And so, we shall meet again...

It's that time again...the time of year to reflect on things past... and the time to make future dreams.

This year has been a wild one, that's for sure. So much uncertainty of the job I have put 30 years of sweat into, not knowing from one day to the next if I'll have a job the next week or not. The strain of this, has taken its toll on my mind and my spirit.

The start of 2008 will be the death knoll for us, one way or the other...

So...one door shuts and another one opens.
Life goes on...

In the next few months, everything will become crystal clear as to what my next step will be. During this time of transition, I will work to hone my skills as a pit master of my own destiny. The new door will open...





A new champion will arise from the ashes, just like the Phoenix did, all those many years ago. I will be challenged to bring the best of my cooking skills to the forefront as I begin to gather what I need for starting my own barbecue catering gig.

And...with every intent of starting my own competition team for local KCBS cooks, then in a year or so national cooks.

I must start focusing on that relentless and daunting task of being consistent every single time out of the box. I have good 'Q' but it must attain competition level. No mistakes can be made...

Am I up for that task?

Time will tell us or not if I can run with the big boys, or better yet, can they run with me...

And so, we shall meet again on the field of battle, King against King, Knight against Knight and at days end, shall the Queen mourn for you or me?

We will see my friend...we will see...


Have a safe ending for 2007
Have a safe beginning for 2008




B.D.

Weekend Report (part II)

The tweak to the rub didn't work. The sauce may work well.

I'll have to try the sauce again with the original recipe of the rub.

You never know unless you try...



Doctor Pyro... isn't done yet.



Bahahahaha...

B.D.

Weekend Report...

Time for a little lab work with my alter ego...Doctor Pyro. Bahahahahahahahaha...(cough, choke, weeze, fart, oh, sorry...)

Why for? (you may ask.)

Julie, is heading out to Knoxville for the weekend, so I bought a bunch of rib tips to experiment with.

1: I'm going to tweak the rub just a tad. I'll keep the original recipe in tacked, but I will add something different this time and see how that works.

2: Work on the sauce. I'm using Tomato sauce and Chili sauce as the base instead of Ketchup. Last time, I was close, but I don't think I cooked it long enough and I didn't use it during cooking to see what the end result would be.

This weekend I will...

A lot of people use Ketchup, some use tomato puree, some use tomato paste and water and some use tomato sauce. I think the sauce and chili sauce will be a good combo as the base and the end result (as the goal) must work with the rub in complementing the meat.

So... I thought rib tips would be easier to work with as they don't take long to cook.

And... if the sauce doesn't work, then I ain't lost a whole slab of rib meat, just a little bit. Maybe, some wings would be good too...I've used the rub on chicken with great results, but I haven't tried not marinading the wings and just rubbing them and smoking them, then toss in the hot sauce...

Damn...I'd better go to the store and get some cold beverages for my enjoyment, because looks like I'm going to be busy this weekend...

B.D.

Are we there yet?

It's over...well, except for the next two or three months worth of work trying to find a place to put all the new toys and whatnots.

It was fun. This year was hosted by Deborah (Blondie) & Dave (Honey). The kids, Leah & Robyn racked up (as usual) and there was plenty of food and fun had by all.

So thanks to Blondie & Honey for hosting the Christmas Eve shindig this year and also, thanks to my mother-in-law Barb (Granny) for the Christmas Dinner she fixes every year, some fine eatin' comes out of this woman's kitchen.

Now, on to other things...

I ordered two, six inch stem thermometers for the pit yesterday.



Right now, it has three inch stem gauges and doesn't give a true reading. I want a truer pit reading, so the six inch stems should take care of that. Why is this important?

I could use a probe thermometer with a digital readout to tell the inside pit temperatures, but I'm old fashioned, I want to see the gauges. I ordered Tel-Tru gauges (the best in the barbecue business) and they should be here by next week.

Next, I think I may try using lump charcoal (for the pit) instead of regular charcoal. More heat, (less ash to deal with on long cooks) and less wasteful (solid burn).


I may try this brand.

I'll have to talk to Pat and see where he gets his from.
Get the jacks welded on the trailer and I'm good to go...

So... it comes down to the age old question. "Are we there yet?"

Not quite, but we're close...

B.D.

Wordless Wednesday...

A few pictures taken at Blondie's & Dave's house.


Leah & Robyn


Peggy Sue & (me) Big Daddy


Granny & Mish


Julie (aka) Tootie


Uncle Dale & Leah


Blondie made this for me. ( Sweet )

Dave has more pictures posted on his blog A Motley Collection

I'll get you caught up later on this week.

B.D.

The greatest gift...

B.D.

Merry Christmas...

For the next few days, MacDaddy's Grill will be closed.

From all of us here, to all of you, we wish you a very Merry Christmas.

We hope that all will be right in the world for you in the next few days.

Christmas is about giving, giving your heart, giving your time and giving your love...

God gave a special gift to the world on this day...and even if you don't believe, listen to your heart. It will show you the way...

May all of your dreams come true.

From all of us here...Terry, Julie, Robyn and Sweetie.

Merry Christmas.


B.D.

Weekend Report...

My ever faithful barbecue dog was just beside herself last night as the smell of pecan-smoked grilled chicken lingered in the night air...she was dang determined she was going out that door, one way or another, to be by my side in case anything happened to hit the ground (which it didn't by the way) but she stood ready just in case anyway...I believe she would eat the bag of charcoal if I let her.

And speaking of charcoal, I was on the web looking at some of these now called cooking videos talking about "Barbecue like the Pros - Grilling made easy - Secrets of the Pit Masters."

Well...this looks interesting, "How to build a fire like the Pros."

Step-1. Pour out some charcoal in your grill or pit. (Watch this...)
Step-2. Next pour starter fluid all over charcoal. (Wrong...)
Step-3. I never got that far...

Now granted, in the old days of backyard grilling, starter fluid was used regularly for starting the fire, I'm even guilty of it myself. But not today...

Today, you can buy a charcoal starter of good quality for around 20 bucks.





Set it up just like I have here. This is a Weber charcoal starter.

You can buy cheap starters but as the saying goes...they won't last long, maybe a season. Better to buy a good one that will last. If you want to be like the Pros... toss the stater fluid, your food will taste much-much better.

Trust me...

B.D.

Simply Friday...

Julie and myself met up last night for dinner with my two original B.D.'s girls Vicky and Tracy. It's always a pleasure to spend time with my girls. The food was good, the beer was cold and there was plenty of laughter and BS going around.

I need times like that sometimes just to get my mind off things for awhile. So it was great to see them again. Vicky said her husband Steve just goes on and on about my ribs. I'll have to fix Steve up some ribs to satisfy that itch that he has since he can't find anybody's ribs even coming close to mine.

I would fire up the pit, but I need to order some new temperature gauges with longer stems to get a truer reading inside the cooking pit, (I asked Pat's opinion on that issue) and I need to get some jacks welded on the trailer so I can level it up and get the tires off the ground. I'll get Dresch to do that and let him look at the dampers inside the pit to see if they need to be reworked.

So, I have a little work to do before its ready to fire up. But I can still fix Steve some ribs on my other smoker. No problem...

Depending on the weather, I may fire up the Weber tonight and get a little chicken action going on.

Yeah, I can hear what you're thinking girls..."now he said last night, if all he ever cooked was..."

Must have been good. (GGG)

Enjoy your day!!!





B.D.

Wordless Wednesday, well sort of...

We went to the Ice show last night at Opryland to see the Grinch and Who-ville. Let me tell you, it was Cold in there, about 9 degrees the lady said.

You have got to be kidding me...nope, she wasn't lying or kidding about that small fact one bit. It was so cold in there, my mustache and beard got stiff...that's cold. Beer would be froze solid in about 3 seconds flat.

So just imagine how I felt...

After that, we went out to eat, which was nothing to write home about neither...

I always say, you can tell a place by their steaks. If the steaks are good then everything else should be too. Sorry...the steaks were nowhere near up to par for my taste.

Kind of reminded me of the old Bonanza restaurants. A place you could take your girl friend when we were young and get a cheap steak and all you could eat salad bar. After that, you still had money left over for beer...

No wonder they went out of business.


We grew up...

B.D.

Happy B-day...

Happy birthday to my lovely wife Julie.





We all love you honey...

B.D.

This & That...

Well, not a bad weekend, in some aspects of the word...bad.

I had to spend money (that was a given) seeing that the washing machine decided to take up cooking and fried itself. So, I decided to fork out the bucks and just buy a new matching set, since I've had this set since 1997.

In comes the Scratch & Dent store. (And not because I'm a cheap lowly white boy...just smart.)

Who cares if they have a few scratches or a small dent or two...

As long as they don't look like they got creamed by a sledge hammer or scratched by a Saber Tooth tiger, you save some serious cash, which we did by the way and, they will be delivered today too. Service with a smile, that's what I'm talking about...

I got the cooker home (in one piece) before the rain came in. I made a pot of chili yesterday and Robyn lost her second tooth this morning. So...

I'm happy (well sort of...)
Julie is happy.
Robyn is happy (Tooth Fairy time...)

And Sweetie...well, she's just Sweetie. What else can I say...


Enjoy your day!!!
B.D.

Weekend Report...

I am a man of many emotions right now. First...

I don't go back to work until January 2nd. Then, it may be only a matter of time before I'm forced to retire from Ford. Second...

The vacuum cleaner is about to die, the washing machine smoked something last night, (we thought it was the dryer) my back is killing me and...it's going to rain...all day. Third...

It's going to get cold (I simply loath cold weather) gas bill $162.00

Oh... and the ice maker stopped working awhile back. So, let's see...

Ice maker-dead
Vacuum cleaner-dying
Washing machine-???

The only bright side of this story is, I'm going here shortly, before the rain gets here to pick up the cooker and bring her home. Then, go shopping for a new washer and dryer. Guess what Santa is bringing Julie for Christmas...

B.D.

Simply Thursday...

(A picture of my chili posted in the Tennessean.)

Well...for the next few days, the weather will totally suck.
(And not in a good way...)

Rain and more rain. What's a lowly white boy to do?

It ain't cooking outside, that's for sure. Time to pull out the ole 'chili pot' and fire up the best dang recipe for chili...ever made.

Will I post it here? It has been, but now, it is on the Recipe Page. I look forward to making a batch of good down home chili that took me ten years to perfect.

I'll give the grills a rest...and concentrate on this labor of love. I need to...

If all I ever cook is chicken...I'll forget how to cook everything else. I have a short memory and I have found out here lately...I have to write everything down or it's lost in the annals of my mind. Which is not a good thing...

Cobwebs in the brain is not a pretty thing. It only leads to more brain farts and I have more than my share of those now...

Go figure.

B.D.

Wordless Wednesday...

If life could be so simple...
B.D.

Weekend Report (partII)

I went and looked at this bbq pit Rob Marlow had for sale. It is well built and solid. After talking to Rob and checking out the cooker from top to bottom, it now belongs to me. Rob's going to clean it up for me and I'll pick it up next Saturday.

That's my Christmas present.

And to answer the other question in your mind, yes...Julie got her grilled chicken last night, it had stopped raining, but it was wet and foggy. I didn't need the rain coat, but I did take the rubber ducky along...just in case.

Enjoy your day!!!
B.D.

Weekend Report...

Well...I don't know if the weather will cooperate or not, but my lovely wife has practically begged me for some grilled chicken. Now watch this...

Me: Honey, would you like me to fix you some (Her: YES!) chicken?? That was a little too quick, she knew what I was going to say when I said 'like me'

Her: You can do the chicken in the oven if you want. (Red flag, hit the dirt boys.)

Now I've been married to this woman going on 7 years...I know what's coming next.

Her: "But it's not as good as grilled." (Swing batter,batter...Swing.) At least she didn't throw the trump card out there, but she did call the hand.

"It won't hurt you to get wet." She said, with an evil smile...

Rain Coats & Rubber Duckies boys, we're going swimming, time to fire up the Holland.

Also, I 'm going to look at a cooker this afternoon, Pat sent a man my way that has a bbq pit for sale, so I'll let you know.



Enjoy your day!!!
B.D.

Simply Tuesday...

I must replenish my hoard of hot sauce...me being without hot sauce...is like me being without... cold beer.

That will never work...and I found a saying that fits right in there for my philosophy of life

Life isn't like a box of chocolates; it's more like a jar of jalapeños.
What you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.

Go figure...

B.D.

Monday...( What else can I say ? )

Did I do the sauce?

No...

Did I buy the slabs?

Yes...

Things got in my way this weekend, so I did not cook or experiment. Life sucks sometimes...and things are not meant to be, or sometimes, it just don't work out like you plan.

But, I never give up. It's in my head, it's there, I see it, I smell it, I taste it...

I just have to make it happen.

B.D.

Weekend Report...

I may work on the sauce today. Julie and Robyn are heading on a road trip to see Julie's Grandmother and spend the night, so it will be just me and the Black bear.

I might (or should) go get a few slabs of ribs so I can practice cutting and trimming St. Louis style ribs. Carey used baby back ribs at the KCBS and that's why we got our butts kicked. That's a no no...and the chicken, well...let's just say that KCBS ain't Alabama and a white sauce will only win you last place. I tried to tell them that, but I'm just the #2 Fire Tender and towel boy...what do I know.

That's why I'm starting my own Team for KCBS. I have the name, the logo and the application. I have the rub and the sauce is very close to where I want it. I've about made up my mind on the smokers I want. And... I will hand pick my people for their cooking skills, not for their butt kissing skills. (I lost because I never entered that category)

Anyway...I'll show these butt wipes who the man is.

Am I still going to be a Peg Leg Porker? I did say some things because I was pissed... but Pat Martin calmed me down and I'll let it slide.

I'm still the #2 Fire Tender last I heard, I haven't been fired yet...

B.D.