Re: [CH] home from Spicefest

terrabyte@tds.net
Tue, 28 Jun 2005 21:18:03 +0000 

Thanks for the update. Very nice.  Due to complications at work, I completely spaced out the date of this event.

However, I would have been completely bummed about driving 400 miles for the Chicken Wing Contest just to have it canceled! :(

Sounds like it went a lot better, though, than the Zesty Fest in California someone reported about on another site.

-Dustin


> 
> From: "Alex Silbajoris" <asilbajo@hotmail.com>
> Date: 2005/06/28 Tue PM 08:03:06 GMT
> To: chile-heads@globalgarden.com
> Subject: [CH] home from Spicefest
> 
> 
> 
> My voice is returning, though I haven't washed the smoke smell out of my 
> clothes yet ... I can't tell if I got a sunburn or a smoke ring.
> 
> Last weekend I attended the third annual Spicefest in Ft Wayne, Indiana.  
> Ft. Wayne is named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, famous Indian fighter.  
> In the bloody Indian wars of the Northwest Territory, the practice of 
> burning someone at the stake did not involve making a fire at their feet, 
> but placing fire all around the captive at a distance of several feet, so 
> the victim would agonize for hours in the heat and smoke.  Today, this 
> practice is known as a BBQ cook-off.
> 
> I helped Paul Everman run a booth; this was my first time at such an event.  
> We placed third for pulled pork shoulder on Sunday.  I learned a lot about Q 
> techniques, and playing to the rules (more or less) at an organized event.  
> The heat kept many people away (we had a thermometer reading 104F on the 
> counter) but we still sold out of some items.
> 
> I brought several hot sauces for people to try, but not many people did.  
> Paul had some home-made Q sauce that people liked, but many of them 
> hesitated and asked if it was hot first.  When I mentioned the hot sauces 
> for tasting, many people said something like "you won't catch me near that" 
> but the ones who _did_ try them didn't make any big fuss about how brave 
> they were.  One guy flashed a tattoo of a red pepper lashing a tongue with a 
> length of barbed wire - my kind of guy!
> 
> There was supposed to be a hot-wings eating contest, but not enough people 
> entered.  Unfortunately Jim had already mixed up a Devil's concoction of his 
> hottest sauces and pepper flakes - which was never used for anything, so I 
> have it!  I brought it home in the same blue bean pot I used to make tear 
> gas - err, cook the pods that Ian had seeded at OF 04.  I might just build a 
> sauce on it and take that to OF, but I need to ask Jim about interstate 
> permits for hazmat transport first.
> 
> Jim was surprised to see me there, and I was glad to meet up with him again 
> before OF.  He spent most of the time in full firefighter gear, working his 
> booth.  He had trouble making sales, partly because the music in that tent 
> was so dang loud that he couldn't talk to potential customers.  *G* there 
> was another firefighter there as a firedog mascot, with a suit like Jim's 
> and a big dog head.  I teased Jim, asking him why the other guy's suit 
> looked newer and brighter.  Jim shot back, that guy's assigned to 
> educational outreach, and he doesn't have to work fires anymore.
> 
> The event was held on the grounds of the Great American Spice Company, run 
> by list member Dan Turkette.  I introduced myself, and he said he had a dog 
> from Ohio.  It was fun to browse the store aisles and see how many products 
> he had.  When I use the term "spice" I mean more than just peppers, I also 
> include herbs and aromatics, and all of these were available in the store.  
> I was getting some nice flashbacks from Jungle Jim's.  The store is well 
> worth a visit but be ready for a pretty intense political environment; 
> apparently they have stuffed and mounted the last Democrat who dared enter 
> the premises.  The proceeds from the event went to a childrens' burn camp.
> 
> On this trip I carried a bottle of Adelita's habanero sauce, which is quite 
> nice.  Every waitress who saw it asked about it, sometimes even before 
> taking my order.  At Hall's Coluseum Cafe the waitress took the bottle back 
> into the kitchen to show to the Mexican chef - I said, she'll probably 
> recognize the brand name.
> 
> Well, it was a fun outing in the summer heat, worth the trouble for all the 
> things I learned.  Besides, it was fun to check out the Indianapolis Colts 
> cheerleaders, and the belly dancers balancing swords on their heads.  Paul 
> thinks he will probably go back next year, so I will probably tag along 
> again.
> 
> Thanks to Paul for inviting me, and thanks to Dan for hosting the event.
> 
> - A
> 
> 
>