A team is born...

It is official, Hillbilly Rib Runners is now a KCBS registered team name. I'm looking forward to doing some competitions under this logo.

This is my team name, my game, my future...

I will make this name great. In a year or two, it will be known and feared as the best up and coming team in competition circles. We will be number one...

I have no doubt in my mind that I will be number one. I have that much confidence that I can go that far...

When you focus on a goal and seek it out, you will be the best. That is my goal...

To be the best...

In a year or two, I will take my team to the top.

B.D.

Weekend Report...

You know... when you're under the weather, about all you can do is watch TV. And you find out right quick with cable and 600 and some odd channels...there ain't a damn thing on. What gives?

Nothing...Nada, Zip, Zilch. Some channels show the same program...all day long!!!

Even the Food Network (one of my faves by the way) same thing, over and over. You can't watch cartoons all day long (even though I have tried) because some of them are so stupid, I wouldn't make my worst enemy watch them (not with me anyway).

But...that's life, that's the consequences of getting sick, that's boredom, that's part of having to much time to dwell on things...I'm ready to go back to work.


B.D.

Simply Thursday...

Well...I wasn't sly enough or fast enough to out run the germs that invaded our household. Robyn had it first, now it's my turn and Julie is not far behind. I've felt pretty rough here the last few days running a fever of over a 103 degrees.

I finally got it to break this morning, but I have coughed up two sets of lungs in the process and my ribs hurt like hell...

I'll bet I have drank 15 gallons of water over the last 48 hours and I still feel dehydrated. I'm not sure what this germ is, but its been a nasty little bastard to say the least.

I don't miss work much but I didn't have a say or much of a choice this time after yesterday.

I've never been hit this hard before. Not even the flu (which I have had many times in my life) has hurt me this bad. This has definitely taken the wind out of my sails big time and has had me worried for a fleeting moment or two.

At one time, I would laugh at germs and drowned them with beer. This time, they almost killed me because they cut me off at the pass before I could drown them with beer.

Damn germs are getting smarter all the time. They figured out how to breech my defensive shields that have worked so well for all of these years.

Time for Plan-B...

B.D.

Yet another B-day...

Happy B-day to my brother-in-law Uncle Dale.





The old man finally caught up with me today. He is privileged to enter that elite group of 50 years young...



So, enjoy your day Uncle Dale.

I'll see if I can dig out that old Mullet wig you all made me parade around in on my 50th and hand the golden scepter of hair over to you, so you can follow in my foot steps...




B.D.

Three day weekend shot to...

There is nothing worse... than a perfectly good three day weekend shot to hell because of cold weather. And brother...I'm talking COLD

Now, it was nothing like the weather at the play off games last night, but it has been pretty dang cold none the less. And just to top that off, Robyn has been sick, I may (or have, I can't tell) be coming down with it, (whatever IT is) because I feel like...let's just say, not very well.

And on top of that...no beer.

"OH my Gawd, call a doctor!!!"

Yup...it's pretty bad...



Enjoy your...ah,ah,ah,ah-choooooooo!!!

Dang, I just hosed down the keyboard. "Oh honey...could you come here please?"

B.D.

Weekend Report...

What a way to start a weekend...

Cold, dreary, and germs.

We were supposed to have a little skating party for Robyn's birthday today, but now Julie is on the phone calling parents because Robyn has been sick and is running a fever.

She began running a fever Wed. when we got home from bowling. She was fine yesterday, and today, the fever is back and the germs have moved in...

"Get out the Lysol boys, we got us an infestation..."

Nasty little bastards, I'm surprised I haven't had it again. I was sick right before my birthday so I know how she feels.

As Julie says, "poor little thing..."

Well...it happens, that's life, that's kids, that's germs...



B.D.

Simply Thursday...

The thermometers are here. I will have the jacks here for the trailer by tomorrow. Hopefully... if the weather will cooperate, I will have them welded on this Saturday.

I should be good to go by this weekend. ( I hope )

I am looking forward to firing up the pit and seeing what happens. I want to cook on it so bad...I can almost smell it.



The weather forecast for this weekend is not the best in the world. I may not do anything, but if I can get all of my ducks in a row...I'll be ready.

Things are also coming together for the team I'm working on for KCBS cooks.

I have the basics...everything else should fall into place with little effort and a few bucks well spent.



I have the rub and the sauce ready to go...

Now... if the weather would just play nice...I could kick some butt.

Or cook some butt... ( right now, I would be happy to just be able to rub a butt...)

Pork butt...that is.

B.D.

Happy B-day Robyn...

Born 6 years ago today.

Happy birthday princess!!!

Enjoy your day!!!
Big Daddy

Simply Tuesday...

Somebody is having a B-day tomorrow and she will be 6 years old.

Wonder who it is?

Well... just a hint.

It's not Sweetie, but she ain't far behind this little girl.

Come back tomorrow and find out who the birthday girl is...

B.D.

Weekend Report part II...

Things went very well yesterday, with my son Bruce and his girlfriend Amanda.

I should call her the f-word since they are engaged, but I won't here because I can say it... I just don't know how to spell it.

I will say she is a sweet heart and it seems that love, has finally softened my son's heart quite a bit. So everything was just lovely.

I had bought a few slabs of ribs from Wally World (a few days before) with just the intent of practicing trimming and cutting St. Louis style ribs, (which I did effortlessly on the first try by the way) and just play with the sauce on a full rack of ribs instead of riblets.

Dang, that was easy ( I thought to myself ) so the second slab was done with the confidence and skill of a fine surgeon. I rubbed them both and let them sit for awhile, as I got my small cabinet smoker up to heat and let 'em rip for about four hours. I came in and made the bbq sauce (and that bbq sauce was a huge hit with them they loved it).

I just served the sauce on the side, instead of on the ribs, with corn on the cob and smoked pork-n-beans ( I didn't have any baked beans). Both my son and Amanda were just blown away.

I'm telling you, I knew I could get that sauce recipe to work if I just found the right combination. And I did finally stumble up on it. This sauce will be like the rub, I think it will work on just about anything.

I'm glad and happy that maybe, just maybe, we can put the past behind us and start over to build the father and son relationship that has been sadly lacking in both of our lives for all of these years. So...



On to other news...

I began wondering "Where are my gauges that I ordered for the pit?"
Haven't been shipped yet.

What the #&#& do you mean, they haven't been shipped yet...

Yada, yada, yada... we've had ...yada, yada, yada, and we promise that...yada, yada, yada...

For crying out loud...anyway, like they say, they're in the mail. I've got a guy from work that will weld the jacks on the trailer as soon as the weather will cooperate.

So...I'm still in standby mode as the pit goes, but it will all shake out here shortly.

I have added a link to Rob Marlow's site Ulika Food Blog. Rob is the fine fellow I bought the pit from. Rob has his own competition team and he enjoys cooking and playing around with new recipes, so check out his blog and see what Rob is up to.

I've got to put a desk together for Robyn's computer today, so I'm out of here...

Enjoy your day!!!
B.D.

Weekend Report...

You know... these look pretty and all, but if you brought these out to me, I would be so pissed. You'd better back your happy butt back up in that kitchen and bring me some real food...






Now this...is more like it.



That's what I'm going to do today...ribs.

My son is coming over for a visit and bringing his girlfriend with him. I haven't met her yet and my relationship with my son has been...well let's just say, I got blamed for a lot of things. So it hasn't been a very close relationship, to say the least, but I will always (95 percent of the time) give you another chance to earn my trust and some of my respect back.

This is the forth and finale time...

So, I'm going to be my normal debonair self and offer ribs and smoked beans and we'll see what happens.

Tonight, I will serve this...




And if things do not go well...
Next time, they'll just get this...



Enjoy your day!!!
B.D.

This & That...

Not much going on right now. Just wind and rain...

This should be an interesting year, (weather wise) that is. It's already started out weird.

Should be interesting...

B.D.

Simply Tuesday...

Right now...it is raining like hell. Needless to say, no grilling tonight. The last batch of sauce, was right on the money. It took awhile, but it was worth the effort.

I never give up on a recipe. Persistence and trial and error will always prevail. That makes us Weekend Warriors...human.

The above picture is my new play toy.

I bought it in a yard sale...(GGG)

B.D.

Update...

This is a picture Jeff (my partner and my manager and VP of sales) sent to me of the sauce applied to some chicken. Nice shot of some good lookin' grub.

Jeff said this: Four thumbs up on the finished product; my wife and kids loved it and I'm taking the remainder to the neighbors this afternoon. If you've improved on the sauce already then I'll be placing an advanced order.



I did some grilled hot wings with just the rub (no marinade this time) but made the same hot sauce recipe to coat them in and I grilled some rib tips with the rub, basted with the new barbecue sauce recipe.

Julie said she really liked the sauce. Yeah...eat THAT! Bull's-Eye bbq sauce.

Who's your daddy , it's your birthday, ride the pony...(doing my little happy dance)

You go Doctor Pyro...

Woo-Hoo!!!

B.D.

Weekend Report...

I made some sauce (with tomato sauce as the base) Thursday and gave it to the boys at work Friday to take home and try. Last night, I made a sauce using ketchup as the base and used hot chili powder instead of regular.

It made the sauce darker, but I can't tell any difference as far as taste. Neither one, comes close to a bottled sauce. But...that's not my main objective in creating a sauce from scratch. The objective is to have it complement the rub and the meat.

I don't want it spicy or hot. I want it to be used as a finishing sauce or a dipping sauce, whichever way you want to use it. I'll wait and see what the boys say before I proceed any farther with that recipe base.

In this case of being (my alter ego) Doctor Pyro, Julie is not much help.

She likes Bull's-Eye bbq sauce. Something is missing and I don't know what it is...




I don't want to copy Bull's-Eye bbq sauce or copy Carey's Peg Leg sauce. I want my own signature sauce that says this is my barbecue, my stuff. A good cook or a great cook will learn from others, that's only natural, but they would never take credit for hard work someone else did and call it their own...

Good and great recipes are born with trial and error, luck, and persistence of a final goal in mind. Make it work...

A recipe must work. If it doesn't, what good is it?

Just to have bragging rights?

If it doesn't work, there won't be much to brag about Jethro, because in a nut shell, it will suck...period.

How hard can making a recipe for a barbecue sauce be?

Well, it's not that complicated, but it's not that easy neither. It's all about taste, that's the key to any recipe...taste. Especially barbecue.

I've eaten some good 'Q' and I've eaten some bad 'Q'

Was it the meat or the sauce?

Both...

A vinegar sauce is almost impossible to screw up, but a tomato based sauce can go south in a hurry. As far as mine goes, I have a very good foundation I can build on. I just have to find the right building blocks to add to it.

That's the hard part...

Enjoy your day!!!



B.D.

Simply Thursday...

B.D.

Cheap Sunglasses...

Does your head feel like an elephant sat on it? Bleary eyed?
Do you feel like you're the toilet seat's best friend this morning?
Sunglasses just can't filter out the blazing morning sun light?

Welcome to the New Year my friend...

How do I feel today? Just lovely...I didn't get stupid last night, in fact, I worked on the bbq sauce again. I used a different brand tomato sauce and measured every single thing and wrote it all down this time. This is the best sauce to date. I am ever so close. And this should be the recipe. I just need to work on the twang just a tad. It's still not quite there yet, but when the smoke hits it, it should fall right in there.

I would smoke some more rib tips today, but it's going to be windy all day and COLD, so forget that...

This coming weekend should be better weather, so I'll just wait until then.



I have to go back to work tomorrow (yeah) but having the sauce that close to end product is spirit lifting to say the least, so I can survive work.

So anyway...that's it. Happy New Year!

And... if it seems that I typed too loudly on the keyboard writing this post, making your head pound and making that elephant even heavier...

That's just your brain trying to kick your...

Enjoy your day!!!
B.D.