Rib & Brews Pics & Recap

Ok, so we had some highlights and some lowlights this weekend, what else is new, right? Here's what happened:

• Saturday was a disaster at the start, with our fearless leader oversleeping and arriving at 10:45 am for a contest whose first turn-ins were scheduled for 12:00 pm. We're now "The Fastest BBQ Team In New England (& possibly the world)", because somehow the oysters made it in. Thank God people are used to eating 'em raw!
• Good time management, as well as tempers, saved the day: after that first turn-in the rest of Saturday went well. I think the fact that both Chris & Alli were always within earshot helped keep the language on a civil level.
• We finished up 9th overall, and did well (as usual) with the pork tenderloin entry.
• Consensus is we need to work on something for flank steak, and possibly sausage.

Sunday also was a mixed bag. The good:

• We won the rib competition, which Jed thinks is a first.
• We liked all of our entries, more or less.
• The day went smoothly: we actually had the chicken ready to turn in too early.
• Everything ran smoothly and calmly, which has got to be good for something.

The bad:

• We thought we would win the brisket competiton outright, but instead placed 15th. That was a pisser. Maybe we need to avoid the "burnt ends" we've been putting in the box?
  
• We also thought the pulled pork was OK, if not a winner, but finished up in 23rd of 25 in that one. No idea how we were so far off in our estimate. In fact, we tasted the entry of a team that scored higher than we did and hated it. Something was up with that...
  

For future competitions:

• We need to work on a brisket sauce
• We need to work on our pulled pork; we never seem to do well at this.
• We used to do well with chicken, but not as much lately-any ideas?
• We need to make ribs exactly the same way!
  

Upcoming Team activities:

• In October Jed's gonna get all fancy and go to a wine tasting. whatever.
• In early November, there will be a Team meeting at Jed's to take equipment inventory, do cleanup, and pack everything into Jed's new shed for the winter.
• Late November, NEBS.org should have the schedule for 2007. We'll post it here when it comes out.
• Saturday, January 13th: Christmas Party/2007 Team planning session at the Schiers.
  

"Try not to cut my finger off!"


Other Stuff:

• new Team email address: unclejedsbbq@verizon.net
• Send us your pictures for the blog!
• Mary has volunteered to step up & help Jed with some of the administrative responsibilities next year, which will allow Jed to focus on recipes and cooking, while hopefully getting things more organized and less chaotic. No offense, Jed.
• You can make comments by clicking the "comment" button at the end of each post: I've currently got it set up so that all you have to do is register with blogger.com.
• I'm applying for various need-based charity scholarships to blogpage design classes-maybe by the end of next season I'll have this figured out!