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Hurricane Mike 9/25/2008 1:19:00 PM
I know that the Charlotte contest has been over for a little over a week but things have been hectic. Papa and Mama Pig had their 55th wedding anniversary while they were here and we celebrated my son’s 19th birthday. Been crazy to say the least. Back to the contest … We came in 6th. Just one place out of the money! Bummer but I was VERY happy with the ribs. Sometimes that just happens. We had one judge that just whacked us. Oh well. That seems to be the theme for this year. We have just one contest left in Oxford, Miss. I will not travel and will let Big Dog and Geaux handle.
I want to thank Pam and Ross for bringing a homemade Salsa to the contest. I also want to th...
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BBQ, Memphis, Suddenly Salad
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Hurricane Mike 9/9/2008 2:13:00 PM
Looks like we have at least two BBQ contest left for us this year. The first is coming up this weekend. It’s the “Blues, Brews and BBQ Contest” here in Charlotte. Nice and close to home so travel is not an issue. Greg was going to come in from AL but with Hurricane Ike heading towards the Gulf he’s a little too nervous to leave. Mark will come in from Bristol, TN and of course Papa Pig himself had to come in from Florida (probably more to see his grandkids than to cook).
Below is a picture of him cleaning one of our cookers this week. Our team has 5 Lang Cookers. Check out his web site at pigroast.com for so...
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BBQ, Contest, grill
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Hurricane Mike 7/15/2008 1:32:00 PM
The Galax, Virginia Competition has come and gone. I must say it was a ton of hard work but a ton of fun as well. We were short handed as only Greg (Geaux) was able to join me. He and his wife Donna drove up from Mobile, AL. on Wednesday night. We then proceeded to load up the cookers on Thursday and drove to Galax to set up. Back to Charlotte we came to sleep that night only to return EARLY the next morning and start the fires. That day competed in BBQ Sauce and "Anything Butt" (where teams can cook anything but pork)
We met a bunch of nice people day including our neighbors for the weekend "The Barnyard Roasters". They are a father and son team and a riot! It w...
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BBQ, Suddenly Salad
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Hurricane Mike 7/3/2008 9:06:00 AM
This story started a dozen or so years ago with my brother and I debating what "All American Favorite" do we put on the grill for the 4th of July. His vote was the all beef hot dog. Mine was a big thick cheeseburger. Back and forth it went until we finally decided to just buy both. No big deal but then an interesting thing happened. As we consumed a few cold beverages that day and watched our "American Favorites" sizzle away on the grill we came up with a crazy idea. Why not combine these two favorites into one monumental meal? Thus was created for us the "Dogburger". Simply a cheeseburger (I prefer Muenster Cheese) with a hotdog that has been butterflied and placed on top of the melted c...
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BBQ, 4th of July, grill
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Hurricane Mike 6/24/2008 9:27:00 AM
This weekend I'm in charge of our little one as Kim works at the hospital. I will have a list of activities planned to keep things moving. We will hit a bucket of range balls, go to the local drive-in for lunch, visit the ice cream shop, and even see a movie. It's good to keep her busy … trust me. So you say: "no time to cook a nice dinner?" Get real … plenty of time in fact all you need is about 20 minutes.
How about an Asian flair Scallop dish? Just get some Jumbo Scallops. Salt and Peeper them. Put on a hot grill for about 2 - 3 minutes per side. Then top with some Asian Duck Sauce from your grocer. Serve with some boiled or steamed rice with a splash of Soy Sauce ...
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BBQ, 30-minute meal, scallops
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Hurricane Mike 6/24/2008 9:21:00 AM
Sorry so late to re-cap my father's day, it was such a great day I figure better late then never!
I watched golf, sat on the couch, watched more golf, sat on the couch and finally watched more golf. It was a perfect Fathers Day if you ask me! When it came time for dinner I had already decided that the grill was going to be closed for the day. So where did we go you ask? To get BBQ of course!
We all jumped in the boat and headed up the lake to a little spot on the water called "Exit 36". It's your typical burger / wing place but they have one specialty that we really like. It's called a tri-tip wrap. The tri-tip is a cut from the sirloin area of the cow and very popula...
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BBQ, wrap, Fathers' Day
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Hurricane Mike 6/9/2008 10:42:00 AM
I don't know what the weather is like by you, but here in North Carolina it's blistering already. We will have a week solid of almost 100 degree weather. It's enough to melt ya and it's only early June! When it gets that hot I really don't care to sit down and eat a big steak after working in the yard and sweating all day. I prefer something lighter. That being said .... we visited my brother Brad in Austin a couple of years ago and went to a Tex / Mex restaurant that had the best Fish Tacos that I had ever tasted. They would not give me the exact recipe but got me close. When we returned to Charlotte my wife Kim went to work and came up with a version that could rival their's. It's a per...
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BBQ, Fish taco
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Hurricane Mike 5/22/2008 11:12:00 AM
Ok … we are back home in Charlotte after Memphis and everyone is safe and sound. Unpacking is finally done although a few odds and ends still need to be cleaned. I thought I would share one our "secrets" this year. We have a new pork supplier that is nothing short of amazing. We are now buying our meat from a farm in Denver, NC called Grateful Growers. It is a wonderful "Free Range" farm that raises Pigs, Chickens, Ducks and Mushrooms! The animals are happy and eat maybe better than we do? As a result they produce a grade of pork that is crazy good. My advice to anyone out there is go to your local farmers market and buy local produce and meats. It will be well worth your time and you mig...
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BBQ, Memphis, Organic Pork
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Hurricane Mike 5/16/2008 6:58:00 PM
Big fun yesterday although it rained unbelievably. It would not be "Memphis in May" without a tornado or thundershowers! We probably fed 75 folks at least for dinner. We served Pork Shoulder, Ribs, Smoked Chickens, Beans, Slaw and of course Suddenly Salad! We tried the "...
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BBQ, Ribs, Memphis in May, Suddenly Salad
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Hurricane Mike 5/13/2008 4:06:00 PM
Memphis in May - So many things to get together still. We hire a company now to do the flooring and tent that will be ready this weekend. We used to do this ourselves but we are either older or smarter. They also supply the tables and chairs. We will arrive on Tuesday with our cookers / refrigerator and start the "move in process." Wednesday we'll finish the landscaping in front of our booth. Right now it's all about gathering up our "BBQ Stuff" which seems to fill more and more storage totes every year. For the next few days I will definitely stay away from pork. Last night we went ...
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BBQ, Memphis, chicken