Weekend Dog Blogging sponsored by Sweetnicks with Ziggy highlighted.
Ziggy napping again.
He finds a corner in my office to relax while I blog.
Yes, I just celebrated another birthday (the alternative is not acceptable) and my G took me out to eat at a Venice, California bar and grill which I will not name. Yes, I picked it because I was intersted in trying a place I ordinarily would not adventure to. I selected a duck breast entree with polenta and baby turnips, G selected the rib eye with onion rings. We also had a Caesar Salad and fried calamari. Missed those photo opportunities.
Though the entrees were not bad, they were not great nor memorable. Yes, a bar and grill indicates a lot of noise and this one was true to character with acoustics which boosted the noise level. The wait staff was very good and attentive and it's a shame that that is all I can say about the place. This is one place I won't be recommending in that for the price, you don't get the value. The company was great and I did enjoy the sense of celebration. G and I finished a bottle of Italian Pinot Grigio wine which helped to soothe the impact of the surroundings. Happy Birthday to me, and many more!
Special thanks to my friends at PBE for the warm birthday wishes.
Last weekend I started prepping for the "Four Q BBQ Team" competition coming up later this month (August 18-19) at the Silent Valley RV Park. This is an IBCA sanctioned event with a few rules which are different from the usual KCBS competitions. Check out BBQ Junkie for more information and links to this event.
Our team will have a practice event next weekend where we will decide how we are going to channel our energies for this event. Pork Butt is not in the event so our emphasis will be on half chicken,spare ribs and brisket. I tried out some new (to me) rubs and sauces which were on the sweet side. Not my norm but I aim to please (judges). I'll see what the team thinks next week.
8 comments:
Those are very nice looking chicken pieces. The ribs look pretty good too.
That ribeye at least LOOKS great... I've been thinking of trying a semi-onion ring sort of thing, and I may have to do it once the weather gets a bit more reasonable (even frying in the kitchen seems to be a bad idea!). I hope you had a great birthday, though!
what's the thermometer in the onion for? just curious.
The thermometer in the onion is to hold the thermometer in place so I can measure the temperature of the smoker at the grate level = level of the ribs. Some peopke also use a potato. I also have a thermometer through one of the vent holes in the dome which is to measure the temperature of the top of the dome. It just helps keep better tabs of the smoker temps. the goal is to maintain the temp around the meat at 225.
I'm going shopping for a brisket tonight. I will probably start cooking it on Sataurday night. that way we won't have to wait all day Sunday for it to finish. I'm even more excited!
Beautiful chicken! And good luck as you guys prepare for competition.
what a great idea! somewhere alton brown is smiling! :)
SG- I'm going to attempt the half chicken and the ribs again. What about the sauce competition? How about trying your's agin and see whathappens this time.
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