Pictures from Mesquite

A few pics to share from Smokin' in Mesquite. 

Smokin' in Mesquite

Another year of Smokin' in Mesquite BBW Championship is in the books.  No storms that brought rain, hail, or strong winds, no excessive heat warning, just calm, really warm...ok, hot weather this year.  This was our first time to compete here, we could've last year but writing the check for the entry fee was just too hard.  Yes, you have to put out money to get money, but we had that whole transmission thing happening last year too. 
Friday, we checked in, got the toy hauler set up with water and power.  Dad hauled the pit out for us.  Seriously, I think it made his day.  After all that, we had lunch at one of the Mexican restaurants before Dad and Nelson went home.  We met up with other BBQ teams to catch up on the latest.  Congrats to Little Miss BBQ...they're pregnant!  The 'Jack' draw was announced and several teams we know will be making the trek, including R&R, Rythym & Que, Smoked to the Bone, Whiskey Ranch and more.  I think there were 12-13 teams competing here that are going to the Jack.  We had dinner with Little Miss and Rod from R&R Friday night...it was a hoot.
I have to say, this was a very relaxed cook for us.  The pit was maintaining temperatures really well, there was no wind to contend with, it was really warm but tolerable, the meats were cooking right along.  We were really pleased with all the entries we turned in.  The chicken and ribs were incredible...not to brag, but they were really good.  The ribs probably could have cooked 15 minutes longer to tenderize a tiny bit more.  Pork tasted good, but presentation is still difficult.  Brisket was delicious.  Nelson and Chris ran turn-in boxes for us.
After turn-ins, clean up seems to be quick.  I try to clean all the way thru instead of having a huge mess at the end.  Thanks to Mom, Dad, Nelson and Chris for helping out.  We really apreciate it. 
Timm had a few co-workers stop by to show support.  We always appreciate our friends coming out to see us.  In fact, Ray and Dan stayed for the awards.
We got a 5th place chicken call....WooHoo!!!  Totally excited about that one.  Ribs tanked at 40th...at least we had a few teams behind us on that one.  They were really good too!!!  Seriously...I think we got a bad table of judges.  Pork received 28th, and brisket got a 22nd spot.  Overall, we ranked 26th...dang ribs. Congrats to Smoke on Wheels for Grand Champion and Rythym & Que for Reserve Grand Champion.   Little Miss BBQ took first in ribs...way to go!!!!!  We're so excited for you.
Oh, we finished 7th in the Nevada State Championship.  It's an accumulation of the two events held in Nevada.  Congrats to All Sauced Up for taking that one. 

Tommy VS Jen

Here is an article about Tommy and Jennifer Duncan, their BBQ teams and Jen coming back to defend last year's win at Smokin' in Mesquite.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/08/19/prweb8727452.DTL

Mesquite Newspaper Write-Up

We are so pleased to have a feature on our little BBQ team in the Mesquite newspaper today.  They are featuring several teams I understand as a way to promote Smokin' in Mesquite over Labor Day weekend.  Today was our write-up.  Please check it out and we hope to see you in Mesquite to root us on to victory.  You can view the official website http://www.mesquitebbqchampionship.com/ for event details.  NOTE:  The big day for teams competing is Sunday...that's when we will all be cooking, turning in boxes and attending the awards ceremony.  We hope to see many of our family and friends out there. 

Que'ing Shindig at the House

Smoke on the River Review

What a fun week we had while at the River's Edge RV Resort in Heber, Utah.  The BBQ contest was held in the campground, this was a first for us.  I have to admit it worked out pretty well.  We were pleased with what we turned in to the judges.  Our best scores were 6th in chicken and 3rd in ribs.  The pork was not cooked hot enough to pull, but sliced nicely.  Congrats to R&R...they cleaned up at this one.  They finished 1st in 3 categories and ended up with the Grand Champion award. 

They held a concert Friday and Saturday nights at the stage area, we were beat and listened from our reclining chairs and dozed off.    After the contest we stayed around a few extra days to enjoy the area.  We drove through Park City...it's not a place that is very accomodating to a truck our size.  We did enjoy lunch in Deer Valley, there Cassy swam in their lake, played fetch and they went out of their way to make us feel welcome.   

All our leftover BBQ we offered up to the staff of the RV park.  We even cooked up the rib tips another night to have a potluck dinner with them.  They made us feel really welcome and we'll definitely return to stay there again. 

We explored the area and enjoyed the beauty.  There was still a lot of snow on the upper portions of the mountains, rivers were running fast and full.  Cassy had several chances to swim and play in a couple of snowdrifts even. 

Our next contest...

We are heading to northern Utah Friday for this event.  It's in Heber, Utah...we haven't been up there since Chris was 2 or 3 years old.  I'm sure many things have changed since then.  We're excited to be cooking in Utah and we hope to carry our momentum from the last two events with us. 

We'll even be spending a few extra days to enjoy the area for a short vacation.  Plenty of extra towels are on the list for Cassy since we'll be near water.  You know labs love water!

Please send postive thoughts and prayers our way for great contest results.  We'll keep you posted.