BBQ Challenge Time

The sun is peeking over a grove of pear trees. Ike pulls the black F350 up to their BBQ challenge spot with the smoker in tow. Shanice jumps out of the truck to help him with parking.

“That’s good,” she tells him, motioning for him to stop.

“Sweet! Time to start this fabulous day! There’s nothing quite like a great BBQ challenge on your day off with your co-workers,” he says as he jumps out of the truck.

Shanice opens the front doors on the trailer. She starts removing the tables from the trailer and setting coolers of meat and side ingredients on the ground . “I think the setup today will be U- shaped due to having people on three sides of us. What do you think?”

“I am all for the U-shape. It keeps the people further away from the smoker itself,” he replies to her.

They get to work, she’s putting the tables in place along with the stuff for the sides while he is getting the meats ready for the smoker. The ribs will be smoking for approximately 6 hours, the chicken for 2 and a half and the sides will be started last.

A few hours later, Lani and Kai walk up and Kai asks, “Hey, what are we going to have for today?”

“Hey! Great to see you guys. For the ribs, we have a cherry BBQ spice rub, while for the chicken there’s a garlic and herb spice rub. In the mashed potatoes, we will put garlic and bacon. The macaroni and cheese will be available both with rib or chicken meat on top. To spice up the corn on the cob we are using a garlic, pepper, and Parmesan butter mixture while smoking in the corn husks,” Ike tells them.

Lani says, “That sounds awesome! We’ll definitely be back later to eat. Right now we are checking out the smokers as they come in. Then it’s off to the tractor pulls and balloon launch.”

“Wait, they have balloons here?” Shanice asks.

“Yes they do. I think they are taking off around 5.”

“Man, I’d love to see those, but we’ll be busy,” she says in a disappointed tone.

Kai says, “Yeah, the timing isn’t the best for you guys. However, I am looking forward to coming back here for an awesome dinner.”

“We’ll have it for you,” Ike responds.

They walk off towards the next smoker setup. “That all sounded awesome. I can’t wait to go back and try all of it,” Kai tells Lani.

“Yes, it made me hungry. It always amazes me how great his food is.”

“They both make great food. They’ll end up with the whole station down here by the end of the day.”

Back at the smoker Ike is massaging the ribs with his special blend of BBQ rub. Shanice is arranging the paper towels, plasticware, jars of BBQ rub and sauce on the tables. Laying the board on the table, she grabs the chalk and says to Ike, “Hey, I want to verify what we are selling today. We have the combo plate with a half chicken and four bones along with two sides. Then we have the options of chicken with the dark or white meat with two sides. For the ribs, they can get four or eight bones with two sides. Then I’ll list the chicken and ribs as individually, followed by the sides. Oh yeah, we’ll have the cans of pop at the bottom of the board. Anything else?”

“Yes, the jars of rub and sauce.”

Rolling her eyes up and shaking her head, “oh geez, of course, I just put those out on the table.”

With all the different woods starting to get smoking, the area is being filled with all the smells. People are coming through to see what’s going to be available to eat.

Shanice sets the chalkboard sign on the easel and places it out front for all to see. In addition to the menu items, she’s put different colored swirls around the chalkboard edges.

“Hey girl! How’s it going?” Brina asks as she and Sean walk up to her.

“We are getting things going, but it’s gonna be a long day,” she chuckles.

Sean asks, “what do you need for us to do?”

“I am going to have Brina with me working the registers and selling. You will be back helping Ike with dishing things up.”

He walks around the tables to join Ike by the smokers. “Hey buddy, I’ll help you with the dishing up and whatever else you need, just let me know.”

“Dude, this is going to be off the hook! I can’t wait. This weather is perfect and we are going to have a ton of people. They are already coming through.”

“How many competitors are there in this competition?”

“There’s a dozen of us, I think. I didn’t get a chance to check the latest listing, but as of a couple of weeks ago it was a dozen.”

“So, a nice size group for everyone to choose from without having too many.”

Back in the front Brina says to Shanice, “you already have this all organized, I love it! We are ready for the crowds, when does it actually open?”

“They have us opening at 11 am, so we have about an hour until we will have people lining up. Let’s go walk around and check out the competition,” she says to Brina. “Hey guys, we are heading out to see what else is out there,” Shanice yells back to them.

The girls walk off to the next booth. Their smoker is behind the next booth and located in the first row of competitors at the end spot.

The guys are keeping the wood in the smoker just right while putting together the sides. Sean is working on the macaroni and cheese and banana pudding. Ike is working on the corn on the cob and mashed potatoes.

“For these mashed taters, we are going to kick them up a notch by using the red skins and adding in some garlic and bacon. These are going to hit it out of the park,” Ike says.

“How about we add some of that rib meat into the macaroni and cheese?”

“Sounds like a plan!”

As they are working on the sides Lani and Kai return, and she asks, “Hey, where’s Shanice?”

“She and Brina went to check out the competition,” Sean answers.

“Ok, I am going to go try to catch up to them,” Lani tells them and walks away after giving Kai a kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll hang out here if you guys don’t mind.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Ike says.

Kai walks around to join them by the smoker, “You guys have this in hand. The food smells and looks great. I am hungry already.”

“Thanks man. I can’t wait to get the line of people. When it’s hopping is when it’s the most fun,” Ike tells them.

The girls are return from checking out the competition. “Hey, hey, hey, we are back! Ready for people?” Shanice announces as they walk behind the tables.

“Come on Kai, let’s get out of the way. We will get in line and be the first to enjoy all this. I need some of those ribs,” Lani says motioning for him to join her on the customer side of the tables.

He walks around the tables, picks her up and gives her a big kiss on the lips.

This tall guy with short, curly, blond hair and blue-eyes comes up to the tables, “Hi guys and gals, I am Leo and I wanted to let you know that we will be sounding the horn shortly. This will be the official ok to start waiting on customers. We will also sound a horn when it’s time to stop selling. After the second horn you will be given 15 minutes to bring up your total in sales, both dollars and quantities of each item you sell. So, make sure to keep track. Any questions?” he pauses for a moment looking at them. They shake their heads to respond “no”. “Good luck!, calls out Leo.

Leo leaves and continues on to the next booth along the row.

“We definitely need to be sure we are tracking each and every sale as we go along. This will make it easier at the end of the event,” Shanice says.

Brina nods her head in agreement, “Yeah, we don’t want to be doing any guessing on this.”

Kai and Lani are the first ones waiting and people keep coming up behind them. The line is a couple dozen deep, and they haven’t even opened yet.

By the smoker Ike and Sean are putting the finishing touches on where everything is to make it easier to get to in a hurry.

Suddenly there is the blaring horn that sounds across the event signalling the start of the selling of the BBQ.

“What can I get you?” Shanice asks Lani.

“We will take two of the eight bone ribs, one with macaroni and cheese and corn on the cob. The other with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. Plus, two of the banana puddings.”

She marks it all down and says, “That’ll be sixteen times two plus four times two for a total of forty dollars.”

Kai hands her two twenties. “Thank you, please step over to the side,” she says to him. Then turning around, she hands the slip to Sean, “Here’s our first order.”

“Awesome!” he says to her. Then putting together the order, turns to the table where they are waiting. “Here ya go, enjoy!” he smiles and hands them their bag of BBQ.

Lani smiles back, “Oh we will. We may have to come and get more before the day is done.”

Both Shanice and Brina are waiting on people and putting order slips back on Sean’s table. He is in a rhythm where within a minute of that slip hitting the table he has the order all bagged and is handing it off to the customer. Ike is keeping up with him by making sure all the meat is all portioned properly. This continues on at a steady pace for three hours and finally there’s a break in the line of people.

“Yes, time to clean everything before the next rush of people,” Shanice tells the gang.

Brina inquires, “Is this how all of these go for you guys? This has been crazy.”

“Yep, pretty much every time. There is the occasional event that isn’t the greatest, but thankfully that doesn’t happen very often,” she answers.

While cleaning everything Ike looks up and across towards where the balloons are pulling in, “Are you kidding me? Am I seriously seeing that?”

“What?” Sean asks him and turns to look in the same direction.

“Do you see a red hoodie and jeans?”

“Sure do. What’s it about 85 degrees out right now?”

“Yeah, that’s crazy. Do you want to give Lani a call and see where she’s at?”

“Sure thing,” he takes his phone out and calls her.

Lani answers, “Hey, what’s up? Aren’t you busy right now?”

“We actually have a break in the BBQ action. Where are you?”

“We are heading over to the balloon field. Why?”

“Well, keep an eye out for a person in a red hoodie and jeans. We can see the hooded figure from where we are and the person is heading over to the balloon field. We’d leave if we weren’t in the middle of the competition.”

“Yeah, I’ll let you know if we see the hoodie.”

“Thanks,” he says and hangs up.

“She’s headed over to the balloon field and is going to let us know if she sees a red hoodie and jeans.”

“Great. Thanks.”

They finish with the cleanup and the line of people forms once more. This keeps them busy until the blaring horn goes off again.

“You are our final order for the competition,” Sean says as he hands the customer their bag.

Sean puts all the order slips together and reads them off as Shanice marks them on the counter sheet. “All right! We are done with this. I’ll be right back,” she tells them as she walks off towards the judging table.

“I can’t believe we are finally at this point. It was a great day,” Ike pauses for a moment. “Sean, have you heard back from Lani?”

“No, I haven’t. Let me give her a call.” He picks up his phone, “Hey, have you seen anything? We are almost done over here.”

Lani replies, “No, we haven’t seen anyone in a red hoodie. We are watching with vigilant eyes. I’ll keep you in the loop.”

“Thanks,” he hangs up. “No, they haven’t seen anyone yet.”

Shanice returns, “Well, I turned it in. So, we are just waiting for the results. Listening to everyone, sounds like we all did very well today.”

“Great, I love when it’s a good day for all. That just makes it all so much more fun. Today’s contest was definitely different from others. I don’t think we’ve done a contest where it was judged on sales.”

“No, I don’t think we have. It’s kind of different. I am used to having to take plates of food up to the judges,” she comments.

“I am always for something new and different,” Sean replies.

The loudspeaker turns on, “Thank you everyone for coming. I’d like to invite everyone to come over to the stage for the announcement of the winners.”

“Well, let’s go,” Shanice says and motions for the rest to follow her.

People are walking over to the stage from every direction. Shanice and Brina are ahead of the guys and wiggle their way to the front of the crowd. Ike and Sean are a little bit behind them as they continue to scan the crowd for a red hoodie.

“See anything?” Ike asks.

“Nope, you?”

“Nope. Well, let’s make our way up next to the girls.”

“Sounds like a great idea.”

Moving their way up to the front, Lani taps Sean on the shoulder, “Hey, we decided to come over here and see the results.”

“Great! We scanned the crowd and haven’t seen anyone yet. It’d be great if we could at least figure out who this person is,” he says to her.

“Well, let’s not worry about that right now.”

“Hi everyone. My name is Leo and I want to thank you all for coming out today to the Middleville Annual BBQ Competition. This year we did something different. Instead of having a tasting contest with judges we decided to have where the customers were the judges and they judged with their money. The way we did this was on the counting sheets. We have a few categories. I will go through these categories and tell you who won each of them.

The first category is for most sales and that is for the most number of sales, not necessarily the dollar amount. For third place we have Red Wagon BBQ. Come on up.” The crowd applauds.

A 5’ 2” skinny woman with long blond braids walks up on stage. Leo shakes her hand and gives her the ribbon.

“In second place is Three Pigs BBQ. Come on up.” The crowd applauds again.

A 6’ 9” bald guy that looks as if he stepped off the basketball court walks up on stage. Leo looks up at him, shakes his hand and gives him a ribbon.

“Today’s winner for most sales is Ike and Friends BBQ. Come on up.” The crowd claps.

Ike walks up to get his ribbon, shakes Leo’s hand and goes back next to Shanice.

“For our second category, we have the most desserts sold. I love my BBQ but I also love my desserts. Judging by how many were sold today, I am not the only one. For third place we have Let’s Eat BBQ. Come on up.” The crowd cheers.

An older gentleman with black and grey hair, about 5’ 9” and wire rimmed glasses walks up. Leo shakes his hand and hands him a ribbon.

“Our second place winner gets to come up again. It’s Red Wagon BBQ.” The crowd cheers louder than last time.

The woman walks back up on stage to accept a handshake and ribbon from Leo.

“Now I know you all are excited about who is our dessert winner. Y'all are not going to be surprised. Our dessert sales winner is Ike and Friends BBQ. Come on up here Ike.” The crowd goes wild with cheers and clapping.

He walks up on stage and Leo shakes his hand and gives him his ribbon. He returns to be next to Shanice.

“Hey man, you are really cleaning up with these awards,” Sean says to him.

“Yeah, yeah, I just cook the stuff. Shanice is the magic behind the selling. Without her and Brina, we wouldn’t know what we sold.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Sean chuckles.

“Now for the final category and I think the best of all is the fan favorite category. We had a tent set up where everyone could come in and vote on their favorite barbecue chef. We also asked them to write down what made them their favorite. So, afterwards we will have these all sent to you and you can see what your fans wrote about you. For third place fan favorite we have Red Wagon BBQ.” The crowd applauds.

She walks back up on stage, shakes Leo’s hand and receives her ribbon.

“Now for second place fan favorite, we have Three Pigs BBQ.”

The tall gentleman walks back up on stage to get his ribbon and handshake from Leo.

“We are at our final award of the day. This is the first place fan favorite. Are you ready?”

“YEAH!” everyone shouts back at him.

“Ok, I am sure this comes as no surprise. Our first place fan favorite of the Middleville Annual BBQ Competition is Ike and Friends BBQ. Come on up here again Ike and this time bring up your beautiful wife.” The crowd goes wild with cheering, clapping and whistles.

They both walk up on stage. “Thanks Leo and thank you everyone! I am sure that when you voted for your favorite that you were voting for Shanice here. She is the beautiful face that you see when you come up to get your BBQ and dessert.”

Leo shakes both their hands and gives them their ribbon.

“Alright, we have come to our conclusion. I see off to my left that the balloons have taken off. They will be back shortly for an evening glow. I encourage everyone to stick around for that. You’ll be able to go up and meet the pilots. I hope everyone had a great time and I’ll see you all again next year!” Leo steps down off the stage and the crowd disperses in a variety of directions.

“Hey Ike, got a minute?” Leo asks.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Well, I heard that you were looking for a person in a red hoodie and jeans.”

“Yes, we are.”

“I have seen this person around town a lot. I haven’t been able to get a look at their face though. Do you have any further description of them?”

“Just that they are about 6 foot tall and average build. So, not a whole lot to go on, except for that at this time of year it’s not a common sight. If we don’t get a solid lead it’s going to be very difficult in the winter to find someone.”

“Ok, I’ll see if I can get a good look at them.”

“Thanks. I’d appreciate it.”

“On another note, congratulations on all the ribbons. You guys have awesome food and everyone knows it.”

“Thanks. As I said up there Shanice is most likely why they voted for us. She has that great smile and personality.”

“See you guys next year.”

“You can count on it.”

The group walks back to their setup. “Guess what time it is gang? Ike says.

Shanice looks at him, “Yep, time to take it all down.”

“We will help you guys pack everything up,” Sean volunteers.

“Thanks man.”

They tear everything down and put it into the trailer. With the four of them working together they get it all done within a half hour.

“Thanks for the help,” Ike says.

Sean replies, “Anytime, we had fun.”

They all hug, get in their vehicles and drive off.