We're wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed holiday season.  May your new year be a 'smokin' good one!

Pearl Harbor

A tragic day in American history.

 

Thanksgiving Wishes

From our smoker to yours...Happy Thanksgiving!

We're gonna try making something new...Timm will be smoking the turkeys for a while and finishing them in the fryers.  Should be interesting.  A brisket is also on the menu. 

Veteran's Day

You sacrificed and served to protect our rights and freedoms...Thank You!!!

Words are not enough, we should thank you each and every day through our actions and respect as well.

We appreciate all who have served.

Happy Veteran's Day!!!



Happy Halloween!

Wishing you a wood smoke filled Halloween.  Enjoy the pumpkins!

The Road To Bentonville...Day One

We hit the road early this morning because there was a lot of road ahead of us today.  After a brief stop at McDonalds we saw sunrise east of Kingman, AZ.  It was gorgeous.  



We stopped at a rest area outside of Holbrook to a much needed stretch.  Cassy climbed on the rocks, sniffed and explored...her favorit things to do.

 This time we were able to stop at the border and got the state border photos.  There are also some tourist attractions there as well with teepees, indians, dinosaurs and more.



Lunch was at the continental divide.  A couple of residents came out to check out the trailer. 



 

 

Timm and Scott did all the driving today.  We had to pay $4.25 a gallon for diesel...yikes. 

Our first for the night is Tucumcari, NM.  After 13-14 hours, the beds are comfy and the Pizza Hut was delicious.  Good night.

Heading to Bentonville

That's right, we're heading to Bentonville next week for the Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Finals!  It's been a blur of planning, activity, BBQ trailer improvements, truck maintainance, practice cooks and more.

 

The truck has had new rotors, calipers and bearing, new tires, and will head to the car wash this weekend, then the wing will go on top of the shell.   We've added a new shelf above the pit.  It's a great place for the thermometers, spray bottle, etc...keeping stuff of the shelf in front of the pit.

Timm brought home these cabinets yesterday...do you know what they are?  Can you guess?  They are fire extinguisher cabinets turned on their sides.  They've got a ton of them at a job site they're tossing away at work.  There is still room to store the ice chests and sit under them without Timm hitting his head.  Maybe eventually, we'll get the sinks placed in there too.

We should be getting our logo put on each side of the enclosed areas of the trailer.  That will look so awesome when it's on there.

 

Watch for blog posts and pictures from the road at our Facebook page...Tralhound Smokers BBQ.

Tom and Jen Duncan on Chopped

Our friends, Tomm and Jennifer Duncan appeared on the 1st night's Chopped: Grillmasters mini series.  We're honored to say they are friends.  Together, they own Whiskey Ranch BBQ and Catering Company in Gilbert, AZ.  They both also compete in competition barbeque contests. Tommy competes under the Whiskey Ranch brand, while Jen has her own team...Smoked to the Bone.  Last year they began organizing their barbeque contests...and they put on a first class event.  We love attending them.
Be sure to check out their personal bio pages. 

Cassy's birthday

Cassy is 6 today! 

  She is the greatest companion we've ever had. 

She's not only our mascot,

she's so much more.  Life just wouldn't be the same without her. 

We love her so much!



Northern Ariozona BBQ Festival

Mid-June we headed south to Williams, AZ for what was our first contest in 2010.  It's such a great place...small town America...nostalgia and all that stuff. 

The town of Williams put in lots of work before we all arrived.  They paved the rest of the area, added electrical outlets, water, and a stage.  It looked great and served us all well.  It was nice to get water close to our site. 

Our neighbors were another Nevada team...ZomBQue.  I love those guys.  Oh, and Richard got himself a nice new (well almost new) Ford F-350....soooo pretty.   

Cassy was the most awesome mascot ever.  She is so well behaved, and always impresses.  About 5am she was looking for a soft place to sleep and tried to curl up on the end of my sleeping bag.  I felt bad and invited her onto the whole sleeping bag with me.  She quickly accepted and got comfy quick.

Little Miss BBQ (Scott and Bekke) brought Vivian to her first contest.  Seriously, I don't know how they had a chance to cook with all the attention she got.  They were golden that weekend, with 2 first place, a third place, and grand champion overall....and won the raffle for a free space next year.  Rythm-n-Que took RGC.  Our best call was 5th in chicken.  We finished 12th overall. 

We stayed Saturday night in a KOA Kamping Kabin a few miles outside of Williams.  It was kinda cool, and I enjoyed it.  Cassy slept on the bottom bunk on our towels and was so happy to be there.  I enjoyed the swing on the front porch, it was quite relaxing and quiet.  The stars were gorgous and the crickets snag us to sleep.

 

Beef Ribs

 It's the 4th of July and Timm has been dying to cook some beef ribs.  We bought some beef short ribs at Costco after trying to find them at several locations.  We trimmed them up, marinated them, rubbed them down and threw them into the pit.  They were wrapped part way though the cook.  About 30 minutes before removing them from the pit, they were unwrapped and given a sauce mop.

I gotta admit, for our first time cooking beef ribs they were mighty tasty and tender. 

They did shrink quite a bit...much more than pork.  Everyone enjoyed the heck out of them...including the dogs.  They have been eagerly gnawing away on the bones.  It's made a great distraction for the noise from fireworks. 

I hope you have enjoyed your Independence Day. 

As we gather with friends and family let us not forget the reason for this day.



Sam's Club Regionals-Albuquerque

It's an honor and great experience to move on to the regionals for the Sam's Club National BBQ Tour in Albuquerque, NM.  I gotta admit, it was a long drive...600 miles in one day.  Sin City Smokers made the trip with us to compete. 

We got there on Thursday, and were one of the first ones to get our spaces.    We set up next to Sin City, R&R BBQ from Salt Lake moved in next door.  Rythm-n-Que were accross the aisle.  It was nice to have friends near us. 

Friday, a storm came in off the mountain and we had to batton down the hatches.  Several teams lost canopies.  We tucked ourselves into the front of the trailer, closed the door, and stayed dry and out of the wind.  Rain and hail on the metal roof was pretty cool, I like that sound.  I'm glad Timm decided to build a new BBQ trailer.  There was supposed to be a steak dinner Friday night but it was cancelled due to the weather.

Saturday was a gorgeous day, we had a good cook although Timm kept saying something didn't feel quite right.  Maybe it was the elevation.  Maybe it was being surrounded by 30 of the top teams in the west. I don't know, I thought it was great.  Anyway, our meats were tasty, tender and pleasing to the eye.  My goal was to hear our name once during the awards.  Chicken, nope...Ribs, nope...Pork, ugh, nope...Brisket, 4th place, YIPPEE!!!!!  My goal was made.  Sin City got 2 top ten calls, R&R got top tens as well.  We received 15th in chicken, 16th in ribs, 11th in pork, 4th in brisket.

Overall awards...the top ten teams can move onto the the Nationals in if they choose.  The BBQ gods were shining upon us....we took 7th overall!!!!!!!!!!  Holy Moly!  Talk about a surprised look on our faces...but totally excited.  And to think, we were going to pass on coming to regionals, so glad we didn't.  We were floating on a glorious barbeque cloud for the next several days.  Tears of joy were shed, and we couldn't keep a smile off our faces when talking about it.  Congrats to all the teams, there was some really strong competition. 

We gave all our meat to one of Timm's fellow Martin Harris associates working in Albuquerque.  He was glad to take it off our hands and was going to take the majority of it into the crew on Monday.  Nice to know it was going to be enjoyed by many.  In fact, when Timm called Bob to let him know where we finished we told him he was enjoying award winning brisket.  "I can't stop eating it!", he said.  What a great compliment.

 Here are more photos of some teams...and our brisket.

Cassy went with us and I have to say, she impressed us more and more each time she goes with us.  She travels well, stays in our site, doesn't beg for food even with all that awesome smell that is surrounding everyone, and is so good in the hotel room.  Oh, and Johnny Triggs likes her.

Now....we need to figure out how to fund a trip to Bentonville, Arkansas.  Looks like a fundraiser barbeque or two are in our future.

Our Summer Schedule

Things heat up in the BBQ world over the summer and many events are scheduled all accross the United States.  Here's where we'll be:

May 25,26     Best Dam Barbecue Challenge
                      Boulder City, NV

June 15,16     Northern Arizona BBQ Festival
                      Williams, AZ

July 6,7         Ace in the Hole BBQ Contest
                      Holbrook, AZ

August 31, Sept 1 
                    Smokin' in Mesquite
                    Mesquite, NV

October 12,13  Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Finals
                   Bentonville, AR

We hope to see some of our friends and family at few of these events. 

Round Two

Since May is National BBQ month, it only seems fitting that we'll be participating in our biggest stakes contest to date.

Round two for the southwest regionals is in Albequerque, NM this weekend. Teams that made it through round one in Arizona, Nevada, California, and Utah will gather to cook against each other for a purse of $20,000 and a chance to move on to the finals in Bentonville, AR in October.

I am pleased to say we are one of those teams that competed in Las Vegas and made the top 6, making us eligible to attend the regional finals. This weekend we will make the 600 mile trek to Albequerque to compete with 29 other top teams in the southwest. We're excited and nervous. We'll keep you posted on the outcome. We wish all the teams the best.

Chester's Harley Davidson BBQ Comp

Boy, I totally missed the posting for this event.  We were blessed to be able to attend this event in Mesa in March.  Tommy and Jen run a class act event for sure.  This was one of their dual events they are holding this year. 

There was a lot going on that weekend for us, well me.  I tend to over do it sometimes.  There was a craft show, a wedding, and the contest.  I just didn't see a way to be able to drive with Timm on Friday so I flew down that evening after completing flowers for Saturday's wedding.  I really need to thank my best friend, Diane for helping out with this one.  She went and set it all up for me on Saturday, picked up my stuff from the craft show and had a mini melt down so I could BBQ.  I love her. 
This event was tied in with Biker Week.  Bands were playing most of the day and into the night...really loud bands.  We were backed up to the street where most of the bikes were parked, so we got to listen to them leave about midnight.  This was not our favorite part by any means.
It was the first outing for the new BBQ trailer and we were so pleased.  It's efficient, roomy, and clean up and tear down is so much easier.  It towed really well too.
We didn't finish as high in the standings as we'd like but we did okay, we weren't last.  Saturday's awards brought us 13th overall, 17th in chicken, 18th in ribs, 14th in pork, and 7th in brisket.  Sunday, we earned 20th overall, 9th in chicken, 22nd in ribs, 16 in pork, and 19th in brisket.  Timm was dissapointed. 
Congrats to R&R BBQ!  They took RGC on Sunday!  They even took 1st in chicken both days. They did well that weekend. And although Little Miss BBQ didn't back up their two recent RGCs and GC, they did well too.  I think Bekke's pregnancy is a good luck charm.  ;0)

Rythm & Que and Pigskin BBQ were our neighbors this time around.  Both really good teams.  Vince and Alexa were a hit at the awards, wearing one of the vendor's helmets.  Alexa wore a raccoon with fangs and antelope antlers.  Vince wore a huge buffalo fur, massive horned helmet...good thing he's a big guy.   

Sam's Club National BBQ Tour

A couple of weekends ago, we gathered at one of our local Sam's Club locations to be part of the National BBQ Tour along with 17 other teams.  This was the event for Nevada.  I'm pleased to say that 12 of the 18 teams were from Nevada, and 4 of them were participating in their first competition. 

Along with the KCBS BBQ competition, they are running Tyson's Best Wing on the Planet contest.  Originally, only 4 teams had entered, but after the cook's meeting we and a few others also signed up. I thought, what the heck, it's free to participate.  That nigh, I stopped and bought some chicken wings.  I tossed together some ingredients into a ziplock bag, cooked up my wings, tossed them in some additional flavoring, put them in the box and turned them in.  I am pleased to say, they took 2nd place!  I even got an oversized check to prove it. lol

Timm was right on top of things, keeping me on track when it comes to timing. We were blessed to have Scott with us on Saturday.  Now that he's back to a normal schedule we hope to see more of him at contests.  We changed up a few things...at a contest is a not a place to do that by the way...but we did, figuring we didn't have much to lose.  Apparently, they were good changes because we had a first for us...we got all four  meats in the top ten!  Our results were as follows:

chicken - 9th

ribs - 6th

pork - 8th

brisket - 3rd

overall - 6th

WooHoo!  Sixth place is good enough to move onto round two in Albequerque, NM in mid-May!!

Congrats to all the teams!  Nevada made a great showing, even some new teams got a call.  Sin City Smokers finished in 5th place, so two Nevada teams will be represented in round two.  Congrats to Brandon of Route 66 Catering Crew for taking GC.  Troy Black runs a tight ship, keeping things on schedule, making awards and cook meetings short and to the point.  We appreciate that.  

We had said quite some time ago that if we made top 6 we would decline the opportunity to move on to round 2...but when it really happened we were overwhelmed and excited to go.  Now reality has hit us and there is so much to do and prepare before we drive the 600 miles to New Mexico.  We leave in 10 short days.  Wish us luck, it will be an adventure and experience for sure. 

National BBQ Month

It's May...WOW, time flies when you're having fun!  For those that may not be aware...

May is National BBQ Month.

That's right, a month dedicated to getting outdoors, firing up the grill and cooking some tasty stuff for you, your friends and family to gather teogether and enjoy. 

So don't let us down, get out there and get cooking!

ACM BBQ Throwdown at Mandalay Bay

One hundred twelve teams came to Vegas to compete for $50,000 at the Academy of Country Music BBQ Throwdown the laste weekend of March.  They energy was high, everyone had a a good time, and the winds never did kick up like they were predicted to be.

We took out the new BBQ trailer and the toyhauler on Thursday to set up.  I'm glad Timm bought extra space for us...we were all packed in like sardines.  We had plenty of space and were able to set up without overlapping the two trailers.  The new trailer worked well just like the debut weekend prior in Mesa.  It's very efficient. 

Many of the Nevada BBQ Association teams were there competing, inlcuding Voodoo Zombieque.  They were having fun with their space.  They drew chalk outlines of people, pig, cow, and chickens infont of their space like a crime scene...awesome.  Congrats to them too...they got a top twenty call and won some moola!

Steve and Shirley of Sin City Smokers were there too.  They always set up a cool space with their flags, pig, and more.  Shirley does an awesome job with t-shirt sales.  Congrats to Steve...two, count them, two top twenty calls!

This time around I tried to get pictures with other teams, people, etc.  It seems that often we only end up with photos of turn in boxes.  Here's Timm with Kathy (Best Dam BBQ coordinator) and Bill from The Smokin' B.A.R.  They were our neighbors.  BBQ Junkie was right next to them.  We also met a few new local teams including We Love Racks, Smokin' O's and Black Hole BBQ.  Leon with Squat and Gobble judged this event. 

Before awards, we got to see Gloriana perform.  That was cool.  Aparently, the blonde gal isn't part of the band anymore. 

We thought it was going to be a nightmare getting out of there but...we were able to pull both trailers out of there before awards, parked them at the office, and was able to make an easy getaway when all was said and done.

No calls for us this year.  Our best was 26th in brisket, and 33rd in ribs.  The judges were tough, that's for sure.  Congrats to all the teams that made the call.  Congrats to Harry Soo for taking 1st overall and winning the $10,000 big check.