By Larry, in Wordless Wednesday, on January 18th, 2012 
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By Larry, in Misc., on January 17th, 2012  I’ve tried to write this blog post several times over the past day or so and each time I gave up because it kept coming across as a complaining “don’t you know who I am” kind of post and that isn’t my intent. I’m just a blogger, more successful than some and less successful than many. I have no illusions of grandeur.
I’m writing this because I think it’s humorous and a good illustration of how companies can lose sight of what’s really important…the consumer. In “real life” I am a sales professional and there is nothing I want more than to work in the food industry in my chosen field. So it saddens me to see others doing what I’d love to do for a living…but doing it poorly.
One of my favorite things to do each year, as a blogger, is attending the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco every January. I get the chance to meet people, see what’s exciting in food and taste some amazing products. It’s a good time and I usually come away with several great ideas for the blog.
I always plan my trip and know in advance who and what I want to see. I recently saw an advertisement for Tabasco’s new Buffalo Style Hot Sauce sauce. I’m a huge fan of wings, they are often on my grill. And even though it’s advertised as a Buffalo style sauce we all know it has to be tried for the first time on chicken wings. When you combine that with the fact that I also love Tabasco it just seemed like it would be a natural place for me to stop and check out this new product.
I’m also lucky to get to attend the show on press credentials. Getting a “press pass” to the Fancy Food Show, as a food blogger, is not an easy task. They don’t just hand out credentials to anyone that asks. So, if someone shows up at your booth with a “press” badge you should recognize that, at least in the eyes of the show producers, they’ve got at least a little street cred.
Continue reading The Tabasco Fiasco or How Not To Run A Booth At The Fancy Food Show
| Original content here is published under these license terms: | X | | | License Type: | Non-commercial, Attribution, no Derivative work | | | | License Summary: | You may copy this content, and re-publish it in unmodified form for non-commercial purposes, provided you include an overt attribution to the author(s). You are not permitted to create derivative works. | | | License URL: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ |
By Larry, in Contest, on January 12th, 2012 
Over the holidays my friends at Mr. Bar-B-Q offered to send me out one of their grill accessories to use. They also offered to give another set of whatever they sent as a giveaway on the blog. I couldn’t pass up a chance to get my readers something nice so I accepted. (Note: This is my way of saying, so I’m in compliance with all stupid laws and rules, that the pizza grilling kit I’m going to talk about here was free to me.)
This isn’t so much a review of the Mr. Bar-B-Q Grill Stone Pizza Set they sent me, but a review of my pizza making skills, which are somewhat lacking. The pizza stone and giant pizza spatula, I hesitate to call it a pizza peel, worked great. Mrs. Grail bakes an awesome pizza in the oven so I attempted to duplicate her efforts on my 26 inch Weber Kettle. Take a look at how I did it and offer up some suggestions at the end in the comment section for your chance to win your own Mr. Bar-B-Q Grill Stone Pizza Set.
Continue reading Pizza on Weber Kettle with Mr. Bar-B-Q (and giveaway)
| Original content here is published under these license terms: | X | | | License Type: | Non-commercial, Attribution, no Derivative work | | | | License Summary: | You may copy this content, and re-publish it in unmodified form for non-commercial purposes, provided you include an overt attribution to the author(s). You are not permitted to create derivative works. | | | License URL: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ |
By Larry, in Uncategorized, on January 11th, 2012 
| Original content here is published under these license terms: | X | | | License Type: | Non-commercial, Attribution, no Derivative work | | | | License Summary: | You may copy this content, and re-publish it in unmodified form for non-commercial purposes, provided you include an overt attribution to the author(s). You are not permitted to create derivative works. | | | License URL: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ |
By Larry, in Contest, on December 29th, 2011  There are several different “tools” available that are supposed to make “pulling” your meat easier. There’s the popular “claw” type tools and even one that hooks up to your power drill.
I have to admit my inner “Tool Man” wants me to have anything that runs on electricity, but so far I’ve avoided buying that one. When it comes to pulling pork I’m pretty much a two forks and lots of arm action kind of guy. I’ve always found my technique to be adequate. So why try anything else.
I found a good reason to try something else recently when I got an email from the gang at Meatrake offering me a couple sets of Meatrakes. One for me to try and and another to give away. I replied and told them sure, go right ahead and send them out. I mean trying something out for free beats the heck out of buying something and discovering it’s not the product you thought it was going to be. I have to admit, though, I already knew I wasn’t going to like this “tool” at all and I felt a little guilty accepting their offer.
Continue reading The Meatrake! Review and Giveaway…
| Original content here is published under these license terms: | X | | | License Type: | Non-commercial, Attribution, no Derivative work | | | | License Summary: | You may copy this content, and re-publish it in unmodified form for non-commercial purposes, provided you include an overt attribution to the author(s). You are not permitted to create derivative works. | | | License URL: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ |
By Larry, in Recipe, on December 29th, 2011 
Writing this blog is a hoot!
Every once in a while someone on Twitter or Facebook will ask a question or post a comment and it triggers something in my brain. It’s just something that happens. I’m minding my own business and all of a sudden I’m thinking about something different. A couple of days a go someone on Twitter sent out a tweet about pulled pork and a little while later there was a mention of waffles. It was lunch time here in Northern California and the Pulled Pork and Waffle Sliders just popped into my head.
Continue reading Pulled Pork and Waffle Sliders with Maple Chipotle BBQ Sauce
| Original content here is published under these license terms: | X | | | License Type: | Non-commercial, Attribution, no Derivative work | | | | License Summary: | You may copy this content, and re-publish it in unmodified form for non-commercial purposes, provided you include an overt attribution to the author(s). You are not permitted to create derivative works. | | | License URL: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ |
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I’ve tried to write this blog post several times over the past day or so and each time I gave up because it kept coming across as a complaining “don’t you know who I am” kind of post and that isn’t my intent. I’m just a blogger, more successful than some and less successful than many. I have no illusions of grandeur.
