A's DOG DAY PHOTO CONTEST

Lucy our 'Golden Retriever Lap' dog is entered in a photo contest. She will be attending the 'A's Dog Day' next Thursday at the Oakland Coliseum. Meanwhile she has an entry in the 'Best Dressed Big Dog' category. She is the dog in the first column on the right. We are asking for your help with a vote. It will only cost you an email address. You will have till tomorrow July 13 11:59pm. We will donate the prize to an animal shelter.  Thanks everyone.

 VOTE HERE

FLIPPY’S DEEP FRIED PORK CHOPS

We live in the small town of Rodeo, California. Downtown is a whopping three blocks long. We have a post office, couple of restaurants, little league field, barber, Lakeman’s Club and believe it or not we are Starbucks free. Where do all the locals go for breakfast? Flippy’s is our destination for a good old fashioned Diner style breakfast. Flippy’s also hosts an informal daily coffee fueled meeting of local residents, fisherman and workers. This will also be a good place to continue our search for great pork chops.

Walking into Flippy’s was a step back to the 50’s. There are a lot of baseball memorabilia and a mural depicting the history of Rodeo on the wall.  Clean and tidy counter or old style diner booths are your choice of seats. This is a family run operation that only had a fry cook and friendly server at our visit. There were only a few customers, so we must have missed the morning meeting. The menu is pretty standard breakfast fair. We placed our order and received our bottomless coffee mug.

Deep fried pork chops with biscuits and gravy is a hearty combination that will bring the cholesterol police to your heart. This breakfast was tasty and filling. I love pork chops. A coating of bread crumbs and a trip to the fryolater and I am in pork heaven. The biscuits were fluffy but the gravy probably took a trip through the microwave. This plate will not win any trophy’s but was tasty, filling, and comforting. Ms. Goofy had a ham and cheese omelet and ate every morsel.

Flippy’s is our local treasure. They serve only breakfast and lunch. The staff is friendly and warm. This is a restaurant were everybody knows your name. The food will not win any awards but is good standard diner fair. If you are ever in the neighborhood, stop on by and sample some of Rodeo’s charm.

Flippy’s

240 Parker Av.

Rodeo, Ca. 94572

510 799-4400

BAY AREA BBQ CHAMPIONSHIP GRAND CHAMPIONS

Here we are at the ‘Bay Area BBQ Championship and Ms. Goofy and I have traded in our judges badges for an apron and a chef jacket. This weekend we joined the team of ‘Butcher’s Daughter’ a professional competition BBQ team. Donna Fong is the captain of this boat and we were going to be her assistants. We are on a mission to become ‘KCBS Master Judges’. One of the requirements to achieve this goal is to cook with a team. Donna was very gracious to become our sponsor. Little did she know what was in store? We arrived Friday afternoon to help set up our cooking area. Before we knew it we ended up on a panel to sample, taste and rate 10 different barbeque sauces. This was the beginning of a wild and fun ride at the Bay Area BBQ Championship.

After wiping all the barbeque sauce off of our faces we met with Donna. Donna has a game plan that is very organized. We had a chart with the different meat categories, times and procedures. Donna explained what she expected of us. One of the first duties is to prepare your meats for the cooker. This was a hands on classroom that was fascinating to us. The early evening approached and my first duty was to light the fire. I was able to accomplish my first task.

It is now Saturday and several meats are almost done. We prepped the chicken and ribs for a morning cook. Our first turn in of chicken is at 11:00 am and every half hour after that we will turn in another meat for judging. Timing is very critical to have your meats cooked to perfection in these time frames. We turned, basted, and foiled our meats. We tasted and adjusted seasonings. We kept to Donna’s plan as well as we could. There are always variables in any contest.

It is 10:50 am and our chicken is done, dressed and boxed for judging. Somebody needs to be a ‘runner’. This person will take the entry and walk it to the turn in area. Yours truly would tackle this assignment. I have never been so nervous. One slip, jostle or heaven forbid a fall would be disaster. On my journey my thoughts went like this; “Pick up your feet, Look out for that person on the left, Watch your step,” I made it and was relieved.

We finished our cook and turned in all our entries. We were exhausted. It was several hours to the award ceremony. During our wait we reflected on our efforts. Was the chicken overcooked? Did we use the right seasoning for the ribs? Was the brisket too salty? The wait was nerve wracking. The award ceremony began and the chicken category winners were announced. We kept listening for Butchers Daughter name to be announced. Would we even place? Would we take the walk? They announced second place and only first was left. “‘Butcher’s Daughter’ first place chicken”, shouted the announcer. I lost my breath. We were going to take the walk. Grins ear to ear showed our joy. We still had three categories to go.

Tenth place ribs, seventh place pork, second place brisket, we took the walk four times. WOW! All that was left was the announcement of the overall winner, the Grand Champion. Yes, you guessed it, Butcher’s Daughter Grand Champion. We hugged, wept, jumped for joy and took that coveted walk. Donna, her daughter and Mother, Ms. Goofy and I walked to the stage and accepted the award. What a day!!!!!!!!!!

I am sorry that pictures of our food entries could not be shared but Donna has her secrets safe with us. Thankyou Donna for letting us cook with you and creating a day we will remember forever.

CALIFORNIA OLIVE RANCH

You are probably having your morning coffee and reading your daily newspaper. We are in a parking lot at the Oakland Coliseum  cooking four meats to present to the judges. What does that have to do with this scrumptious slice of olive oil cake with fresh blueberry topping and cream? Nothing, but you can read my latest review of a very good tasting olive oil.

Continue Reading Here.

BAY AREA BBQ CHAMPIONSHIP

Baseball and BBQ a combination that cannot be beat. Throw in some cheerleaders, bands, food demonstrations, face painting, jumpy things, celebrities,  make it all a fundraiser for a great cause and you have the ingredients for a great event. What makes this event so very special is Ms. Goofy and I will actually be cooking. We will team up with the 'Butchers Daughter' competition BBQ team. Yes, We will have on our aprons and chef coats to do battle at this barbeque contest. This event will be held this Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum before the A'a game. See you there!

Bay Area BBQ Championship

HICKORY BACON MUSTARD

 I love bacon. I guess it is no secret. When I see a product that may have any association with the wonderful cured, smoked, strips of pork, I am a sucker. ‘Beaver Brand’ mustard has a ‘Hickory Bacon Mustard’ flavor that beckoned my acquisition. Once this plastic squeeze bottle of mustard was in my possession a closer inspection was needed. The label had some fine print which read; “Rich Bacon Flavor”. The ingredient list was long and actually had bacon listed as an ingredient. After wiping the drool off my beard, I popped the top. A nice mustard aroma with a faint bacon smell wafted into my senses. Red chili and red bell pepper flakes mixed throughout this dark yellow mix make for an attractive sauce. How does it taste?

Straight out of the bottle the Hickory flavor is prevalent. The mustard is on the sweet side and yes I can actually taste bacon. What better way to test bacon mustard but with a hot dog. Not just any hot dog. This hot dog will be a bacon hot dog from 4505 Meats. The bacon dog and ‘Acme’ roll was kissed by a mesquite charcoal fire. Some onions, tomatos and our bacon mustard were assembled with our dogs and rolls. This was one bacon tasty hot dog. I am in love with ‘Beaver Brand Hickory Bacon Mustard. This will be a staple in our pantry from now on.

SILICON VALLEY BBQ CHAMPIONSHIPS

                    

Mother Nature smiled on the first “Silicon Valley BBQ Championships”. The beautiful weather brought out a huge crowd to celebrate and sample championship barbeque. Ms. Goofy and I had judging duties to perform today. We always like to arrive several minutes early to look at all the different cookers. This serves several purposes. One is to gain knowledge of what the competitors are using to cook. Observing and capturing the images may give Ms. Goofy ideas to stock the Christmas stockings. (Hey, I can dream.) Most important, it is what we do and how we roll.

Peoples Choice is an opportunity for the public to purchase and taste award winning BBQ. The lines were long today. The Santa Clara police made their presence known with this custom car. They were not needed because this crowd’s only crime was the barbeque sauce on their smiling faces.

It seemed like the cookers came in sets of three today. It is amazing that a competitor can cook competition meat in a custom 50 gallon barrel. Another set of three Orion cookers caught my eye. This is the first time I have seen these units in competition.

First Place Chicken
"Cecil's Smokin BBQ

The Rotary Club should be proud of this event. It was a smashing success. Congratulations to Woodhouse Barbeque for winning the Grand Champion. I believe we were all winners today.