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Thursday, July 14, 2005 

And so it begins...

The Harpoon Championships of NE BBQ are nearly a week away and I'm finally getting into the "serious" preparation phase. I've finalized my team, which had a few hiccups along the way. The Old Bull has to have rotator cuff surgery on the 21st, which is clearly going to keep him away from the event. Fortunately, my father is a willing understudy. As I learned the value of food from his exceptional cooking talents, he's a good fill in for the Old Bull.

I'm now trying to pull all the logistics and supplies together, and they are many...

I'm rustling up a pickup truck for our gear (I doubt I could fit my smokers in our Honda Civic!).

I've ordered the meat and have at least a partial sponsorship from my local butcher. He's giving me all my brisket for free and giving me a price break on the pork. I'm going to have his flyers available for the public in return for the deal he's given me.

I've got to head into the village during my lunch break to deposit some cash into my personal account so I can order my charcoal supplies from Wicked Good Charcoal.

Farmer Girl is planning the vending portion of the event, while dealing with her own major events in the coming weeks.

I realized that in addition to preparing the mops, sauces and spice rubs, I also have to write out a schedule for each piece of meat. Since these events are timed down to the wire, I need to plan for my products to be done no earlier than 20 minutes before they need to be submitted. As such, I need to factor in time to prep the meat, start the grills and do any mopping.

Needless to say, things are hectic, but I'm really looking forward to this. Last night I couldn't sleep because my mind was busy working through the event planning. I'm hoping to have one last round of practice this weekend. I've got a new idea for ribs I want to try, and I feel like I should give the chicken thighs at least one try.

I'll post again as we get closer to the event!

Cheers,

Mule