The BeerBQ

In another day of defying my own expectation of not blogging for the next week or so....

On Saturday, after my archetypes class (which was so, so much fun - I am loving that class), I made my way over to a BeerBQ, sponsored by Taryn and Bent, two bloggers at HBO - aka the Huckleberries blog (our friendly neighborhood newspaper blog focused on the Inland Northwest). I was committed, for I had volunteered to be a judge of the BBQ portion of the BeerBQ, and Bent had promised me that he had a summer beer that I would love. (He brews his own beers.) (Liked it!)

On the way over to the event, I swung by to pick up a good friend of mine. I'd told the blogosphere that I was bringing a guest, but didn't reveal who it was until the event itself (chuckling the whole while, as I knew that they would know him as a fairly conservative Republican - or, um, should I say very). Hey, who says the farmers and the cowboys can't be friends?

I figured being judge of all the good food was a good thing. Since I've never been a food judge before, though, I wasn't well versed in the process. Looking back, I think I should have approached it like a wine tasting - you taste a little, but you don't down the whole glass (or, in this case, several portions of meat). Luckily there were only six contestants! Still, I was very, very full, and hope that my overloaded tastebuds didn't adversely affect contestants 5 and 6 in my voting process.

Now, to the controversy...

At the BeerBQ, it was rumored that Kerri Thoreson, ultimate winner of the contest (with her quite-delicious beer balls, I think they're called - sausage type food with a touch of jalapeno in the middle), attempted to influence the judges by bringing them (us) s'mores in the midst of the judging. I can confirm the facts of the controversy - we three judges were indeed in the midst of finalizing our decisions when Kerri came into Taryn's kitchen with her s'mores. I also can confirm that Kerri insisted it was not a bribe, and that she claimed to have absolutely no idea what we were doing there in the kitchen - that she was just being the Good Samaritan that we are supposed to know her to be... I also can confirm that the s'mores were really quite delicious, and brought me back to those days of yore, when my girl scout troop went camping...

As to the s'mores' influence on ultimate outcomes? You be the judge.

Here's a link to some photos from the event. Love, love this particular photo, of Thom (on the left) and Duane - the friend I brought - on the right. For it is exactly that - the epitome of the left and the right, in living color. This photo also is endearing to me because it reminds me of how I first met all the Huckleberries crowd. It was Duane who told me to say hi to Thom at the Fourth of July parade last year (I walked with the Dems, and Thom, while Duane led the Repubs), and when I told Thom that Duane said to say hello, Thom had our photo taken together. He must have sent the photo to HBO fearless leader Dave Oliviera, because the next day Duane called and said I had made it on the Huckleberries blog... I went to the blog and read how Dave thought Thom had converted a Republican... Suddenly I was commenting on HBO myself, saying I had always been a Dem (actually, Independent) - no conversion here - but maybe that should make them all question who it was that Duane really hung out with, in his spare time. No one believed me. Here's the link to HBO last July 5, sans photo and comments (I guess those things dropped off when the paper archived the entry).

So this past Saturday, we came full circle. See? Duane really, really is my friend! And he's one of the best there is, people. I should be so lucky, to have him as my friend. And I am.