Monday, August 2, 2010

Just General Stuff and News and Stuff...and Stuff

No recipes in this post, just some...stuff.

We spent the weekend with my parents at their campsite at Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains. It's one of my favorite places in East Tennessee with the mountains, forests, plains, and wildlife. Walking through these forests always makes me feel like I am walking around Endor. (Oh snap, geek alert.)

It was a rainy weekend so mushrooms were erupting from the moist ground.

My mom did her usual campfire cooking that would kick the living crap out of most other people's cooking in the kitchen. That's right....I said it. My mom can 'whoop' your mom!

BBQ Pitmasters
Last year, TLC's BBQ Pitmasters was a bit of a breakout hit. I was surprised by how many of my non-bbq friends mentioned the show to me. BBQ Pitmasters is back for a second season and I am so happy to tell you that fellow food blogger, competitive BBQr, and media maven Danielle of DivaQ is one of the participants this year.

I think they picked the right person because she not only has the BBQ skill and knowledge but a riotously fun personality. Don't miss out on the new season, it starts August 12th (next Thursday) on TLC. They have changed the show format a bit this year to shake things up. In the mean time, check out Danielle's blog - DivaQ .

Eggtoberfest
Tickets went on sale today for the 2010 Eggtoberfest. It is THE annual Big Green Egg festival where thousands of us Eggheads get together to socialize, share ideas, and cook together. We bought our tickets tonight for my birthday present (end of September, close enough) and I can't wait!

Closed For Remodeling
This weekend we are replacing our 20 year old deck. For those of you that cook inside, it would be like having your kitchen ripped out for a week.

So please excuse me if my posts for the next week are about things like cooking pop tarts or how to make ramen noodles. Just kidding, I'll just make do and cook on that "cooking box" thing that you folks have in your kitchen.