Berries and BBQ

After cooking Friday and Saturday nights, I still had one more recipe in me before the weekend ended.  I may love to cook, but baking is not so much my cup of tea; nonetheless, I wanted to give it the old college try.  I heard crisps are the easiest things to bake, so I figured that would be a good entry into the baking world for me.  I picked up blueberries, raspberries, and pears from the grocery store and popped it in the oven with a brown sugar oat topping.  Not too bad for my first try, but it was a little too tart.  I was hoping the fruit would be sweet enough, but I think it called for a little extra sugar.  It did, however, give me the confidence to try again.

I carried my crisp over to Sarah's so we would have a nice brunch treat to snack on while we chatted and got ready for the real meal of the day: The Big Apple BBQ Block Party.  The Big Apple BBQ is an annual, two-day bar-b-que fest where pitmasters from across the country take over Madison Square Park and allow Yankees to taste real bbq.  It's always packed, but it's worth it.  Good bbq is not hard to find in my Southern hometown, but I've learned that Yankees have no idea what they're doing when it comes to bbq.  Once a year, that doesn't matter because the real deal makes its way to the middle of NYC.

At most food events, the cost of food affords you a mere taste, but at the Big Apple BBQ, $8 gets you a full plate of food (includes entrée and side) from any one of the 17 vendors.  One plate is enough food to satisfy you, but then you only get to try one thing, which is a grave injustice to the tummy.  I started with a pulled pork sandwich from Ubon's Barbeque of Yazoo.  I picked them for no reason other than the fact that I wanted pulled pork and they had a short line.  The line length was no idication of taste.  The sauce was sweet and the meat was super moist.  I'm not a big cole slaw fan, so I was a little disappointed that I wound up in a line serving it as their side, but my mouth was pleasantly surprised.  Best cole slaw I've ever had.  Seriously.  It was a little spicy and had just enough mayo.  If all cole slaw tasted like this, I would eat it by the barrel.

I was already full, but I needed to push forward.  When bbq is only  here once a year, I need to take full advantage of the occasion.  The next stop was Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Que for some spicy sausage.  I must admit, this time it was the side that inticed me, not the main course.  Though the sausage was amazing (both sweet and spicy at the same time), the main draw for me was the pimento cheese served on the side with saltines.  I love pimento cheese.  It is a Southern delicacy.  The second I saw it on my plate, my mind was flooded with images of my Mom packing pimento cheese sandwiches for a day on the boat.  It may look weird, but if made properly, it tastes amazing.  Since I can't find it in any of the grocery stores here, I may have to take to making it myself (though I'm not sure how that's done) because I now realize how much I miss having it in my diet.

I would have loved to taste more (there were ribs and briskets galore), but my stomach had reached its max.  You may have to wait a year, but I highly suggest you mark your calendars for The Big Apple BBQ Block Party next June.