Is that parsley?

The Mt. bethal Fire Company hosted a wonderful one day event last Saturday. It was a small competition, along the lines of the old Hillsboro competition. It was fun, and we ran across a team we knew. It's always fun to know some of the crazies befor getting down to the cut throat intensity of small time high performance barbeque. So, as usual, the day started with Mimosas and the standard meet inspection. "Ya done this before?". Me,"Yep". "got ice?". Me,"Yep". "good luck.". Me,"thanks!" And the game was afoot. To the sound of Janice Joplin screaming"take a little piece of my heart" from my Ipad, I got the fire going. While I prepped the ribs and chicken, I sang along with the Monkeys as they sang "I'm going to buy me a dog". At this point I paused and noticed that several af the other teams were staring at me. Was it my kilt? We're they admiring Redneck (camo) tartan? Why was the small child crying? Suddenly, it was crystal clear. Since the batteries in my external speaker were exhausted, I was using my ear buds. A number of very adamant contestants confirmed what my wife has said for years. Apparently I do not do justice to Janice Joplin or the Monkeys. Having been thusly enlightened, we hunkered down in true Memphis fashion for a hard run for the money. I switched to Makers Mark, and put the Stones on. We were rocking...and this time, because my bride had arrived with additional supplies, we had batteries for the speaker. Instantly, Landi was a rock star. I had to promise the small child I would not sing along. So, we barbequed, sipped bourbon, and visited with a wonderful bunch of folks. Finally, time for turn in arrived, and we learned a lesson. Everyone who competes in Kansas City Barbeque Society events knows that you can not garnish with Kale. Using Kale gets you an automatic one. As there are three criteria that are judged on a scale of one, the worst, to ten, the best, it is not difficult to determine that a one is catastrophic. As of this writing, both my bride and myself can now tell the difference between Curley Parsely and Kale. Even with getting "ones" for a third of our scores, we finished sixth overall. As with most BBQ competitions, it really became more about making friends than winning. And as I promised so many whom I gave acard to, heres where I barbeque every Wednesday. KC'S Korner is located at 100 Oak tree road in South Plainfield. Y'all come see us!