General Thoughts....

I'm sitting here at my desk looking out the window at a clear blue sky, which is a real rarity here in Pittsburgh, especially after the wet and humid summer that we had.

We're currently in the middle of a two month stretch of every weekend being booked with various activities: weddings, baby showers, reunions, festivals, band festivals, football games, homecoming, etc.. I also have a full time job to pay the bills that occupies a lot of my time and mental energy. This is just something I do 'for me' as a way to mentally unwind and decompress when I'm off the clock.

A general word of advice... Don't decide to launch a website and any type of social media presence during a particularly busy time of year for yourself. I'm not one of those people that seem to have such a high opinion of themselves that they feel the need to constantly have their face showing up in your social media feeds. I'm not a pitmaster. Never entered a competition (yet). For the most part, self taught aside from reading lots of cook books and various videos and television shows.

What I do know is that a few times a year, I cook for small gatherings here of roughly 50 people and up. Everyone enjoys the food and I enjoy seeing the people telling stories, laughing and overall enjoying each other's company. I tend to stand off to the side around the smokers watching the interactions unfold around me. I get my sense of satisfaction out of being the instrument that brings people together to socialize and have fun. If I am going to be the reason that these people get together, I want to try to make their experience (at least as far as the food goes) as good as I possibly can. I don't cook for what would resemble anything being turned into the judges that you see on the BBQ TV shows... my concern is more about how it tastes to someone sitting out on the deck, not if it's the right shade of mahogany, or if the bed of lettuce it's resting on is green enough. Not to take anything away from those people that do that week in and week out. Believe me, I can understand how that can be grueling... and HOT! That is a whole other level of commitment to the craft that I just don't have the time or money to manage. Maybe that will be my retirement life someday down the road...

Anyway, I digress... Over the years as I have cooked, I have had numerous people coming up to me saying how much they enjoyed the food, how did I do it and what my recipes were. I figured that I could do something like this to let those folks and anyone else learn. For anyone that BBQs as a hobby already, I am going to be adding some background / history to some of the items that I prepare. We all know what jambalaya is, but what is the difference between Cajun and Creole and how did that come about? It's not just going to be about the recipes, but to hopefully drop a little bit of knowledge for you as well.

Pittsburgh is really not considered to be a foodie mecca. First things that come to mind are Primanti's, Pierogies, Chipped Ham and Heinz. But all you have to do is walk around the Strip District downtown on a weekend where the smells of the various street vendors fill the air with kabobs, chicken on a stick, pepperoni rolls, falafels and more compete for your attention. Pittsburgh has always been a melting pot since the late 1870s when immigrants came to work in the many mills that lined the rivers here. They brought their unique foods and traditions often settling with others of the same nationality. As a city, we have always celebrated our differences (usually over a beer watching the Steelers or Penguins play) rather than letting them define us. Pittsburgh has developed into more of a white collar city, but we still maintain our blue collar ethos at our core. Help your neighbor when you can. Don't be a jagoff going through the tunnels and never, ever move someone's chair if they shoveled out their spot during the winter. Some things are just unforgivable.

Thanks for reading and I hope that you continue along the journey with us.

Sláinte