Did she use "was" because of "did" at the front? Why did she use past tense for "was" even though barbecue party is not done yet?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
Yes, "was" is used here because of the verb "did" which indicates past tense since it is the past tense form of "do". The past tense is used here to refer to what he thought in the past, even though the barbecue is still in the present.