guys.. I mentioned out BBQ last week in Qtalk, so heres the update.. Went AWESOME!!! Weather was absolutely perfect and we fed about 1750 veterans and their families with nothing more than a few minor hiccups.
Shagdog, OFmarine and ChicagoKP flew in and stayed at my place with SmokePA. Oef came in from Indiana after a detour in Tennessee. Paul and Sharon Shirley drove up with Bigred75 and his wife hannah and trhey stayed at a local hotel.
We started prep friday night, did the butts, some slicing and dicing, made hog apple beans and defrosted the ribs.. Saturday morning the ribs and chicken goes in. Sausage cooked for sausage and peppers and all the appetizers and salads start coming together.
Menu was:
Appetizers:
Paul made a batch of Etouffee' that was off the hook. :thumb::thumb:
I have to say, for an effort this size, we nailed it.. no major issues, the food all came out great(nothing burned :clap2
and our volunteers are becoming experts. This is our 8th year and we have learned some things that have streamlined the process and made it almost easy to stay organized and on the timelines.
Having the Brethren from out of state stay at my house made for a great after party where the laughs had my ribs hurting. Paul, Sharon and Bigred had real NY pizza for the first time and i think it ruined them for Dominos. For those of you that are unaware, we discovered that Paul likes 3 Ballerina tea. Those around him dont like his secret vice, but it seems he enjoys it.
One thing MUST be mentioned.. 2 years ago, I retired from Competition BBQ to concentrate my time and resources and $$ on cooking for our veterans instead of 6 Judges. The "Brothers in Smoke" team changed to:
(I had to leave the "Competition Team" stuff on there for some 'official' reasons).
So it was an official start of our Veterans Outreach Program. We cook for Vets, First Responders and on a smaller scale, Cancer walkathons and fundraisers. If anyone wants to start something up locally, please contact me. We have contacts at our VA hospital who will reach out to your local hospitals Public Relations people.
With that in mind, Paul Shirley has DONATED 3 cookers to us over the years to cook for our veterans and First responders.
The first one arrived during Fleet week when we cooked for 2500 Sailors and Marines off 2 destroyers and a cutter that participated in the parade of Ships on Memorial Day Weekend. He surprised us with this work of Art.
The Second was donated to one of our cooks who does large scaled cooks fro NYPD and first responders.
And a few months ago, paul said he had somethign in mind and this time he showed up with this. (the Santa Maria, not the torch, but he did bring an umprella for it).
The generosity of Shirley Fabrications is unmatched..and Paul, we love you for it and our appreciation is indescribable. :grouphug::grouphug::kiss::kiss:
We had about 35 other volunteers, many of them members of this forum.. Without them, this undertaking would be impossible. Many have been working with us for years, and others were new, but everyone worked like dogs to pull it together. I cant thank those folks enough. No one complains(ok, almost no one. ) but together, it all gets done.. Thanks to all of them!
heres a Photo album for your viewing pleasure..
http://s117.photobucket.com/user/bbqchef33/Northport VA cook 2018/story
Shagdog, OFmarine and ChicagoKP flew in and stayed at my place with SmokePA. Oef came in from Indiana after a detour in Tennessee. Paul and Sharon Shirley drove up with Bigred75 and his wife hannah and trhey stayed at a local hotel.
We started prep friday night, did the butts, some slicing and dicing, made hog apple beans and defrosted the ribs.. Saturday morning the ribs and chicken goes in. Sausage cooked for sausage and peppers and all the appetizers and salads start coming together.
Menu was:
Appetizers:
- Mexican Street corn
- Jambayla
- Moink balls
- Choinks(chicken tenders wrapped in Bacon)
- Grilled Eggplant Parm
- Main:
- Pulled Pork
- Sausage and Peppers
- Ribs
- Chicken
- Tritips
- 2 Whole Pics 100lb /85 lb
- Pork Loin
- Burgers and Dogs
- Hog Apple Beans
- Slaw and Potato/Mac salads
Paul made a batch of Etouffee' that was off the hook. :thumb::thumb:
I have to say, for an effort this size, we nailed it.. no major issues, the food all came out great(nothing burned :clap2
and our volunteers are becoming experts. This is our 8th year and we have learned some things that have streamlined the process and made it almost easy to stay organized and on the timelines.
Having the Brethren from out of state stay at my house made for a great after party where the laughs had my ribs hurting. Paul, Sharon and Bigred had real NY pizza for the first time and i think it ruined them for Dominos. For those of you that are unaware, we discovered that Paul likes 3 Ballerina tea. Those around him dont like his secret vice, but it seems he enjoys it.
One thing MUST be mentioned.. 2 years ago, I retired from Competition BBQ to concentrate my time and resources and $$ on cooking for our veterans instead of 6 Judges. The "Brothers in Smoke" team changed to:
(I had to leave the "Competition Team" stuff on there for some 'official' reasons).
So it was an official start of our Veterans Outreach Program. We cook for Vets, First Responders and on a smaller scale, Cancer walkathons and fundraisers. If anyone wants to start something up locally, please contact me. We have contacts at our VA hospital who will reach out to your local hospitals Public Relations people.
With that in mind, Paul Shirley has DONATED 3 cookers to us over the years to cook for our veterans and First responders.
The first one arrived during Fleet week when we cooked for 2500 Sailors and Marines off 2 destroyers and a cutter that participated in the parade of Ships on Memorial Day Weekend. He surprised us with this work of Art.
The Second was donated to one of our cooks who does large scaled cooks fro NYPD and first responders.
And a few months ago, paul said he had somethign in mind and this time he showed up with this. (the Santa Maria, not the torch, but he did bring an umprella for it).
The generosity of Shirley Fabrications is unmatched..and Paul, we love you for it and our appreciation is indescribable. :grouphug::grouphug::kiss::kiss:
We had about 35 other volunteers, many of them members of this forum.. Without them, this undertaking would be impossible. Many have been working with us for years, and others were new, but everyone worked like dogs to pull it together. I cant thank those folks enough. No one complains(ok, almost no one.
) but together, it all gets done.. Thanks to all of them! heres a Photo album for your viewing pleasure..
http://s117.photobucket.com/user/bbqchef33/Northport VA cook 2018/story
