I’m kicking off a new category on my blog called the Dinner Bell. Now I’m no Giada or Pioneer Woman but I thought it would be fun to post some recipes from time to time that are hits in my house. So often when I talk to another mom we are asking each other “what’s for dinner?”. My first recipe I want to post is my BBQ recipe but I thought I would share a little story of a lesson learned the hard way 🙂
Before I start I should probably clarify to any readers who are not from the midwest; bbq to me is sloppy jo to you. Ok now that that matter is cleared up without further ado let us begin.
When I was in high school I worked at a few different food establishments. One of these places had the best bbq’s I have ever come across. As a cook one of my responsibilities was to prepare this heavenly bbq and I carried the recipe with me into adulthood. As I became a mother this bbq became a staple at all my kids birthday parties. I daresay the bbq became famous amongst my family and my bbq making ego became inflated. Until one fateful night last winter.
I had volunteered to make the supper for one of my church’s Lenton services. I whipped up the batch of bbq in a hurry the night before so that I could just run home to pick it up the next afternoon. I brazenly threw the ingredients together. Browned hamburger, pickle juice, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar and dried minced onion got mixed together and thrown into the fridge. It was late and I was in a rush; a I didn’t even take a taste – rookie mistake!
The next day at lunch I ran home, put the bbq in the crock pot and ran back to work. When I came home after work that afternoon the bbq was warm but not quite hot. I became worried it might not get hot enough in time for supper. I also noted an aroma in the house. It smelled good but wasn’t my normal bbq smell. I gave it a small taste and realized something was off but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I told myself not to worry about it – this was my awesome, no-fail bbq recipe after all. It just needed to heat up more and it probably needed more ketchup.
When I got to the the church I plugged in my crock pot, cranked it up to high and added a healthy dose of ketchup. As it heated up the peculiar aroma that I had smelled at home became stronger and stronger. I took another taste and it hit me like a ton of bricks… I had grabbed the minced garlic instead of the minced onion. Panic set in and I started glistening ( I don’t sweat – I glisten. At least that’s what I tell my kids). Well at that moment I was glistening profusely from every available glistening pore. I was about to serve my church congregation GARLIC bbq. “Ok,” I told myself, “Settle down. Maybe it’s not that strong. Maybe they won’t notice”. At that point people started trickling in. The garlic aroma and taste had intensified to full force. As people were taking their coats off I could overhear, “I smell garlic,” “Maybe we’re having Italian”. Nope I thought to myself its all American bbq – with garlic.
I had no choice but to serve it – there was nothing else I could do. As each person came through the line I blurted out with red cheeks, “I’m so sorry! I put in minced garlic instead of minced onion! It’s normally very good bbq!”. They were all sweet about it; some even offered “I like garlic”. I started to feel a little better. Maybe it really wasn’t that bad. And cue my kids….they came tromping into the kitchen holding their plates with faces full of disgust. “What’s wrong with the bbq?! It tastes weird! Why didn’t you make it the normal way?!” If you are ever looking for an honest opinion just ask a child.
After serving up my garlic bbq and cleaning my pride up off the floor I headed home. The first thing I did was stomp over to our spice cupboard, grab the minced garlic and stuffed it far, far into the back. It was weeks before anyone in the house uttered the words bbq or garlic.
So there you have it. Please stop by tomorrow for the complete bbq recipe – but just remember, in the words of Spider Man “with great power comes great responsibility.” Don’t let your bbq making ego become inflated. And if your going to royally mess up the recipe do it in the comfort of your own home – not when your feeding a small crowd.
I’ve heard a lot about your bbq’s never had them but I will be waiting for the recipe tomorrow.
Too funny!