Thursday, October 20, 2011

Barn Burner BBQ

Paul and I traveled last weekend with our cabin on wheels to Libertyville, Illinois,


to work with our nephew Chad as he competed in


a KCBS sanctioned contest. Chad arrived at Lamb's Farm on Friday morning to set up and get organized and we got there in the early afternoon. We were challenged with a brisk, cold and blustery wind all weekend. We had to batten down the hatches so things didn't blow across Lake Michigan!!!! Paul and I returned to the warmth of our camper Friday night while poor Chad stayed at the contest site and braved the cold to tend the smokers.

When we returned on Saturday morning, there was a smoky haze over the contest cooking area.


The place was hopping. There were 57 teams from across the United States in the competition.

My favorite part of the event was spending time bonding with my nephew.


He is a master chef, let me tell you. He cooked six racks of ribs, two briskets and two pork shoulders for the contest.


He also did chicken thighs


and chicken breasts.


Once the turn in times started, we were all busy preparing the boxes. First turn in was chicken. Wow, believe me, it was so good!!!!


He placed tenth in chicken, which is fantastic in a contest with that many teams!!!

Next turn in was ribs. He used Berkshire for the first time and they were fantastic. I thought they were perfect. I am NOT being biased, either. We are certified judges, you know!!!!


Next turn in was pork shoulder. Again, extremely good, I must say. So moist.


And last was brisket. Chad understands how to smoke a brisket. His tasted fantastic on Saturday.


I can only imagine your mouth is watering as you look at these pictures. Everything tasted as good as it looks. There was lots left for us to sample!


Yum!


And, just to make it an even greater weekend, I was able to hold our new great-niece, Anna Grace.


She was born to Chad and Emily a little over a month ago! She melted my heart. She is Marlys and Paul's first granddaughter. Quite a beautiful addition to their five grandsons!

Thanks to Chad for letting us join in the competition. Next year, nephew Kevin will hopefully be able to join us again.  Team DGQ, what a fine tradition!!!! Have I said today I'm glad we're retired?

We did some meandering on our way home from Chicago with Bauxite Betsy and just arrived home yesterday. I'll add an update soon.

5 comments:

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

Aw, I did not know you got to meet Anna! Lucky you - I get to meet her this weekend!

The food looks amazing - I bet it was interesting for you to try it after all the judging you guys have done this year!

Marlys said...

Wow - that was superb! I can't wait to taste it tomorrow night as Chad & Emily are serving some of the leftovers for supper when we arrive! Now I can't wait! Sorry it was so cold and windy! This has been a doozy of a month for that!

Jamie and Missy said...

This post makes the cheerios I just ate for dinner look pretty darn pathetic! YUM!! On a side note, Anna's is UBER cute.

Abby said...

I'm a bit envious you got to meet Anna! She is so precious. Ever picture I see of her -- she's so delicate!

That food looks amazing. My brothers are so talented. My mouth did water.

marybeth said...

Oh my, I am salivating all over the place, do the contestants then sell what they prepare to the public? That's how they did it in Venice last spring. I would assume that's not the case here, as that would take huge amounts of meat.