Smokin' on the River

It's a wrap! The first River City Smoke-off was a success! (Whew!) I'm so thankful for the many folks who willingly shared their time, talent, and advice to make this fun event happen. A few weeks ago, I challenged Jamie Keating and John McLemore to a 'smoke-off' to benefit the Trinity Center for Women. They agreed, but I'm not a professional event planner, so I wasn't sure how things would turn out. The vision was there, but whether or not this vision would be a hit or a miss was yet to be determined. Apparently, the vision was there a long time ago! My mom sent me this drawing from some "top-secret idea box" I had in the third grade. She found it in her attic and brought it to me this weekend. Nuts...check it...I'm not convinced that I drew this in the 3rd grade...looks more like the talents of a 5th grader, but who knows.

The weatherman predicted 60% chance of rain and scattered thunderstorms, but fortunately my housewife rain dance did the trick...it was hot and sunny and just right! I'm also thankful for the Lava Lamps who kept the groove going...and the people coming! I was incredibly impressed by the drummer's ability to walk on platform shoes with acrylic fish bowl heels...fake goldfish included. That's talent.

Photo Credit: Sara Montgomery

I rev'd up my Masterbuilt electric smoker around 10:00 a.m. Friday and the competition showed up in style around noon. John pulled up in his red truck with a coordinating red-shirted entourage. They all came walking over in slow-mo, trash talking the whole way over. At least that's how I remember it... Then Jamie rolled up, all Rico Suave in his black car, and matching black outfit, black sunglasses, and sous chefs...not intimidating at all. Captain Hook (little man let me borrow him for good luck) and I were ready for a showdown.

Photo Credit: Melissa Keating (and her camera/phone)

We had a lot of fun with this event...So much fun that we plan to do it again next year! Only next time, it will be bigger and better! If you have ideas of what you'd like to see in future smoke-off's, please contact Uptown Columbus or leave a comment at the end of this post! We'd love to hear from you!! 

John McLemore with two of our judges, Mimi Woodson (City Council) and Mike Gaymon (Chamber of Commerce)

My "team"

setting up

Jamie Keating, John McLemore, Me, Chuck Leonard, Mimi Woodson, Mike Gaymon 
 Judge's tasting before the crowd showed up. Jamie won the Judges' Award and John took home people's choice by raising the most money.  The Trinity Center for Women was the real winner!! 

Thank you so much to the following folks who made this possible: 

Elizabeth Hurst, Uptown Columbus

Richard Bishop, Uptown Columbus

John and Tonya McLemore & family, Masterbuilt

Jamie and Melissa Keating & family, EPIC Restaurant

St. Francis Hospital, Foundation

Mike Jones

Sara Montgomery

Amber Mordic

Jim Morpeth

Bill Rich

Sloan Flournoy

Pierce Miller

Matt Lane

Brian Hite

Mike Gaymon

Mimi Woodson

Chuck Leonard

our parents for entertaining my children most of the day! ;) 

Behind the Scenes with Masterbuilt: QVC

I love this so much. Here's what it's all about, y'all. This is why we love Masterbuilt. Please especially pay attention to the end when Mac debuts his first single. (I promise he doesn't sound any better when it's not 3 am).

Dadgum That's Good!!

I love fried food. It would be weird if I didn’t…Hello- I’m from ALABAMA!  Plus, it just tastes right. I should also mention- it was because of fried food that I met Mac (I’ll have to post about that later…it’s a good one).  

We fry a lot of food at our house…probably because Mac works for a company that fries A LOT of food. We’ve fried some good stuff in six years (lobster, turkey, pickles…snickers bars). Problem is, Mac’s the only person in our house allowed to use the fryer (he won't let me get close to it).  

Since our fryer at home is off-limits, I decided to go to the only person I know who fries more food than Mac...his boss! Calling the owner of your husband’s company may not always be the most brilliant idea, but it just so happens that John McLemore is as nice and approachable (and let’s not forget FUN) as they come. 

I couldn't think of a better place to learn how to use the turkey fryer than MeMaw’s Kitchen (named after John’s mother who inspired many of the recipes in his cookbooks). We made a mess, laughed a bunch, and stuffed our faces pretty much the whole time. 

Right off the bat, we turned out some yummy fried pickles. I had no idea how simple it was to make airy, crunchy, golden batter. One bite into that thin, crisp slice of goodness was all it took. I was right back at the tailgate almost 10 years ago where I first met Matt Palmer (6 weeks later I picked up on the fact his name was actually Mac Plummer. ha!)

Click the recipe tab for John's fried pickle secrets! Try them- you will love them. They might even make you fall in love! 

Next I got a sneak peek at John’s third cookbook (The Lighter Side of Dadgum That’s Good), when he showed me how to make his A-MAZ-ING ‘naked chicken wings.’  I'm telling y'all...I'm not sure I'll ever bake or grill wings again. These were so super easy to make and the flavor was perfect! The beauty in frying wings is that the outside gets crunchy, but the inside stays tender, juicy, and delicious. They were so dadgum good that before I knew it, we were all doing a David Venable Happy Dance. The cookbook will be available soon, but John gave me this recipe so you could be the first to try them...shhh!  Hop over to the recipe tab and get to marinating...these will make you look like a fry-fessional! 

Side note: My kids are obsessed with QVC. Maybe because they see their daddy In the Kitchen with David (who they think is their cousin or uncle or something). Anyway, we do a lot of happy dances at our house.

I consider myself lucky to have learned from the "fry-master" himself. John has fried all kinds of food, all over the world. He has some great stories too. Did you catch the time Steve Harvey made him ‘spank a turkey’ on national television so it would ‘fry right?’ He has fried multiple turkeys with Paula Deen, Rachael Ray, and Mike Huckabee, at the National Turkey Federation, QVC, and with Rick and Bubba, to name a few!

I don’t know if it’s John that brings the fun or if it’s the fried food…but regardless, it’s always a party when there’s a Butterball (Masterbuilt) turkey fryer around. These babies are safe (they’re electric!), easy to use, and never disappoint! It makes this mama of three totally at ease...no more stressing over hot oil on the stove. 

Shameless plug #52…Father’s day will be here before we know it! Forget the fancy shave kit…go to masterbuilt.com and see what all the fuss is about! 

BIG shout-out to my friend, Alicia McGlamory (media and PR manager for Masterbuilt) for putting this fun day together.