MAK 2 Star

On its way!

Chicago Fire v Toronto FC 2012-08-04

My neighbor convinced a bunch of us to go to the Chicago Fire game last night against Toronto FC.  I smoked chicken wings, sausage, and ribs for the tailgaiting festivities.  We were slowed a bit early by a severe thunderstorm that rolled through the area.  Fortunatley, it arrived earlier than schedule by several hours.  It delayed our parking lot festivities by about 30 minutes, but we were still able to get 2+ hours of fun in before we headed into the game.

A picture of the new 12 x 12 canopy that I bought prior to the game.  It sure came in handy.

The outside of Toyota Park which just so happens to be across the street from where I work.

A view from our seats.

At halftime, we were treated to a soccer games by all of the Chicago area sports teams' mascots.

The Fire made a stupid mistake to give up the first goal of the game to Toronto FC.  However, they rallied in the second half to get 2 goals to win the match 2-0.  The crowd was excited.

Patio Extension

I have room for the MAK 2 Star General pellet grill now!!!

Memphis Elite Weekend Smoke

Last weekend, I cranked up the Memphis Elite to smoke some eats.  I set the smoker to 180° and loaded it up with the following for 2 hours.  I then turned it up to 225° for another hour when the pork and turkey were ready.  After another hour, the ribs were ready.

Sam's Club Apple Wood Smoked Bacon Pork Loin

Sam's Club Chipotle BBQ Turkey Tenderloin

4 Racks of Baby Back Ribs

Bad Bones BBQ article in Morning Call newspaper

Looks like Bad Bones BBQ has made the big time.  Below is a link to an article in the newspaper this morning with a picture of my brother and parents.

http://www.mcall.com/business/retailwatch/mc-allentown-bad-bones-bbq-20120728,0,6144299.column

Bad Bones BBQ @ Andre Reed Annual Golf Tourney

This past Monday, on their day off, Bad Bones BBQ and their sponsor Newhard Corn Shed supported the 3rd Annual Andre Reed Celebrity Golf Tournament at the Lehigh Country Club.  The BBQ Crew had the rig setup near the 3rd hole on the course, and donated pork shoulder sandwiches and roasted corn on the cob to the celebrities and their charitable partners who shared the greens with them for the day.

The biggest celebrity golfer was Christopher McDonald aka Shooter McGavin from the movie "Happy Gilmore".  He was one of 30 celebs who joined 120 charitable golfers for the day on the course.  Scooter was hanging with Daniel Baldwin throughout the day, and reports from anonymous sources stated that these guys had a great time during this charity event.

United Way and the Allentown Boys and Girls Club were honored by the charitable contributions by all involved.  The event kicked off at the Bethlehem Sands Casino where the charitable golfers had a chance to spend some time with the celebs prior to hitting the greens.  Rumor has it that this was quite an entertaining event that may have been worth the donations in and of itself without spending time on the greens with the celebs.

Others that were in attendance and stopped by the Bad Bones BBQ rig for the best BBQ in the Lehigh Valley included:

Ed Too Tall Jones
Goldberg
John Rocker
Seth Joyner
Tim Kerr
Nasty Boys
Mike Quick

It was reported that many celebs congratulated Bad Bones BBQ for smoking up the best BBQ that they have ever had.  Bad Bones BBQ thanks them for their compliments and was glad to be able to support such a great event and the charities that benefited from everyone's efforts.

Van Gogh Vodka Collection

Many years ago, I was introduced to Vincent Van Gogh thru the biography Lust for Life that we were supposed to read for a high school English class.  When I moved to Memphis, I went to see a small exhibit of his paintings which got me interested in reading more about his life and his work.  Later, when I moved to Chicago, we went to see an exhibit of Van Gogh and Paul Gaugin that showed their works before, during, and after their stay in Arles together where the famous ear cutting incident took place.  It was interesting to see how the artists began to share style and techniques of each other while in Arles and after they split company together.

Somewhere over the last 10 years, I discovered that there was an award winning vodka that had the Van Gogh name that was made in the Netherlands at the time.  I have since started a collection of bottles of the different flavors that we have on display in the foyer of our house.

Yesterday, we went to Kenwood Liquors in Homer Glen, IL because I knew that they had a few flavors that I was missing.  We picked up 4 more bottles to add to the collection.