Smoke Freaks took last weekend off for some much needed R&R at home. It was our first weekend off after 7 contests in 6 weeks and we didn’t really appreciate just how much we needed that recharger.
Of course we were busy during our week off. Lots of time with our nieces and nephews mixed in with everyday life stuff that can get away from you when you’re so busy: oil changes, cleaning and laundry! We even picked our first beets from the garden!
It was a nice week… but… we didn’t expect to be haunted by BBQ the entire time. BBQ was always there, always on our minds and even taking over our dreams. Lots of BBQ dreams. Most of them were BBQ nightmares, which was too damn freaky for us:
I’m walking the turn-in box over to the judging tent, walking extremely carefully so as not to jostle the contents. I approach the judging area and don’t see the usual table to put the box on, but rather a bin with an opening on the side for the turn-in boxes. But it wasn’t a bin for turn-ins! It was a garbage can!?! A garbage can! I almost put my pork box into the trash!!! Nooooooooo!
We woke up late, like 7:30am, on contest day. But we still thought we had a shot and attempted to get things going. The horror kicks in when we realize that the pits weren’t prepped, the meat wasn’t trimmed and we hadn’t even prepared our sauces and rubs yet. We then go through step-by-step of the agonizing realization that every single task was in complete disarray. This nightmare ends around 11:00am with chicken that isn't even trimmed yet.
It’s the heat of competition day and we’re getting ready to wrap. We reach for the foil and accidentally knock it off the table, causing a huge dent in the side of the foil roll. We try to straighten the roll out, but it just can’t save the foil. An entire roll of restaurant-sized aluminum foil is now worthless. We can’t finish our cook. Oh nooooooooo!
We’re ready to shake that mojo off and hit the road for the Badger Brew & Que this weekend. We’ll be in Manitowoc, WI for another double-header and lots of freakiness.
If you’re in Manitowoc on 8/6 and 8/7, stop by to Taste the Freakage!