A Care Package From Mr. Barbecue

The Bride returned from a trip to North Carolina, seeing family, with a Care Package for me! There will be good eats on my trip next week! My favorite Carolina Barbecue place! If I ration myself, this will last almost a year.

 

Thanks for visiting.

Buffleheads, Goldeneyes, Mallards & Canadians

 

My first gig as a volunteer for the Division of Wildlife was a success and fun as well. My task was to complete a waterfowl count on a golf course on the Southeast side of the Denver metro area. I really had little instruction from the DOW other than to show up before sunrise and to count all the different types of waterfowl I saw so I arrived on scene at about 6:20 am with binoculars and a handy dandy bird identification book. The book was necessary because other than Canadian geese and mallards I really can’t tell a duck from a buck.

This past Saturday I drove out to the golf course to familiarize myself with the area and check out what kind of waterfowl were there. That day the only birds I saw were Canadian Geese….and there were probably 500 or 600 of them all over the course. When I arrived on Tuesday morning I was surprised to find only about 100 Canadians in the area and they were all in the water. (Now that I’m an expert, I know that they spend the night on the water and during the day move to the fields to feed.)

The golf course contains two different ponds and a creek that runs through the middle of the course so after I counted the geese at the main pond I walked around to the other pond and to the creek to see what might be there. When I got to the other pond I saw two other types of ducks/waterfowl that I hadn’t a clue as to what they were. I made some crude drawings on my notepad and headed back to my truck. After consulting the bird book I was still not sure about an identification and decided to go back to the pond and bring my camera as it was now light enough to get a picture and as they say “a picture is worth a thousand words for an old guy with CRS”

I got the pictures and on the way back to the truck again counted about 100 mallards along the creek. Fortunately between my drawings and the pictures…and the book I was able to identify the web footed flyers. In the picture above the smaller pair on the left are male and female Bufflehead and the larger pair on the right are male and female Common Goldeneye. I have never seen ducks like this before so I was thrilled at a new experience. By 8:30 am I had completed the count, drove home and completed my report which I faxed to the DOW office.

They must have liked my work because later that day I got an offer to help man the DOW booth at the International Sportsmen’s Exhibition this weekend in Denver. Unfortunately I can’t do that because on Saturday I’ll be driving down to Colorado Springs to attend another DOW orientation. At this meeting I’ll learn more about the opportunities to volunteer in Southeast Colorado. The orientation is two hours long and The Bride has agreed to come with me and then get some lunch in the Springs….which brings me to my next adventure.

Readers know that I like to investigate off beat places and down home food like BBQ and burgers. It just so happens that I recently heard about an unusual burger joint in Colorado Springs by the name of Conway’s Red Top. This burger joint has been written up in a number of national publications and is famous for it’s 18” hamburger….That is correct. Eighteen inches across. That’s way more than I could probably consume but the experience will be worth the trip as I see it. The soups and stews are supposed to be killer items too. So check back in a couple of days and see how this adventure goes.

Thanks for visiting.

Merry Barbecue!!!

The Bride arrived back home from her trip to North Carolina Monday morning at about 2am. She was supposed to land at the Denver airport at about 10pm on Sunday night but because of the snow storm on the East Coast, her flight was delayed. It was delayed not because of the weather at the airport but because not enough service personnel could make it in to work at Dulles airport to keep the planes flying on-time. In spite of the weather and delays she had a good time with her mother and I got a special gift out of the trip too!

Long time readers will remember that I have an affinity, a yen, a sweet tooth as it were for barbeque. Not just any barbecue mind you but the best barbecue in the land…..North Carolina pork barbecue. Not Texas cow and ketchup not grilled yard bird but honest to God North Carolina chopped pork barbecue. One of my favorite places to get a barbecue fix…when I’m in the area, is Mr. Barbecue in Winston-Salem, NC. I have been going to this fantastic little barbecue place for over 30 years now but it’s been about two years since my last visit and I’ve got to admit that I have thought of that barbecue more than once in that time.

To paraphrase a saying, “if his-self can’t go to the barbecue, bring the barbecue to his-self!” and that’s exactly what The Bride did. The Bride, bless her little heart, put a whole barbecued pork leg, from Mr. Barbecue, in her luggage and brought it to me as a Christmas present. This is no little task as the pork leg is a bulky item and probably weighs 5 or 6 pounds. She had it frozen, wrapped in tin foil and then wrapped in a plastic bag. From experience I can tell you that a whole leg is by far the most efficient way to transport barbecue. Carrying it in a chopped state is way too bulky and reduces the amount of this culinary gold that will fit in a suitcase.

Since I prefer my barbecue chopped, my task this morning was to reduce the leg to chopped ‘cue. While the process is pretty simple, great care must be taken to ensure that nothing gets wasted. After all this manna from heaven doesn’t fall in Colorado very often!

The meat is carefully carved off the bones of the leg ensuring that nothing edible is left behind. In my case the bones are so clean that even ants refuse to waste their time foraging for a meal!

After the meat is stripped from the bones it’s chopped into the desired consistency. I prefer a variety of sizes to the chopped meat and chop it so there are small and medium sized pieces.

The barbecue is then packaged in quart sized freezer bags and stored away. Each freezer bag has enough of this redneck caviar to serve about four normal people or two and a half North Carolina barbecue aficionados.

I now have five quart sized bags of Mr. Barbecue, barbecue in my freezer just waiting to please my palate and stomach at the right moment. Life is good!

Thanks for visiting.

Back From North Carolina

It took two different flights but the entire family made it back from NC yesterday. The Emmer, CaJenn and I, were up and on our way to the airport at 4:30 am yesterday. All three of us flew to Cleveland where The Emmer and I continued on to Denver and CaJenn caught a different flight to San Francisco. The Bride was to follow on a flight from Greensboro/Atlanta/Denver later in the day.

It was the culmination of a sad week. One of those things that unfortunately seems to happen more often now that I am growing older. It was gratifying to see how many people came to the services and sent letters, cards and emails of condolences. Big Don touched an awful lot of lives and was a very respected member of the community.

I could not be in Winston-Salem, NC without visiting my most favorite culinary parlor...Mr. Barbecue. I wrote about Mr. Barbecue in a previous post and it is a ritual for me to eat lunch there whenever I am in the area. This time I brought The Bride, The Emmer, CaJenn, my brother #4 and The Bride's mother, Big Don's wife.

All of us except my brother #4 have eaten there on numerous occasions. I particularly wanted to see #4's reaction to the traditional meal, especially the red slaw which is a local variation on standard coleslaw. This slaw, which is circled in the picture to the right is made with a vinegar based sauce and quite honestly, it's an acquired taste. Like the locals, I have acquired it big time!

#4 heartily agreed that the barbecue was top notch but it would take him some time to get used to the slaw.....his loss....more for me!

CaJenn is quite fond of the hush puppies which she says are completely unknown on the left coast. Even with this fondness however, she couldn't eat her allotted portion...her loss...more for me!

The other ritual for me, when I am in the area, is a visit to Mrs. Hanes' cookie factory. Moravian cookies are one of nature's wonders and one of my gluttonous passions. All of Mrs. Hanes' cookies are hand made. A lot of food products claim that but I can tell you for sure that these cookies are HAND MADE. If you visit the factory, which is a relatively small building way out in the country between Clemmons, NC and Lexington, NC, you will see 10-15 women hand rolling these delectable delights to a thickness of about 1/16 of an inch! The miracle machinery in this factory is the wrists of the women who hand roll the dough. This is just a wonderful product and a fascinating small business success story.

I've been sending these cookies to my brothers as a Christmas present for over 25 years now. At one point I asked them if they were tired of cookies and would like something else for Christmas. I can't repeat their exact replies but they did threaten bodily harm if I stopped sending the cookies.

Anyway, after a fulfilling meal at Mr. Barbecue, I took #4 to Mrs. Hanes' factory. It was like the pilgrim going to Mecca... #4 purchased several different flavors to try and left there a very happy man!

Back here in Colorado, it's cold with a forecast of more cold and snow, turning to colder and snowier. I believe the dinner forecast will be for chili. Oh well, it is January after all.

Thanks for visiting.

Food for Thought

Look at the label on the bottle in the picture…Heinz Tomato Ketchup. One day many years ago when I had way too much time on my hands I was reading a label much like this one.

Tomato Ketchup? Hmmm, Tomato……Ketchup? What is this thing Ketchup? If there is TOMATO Ketchup does that mean there are other kinds of Ketchup? Like maybe Squash Ketchup or Grape Ketchup? If Ketchup is TOMATO what is Catsup and is it TOMATO too?

Deep stuff for a young man. Unfortunately those many years ago computers for the masses did not exist and I actually had to go to a library and do…..(shhh, don’t let the kids hear)…”research”. I did the research and am a better man because of it.

Do you want to know the secret of Ketchup? If you’re reading this you have access to the computer I did not those years ago….so click the link and be a more complete person.

Wikipedia - Ketchup
World Wide Words - Ketchup

And, for those that make the grade....cut the mustard, so to speak, also read this great story about Grey Poupon, Ketchup and other food items. Fascinating!

The Ketchup Conundrum

Thanks for visiting

Barbecue Chapter 2!

Last week I gave you some background in my love of Carolina style barbecue. This week I am able to continue the pursuit of this passion. Work takes me to Winston-Salem, NC which is in the very center of Carolina barbecue country! I arrived about 7pm on Monday evening and leave first thing on Thursday morning. The trick is to partake as much as I can and still attend to the required business.

My master plan included dinner Monday night at Stamey's of Greensboro, since I flew into the Greensboro airport. After picking up my rental car, I set the GPS for Stamey's and started driving. Unfortunately, in the last year, there has been a lot of road construction around the Greensboro airport and some of the roads were not recognizeable to the "lady in the box". She was definitely confused! I knew that if I spent too much time trying to "unconfuse" the lady, I wouldn't get any barbecue that night at all. I therefore abandoned my primary objective and went to my fall back objective.

My fall back objective was Mr. Barbecue in Winston-Salem. This is a tried a true barbecue restaurant that I have patronized many times over the last 30 years. It didn't disappoint on this ocassion either. I ordered a chopped plate that consisted of a generous portion of barbecue, red slaw, hush puppies and fries. All washed down with sweet tea. Not only was it soul satisfying but it was on special too! $4.75 for a barbecue dinner that would make the hardest critic weep! Day #1 was a success.

Tuesday was planned to be the highlight of the trip with lunch scheduled at Lexington #1. How can I describe the reputation of this restaurant among Carolina barbecue afficianados? Mecca, Stradivarius, Gibson, Rolls Royce, Champagne all come to mind.

I had arranged to meet a business associate there at 12:30 for lunch. At a little after 11 am I got a call from him on my cell phone. He said he was running early and did I want to meet him at 11:30 instead and "beat the crowd". Since I was only a few minutes away from the restaurant I immediately agreed. When I arrived I discovered that you don't "beat the crowd" at 11:30 as the parking lot was already almost full.

Lunch was another chopped barbecue plate with plenty of 'cue, slaw, fries and hush puppies and again washed down with sweet tea. The picture at the top of the story is my lunch plate. Note the slaw on the upper part of the plate. I described this as red slaw in my description of the Mr. Barbecue dinner. This slaw is made with cabbage and vinegar instead of mayonaise...hence the reddish color. I will tell you that it is an acquired taste as it is quite "tart" but once you have "acquired" the taste there's nothing that pairs with the sweetness of the barbecue better.

I have one full day left and now the question is, will I be able to squeeze in one more meal of barbecue? If I am unable to because of business commitments I'll at least be consoled with the accomplishment of having barbecue twice in the last two days.

Stay tuned for more!

Barbecue!!!

This week I travelled on business to Columbia, SC. Now, I have to tell you that I spent a good deal of my life in the Carolina's. My children were born in North Carolina. My wife is from North Carolina and I went to college in South Carolina. I also spent a lot of my business career in both of the Carolinas.

As a result, I LOVE BARBECUE!! Carolina style that is. No cow and ketchup for me, no sir. If it's barbecue it better be pork and pulled or chopped at that!

Going to Columbia gave me the opportunity to "partake" of my favorite food. Columbia is home to a very famous barbecue restaurant, Maurice's Piggy Park. It is unique in the Carolina's in that it uses a mustard based sauce. Most all of the rest of the Carolina's use a vinegar based sauce and this is what I enjoy the most. Living in the west however, I can't be too particular and have to take my pleasures as I find them so dinner a Maurice's (pronounced Mo-reece's) was a must.

Tuesday night was the night and I took a business associate from Oklahoma with me. I ordered a "Big Pig" plate for both of us and we both did "pig out" on pulled pork, ribs, hash, cole slaw, sweet tea...and for desert, a BIG bowl of home made bananna pudding! I ate so much I was absolutely miserable....in that wonderful way! Heaven.....

In the past 10 years I've travelled back to the Carolina's about 3 times. In the last 2 months, I've been back twice and the best news is that next week I'll be travelling to Winston-Salem, NC. Visit this blog next week for a continuation of my barbecue story