Getting snobbish about our BBQ

armor said:

I appreciate this thread. My 46YO brother just passed away Jan 29th from colon cancer. He battled for 3 years. The cancer had spread to his lungs and liver. Life is very short. His passing has prompted a lot of thought about priorities and the importance of friends and family. LOL I have a brother who lives in Alaska. He has always wanted to ride his Harley from Alaska to Va. He sold his older bike and just purchased a new one. Took the entire month of August off from work and will be marking this off his "bucket list". We never know what tomorrow holds for us.

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Sorry for your loss Mike..
Kudos to your Alaskan brother for making the trip! Sounds like the chance of a lifetime. I wish him a safe adventure.

Jeanie, Well said! :clap2: You are one of many who make this site worth looking at everyday. Keep posting! I love to see what you are up to. I look at your blog as well at least once a week. Yes there is more to BBQ than just food and yes there are some amazing people here.

cowgirl said:

My heart goes out to all of you who have lost family and friends, and yes there are some amazing people here.

Kind of been avoiding this thread, it brings back a flood of memories.

Last year I made my first and only thread in the "Discussion and Reflection" section of the Brethren when a dear friend shot himself.
His death sent me over the edge.
Having lost one friend to cancer, one to hanging, my ex-husband, my best friend (Christmas, new years, hanging out, fishing buddy), a sibling---that I still can't talk about, (helped me get through when my parents died).....all of these in a year.
His suicide just blew me away.
Not sure that I've ever felt so lost before.

It was the Brethren who helped me deal with the loss. It was my friends at the Brethren who convinced me to keep cooking when I didn't even have the will to eat.
I can't thank my Brethren friends enough. There are some amazing people here.

Like Greg said. There's more to BBQ than just food. Friends and family, whether they are online or sittin' at your kitchen table, are the most important.

Recently someone said they weren't going to look at my posts anymore because it made them feel "jealous". To me, that's not what BBQ or this forum is about. It's about offering a chair to a friend to "pull up" to your table and share what you've cooked. I do that with my close friends at home and feel the same about my online Brethren friends.
I thought about my posts and wondered what I am doing wrong. Will just keep posting til I figure it out. Life's too short....



Thank you!! I consider you to be a great friend too. :hug:

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Mike thank you!! :hug:

Cowgirl, ALWAYS LOOK TOWARD THE POSITIVE! :wink: I remember in 2007 my wife left me, my grandma died, I closed the doors on my business, and lost my truck all in 4 short months in that order. Kinda like a country song huh? This last year found my dad almost dead in a hoarded apartment in Liberty mo. He was skin and bones and looked like a holocaust victim. He died 3 weeks later. Have lost a few other family members since then and got 3 fighting cancer as we speak. I love this forum and one thing that seperates Q from my other hobbies (shooting, hunting, ect) is I can do it legally in my backyard. I don't have to own land. I don't have to be rich. And I can drink beer while I do it and not be considered unsafe! lol. Heads up!!!! Your blog cost me a few bucks after all.... I had to build me a fatty piston. :tongue:

Well said Hance! I do believe that every now and then everyone gets caught up in that snobbish stuff whether it be Q or something else. It definitely makes you think and take a step back and reevaluate on how you are looking at the things, people, etc. in your life and to make the most out of what God has given us.:thumb:

Hi guys

Fairly new here (although I can say I ve got the T-shirt :-D ) but already feeling comfortable
While trying to follow the immense amount of postings and threads.

This thread made me stop in my tracks and while reading I was feeling an urge to react.

I lost my mother last year after a horrible two years before that ....sitting here Alzheimer out.
My father went first a decade sooner fortunately he was not taking part in this family drama.

Me and my brothers are/were not very thick with eachother but we were all three very very close to my mother.

After my mother died my plan was to keep the three of us closer together.....so after quite a few phone calls and a visite now and then I planned for the first time a christmasday with the six of us (three plus all married).

It was at my place so I was responsible for food on the plate.
I decided to grill a Turkey outside so I read the BBQ Pitboys and watched them on youtube.
For the first time ever I went ahead trying to cook it for my "difficult to please" brothers.

I brined the sucker a day in advance and did all the tricks out of the book.....
On the day .......and after 4 hours cooking ....I anxiously presented it.

Thank God they all enjoyed it and all had to come back on their words they said in advance...like ....thin slice for me since Turkey is to dry for me.......ohhhhh how succulent it was AND the most important thing it left them a mark....!!!

That mark was left so deep that I had no problem asking everybody again two weeks ago and this time presented them spare ribs on my Green Egg.....their favourite food.

Again we all had an evening of good food and enjoyment.....thank you Green Egg for taking six slabs in one go....

BBQ has truly helped me to give my brothers that little push to come over and enjoy a bit of family quality time.

I will keep cooking and see to it that I keep my family together...!!!!!!!

You should be commended. Sorry for your loss

I'd say just have fun creating what people enjoy.

Cheers all and I'm glad I'm new here!!

Mark

Sorry to hear about the loss of loved ones here.

Along with what everyone has already pointed out, cooking outdoors has a certain therapeutic aspect, and that's what makes it so enjoyable.

^ Yes, little can compare with the hypnotizing and therapeutic effect of red embers and flame at night.

This is probably the hardest post on here I have ever had the pleasure of getting through. (If that makes any sense)

I lost my dad suddenly to leukemia in 2012, 4 days after my birthday. I'm an on again off again Brethren.... I usually find myself on here on almost a daily basis for a while, then I disappear for a while, and then I come back. The upside is I have never been turned away, and although I don't believe I have become personal friends with anyone on here, I consider all of you friends. I know that if I have a question, I can post and it will be answered. I wont be ignored because I'm the new guy or I haven't been on the board everyday for the last 15 years. Over the years I have witnessed some incredible que, became a certificated MOINK baller, been reminded of the importance of friends and family, seen some not so good que (including my own!), and some really off the wall things...but in the end, good bad or indifferent, someone ALWAYS helps someone on the board grow and make things better for their next cook. The Brethren is the only board I keep coming back to, I have laughed, cried (apparently tonight), drooled, and found myself digging for those little morsels of information I cant find anywhere else....

Thank you all for being here and contributing. I'll never be able to put into words how much I have learned from everyone!

And this year, I will enter a Throwdown!!!!:shocked:

Yes! :clap2: Join us in the throwdowns!

And thanks for the preceding sentiments to the throwdowns. I love the support and friendship of my brethren and sistren, too. This is a special group. :becky:

HeathBarkley said:

This was just posted on TMBBQ. An open letter from Carey Bringle of Peg Leg Porkers.

http://tmbbq.com/to-all-the-armchair-bbq-critics/

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^^^this belongs here IMO. Great article in response to the entirely predictable discussion about a mag naming Nashville as the best BBQ city in America. Covers more than that though.

Gtr, that is a great article. I give it a standing ovation! :clap:

Sometimes I have difficulty understanding why there are so many rigid opinions on BBQ. Yes, I'm new to smoking meat and yes, I'm from Canada….. so what do I know, anyway? I know there is room for everyone at the table, too. I celebrate our wondrous differences, especially when they taste so darn good. :becky:

ain't this the truth - fantastic thread

The last thing I am is a snob about any food. On one evening, we went to a high class restaurant in the city, and after on the way back to the car, stopped for a Papaya King hot dog. If it taste's good, I will eat it. If I doesn't taste good, I will still eat it - why hurt feelings.

Sometimes we think our way is the best way...the only TRUE way. When we get closed minded and snobbish about it and down right nasty to others, we drive away members who we could have made into friends. Closed minded certainty gives the impression that one must find the BEST way to do every step and then follow those steps exactly.

Painting by the numbers does not create a masterpiece.

Calling someone else and their methods inferior to your own opinions does not make you better just because they are worse. On the other hand, ignoring the wealth of experience being offered for free on this forum is just plain stupid. Try things and find what you like...then try more things.

I love the tolerance and friendship posted about here. Does it extend to folks that prefer well done steak? My experience on this forum has been it is not safe to post a well done steak cook thread.

I will say - if you like a steak well done, then thats your choice and you alone have to decide how you like your food.
It should not be other people who decide what you like or what you should eat.

Keep an open mind and accept that people are different with different taste and food preferences.

^ Thank you for that. :becky: