly arrives.