Great BBQ Weekend

Well, we survived the weekend festival at Greenfield, MO in pretty good shape.
It started out as an almost disaster. I left home about 5:30 am on Friday morning going to Greenfield, and about 10 mi from home blew a steering tire on the truck.
With the smoker trailer on behind, it was quite a ride. The skid marks indicate that it took 2 lanes of highway to get it under control and on to the shoulder of the road. There I sat with the smoker full of meat, the coolers full of soda pop, loaded to the max with supplies, AND NO SPARE TIRE !!!
Well, I called home and said " send the calvary". Needless to say, my family did as they always do in a crisis. They scrambled, and put together a rescue effort that saved the day. My daughter-in-law Danielle, and my grandson's wife Katrina brought my pickup, the tent and some tables. We transfered everything on the side of the road, left the mobile kitchen setting, and went on to Greenfield. I arrived there by 8:00am. Just in time to set up and get ready for the festival to begin.
Friday was a pretty fair day for sales but nothing to brag about. Then on Saturday morning at 6:15am a severe thunderstorm blew in and knocked down about half of the booths. Ours was intact but everything was wet.
The fire dept., which was supposed to have their annual BBQ chicken dinner at 11:00 decided to cancel due to the late start from the storm. Needless to say, this left a lot of people in town hungry for BBQ, and only one place to find good BBQ, that being none other than Texas BBQ and Beans. Well, we sold BBQ and beans until our arms were about to drop off. We sold out of beans, cooked more, and sold out again. I had taken 3 cases of buns for sandwiches, sold out of them. Frances brought 2 more cases fron Joplin when she came up that morning and we came close to selling out of them. All in all, we sold a lot of BBQ !!!!!!
Have to get ready for the event at Kellogg Lake in Carthage MO. this next weekend. This will be a little different type of event. It is an event to promote clean water in the Ozarks. There will be a lot of display booths and we have been invited to supply the food concession so it will be interesting to see how itcomes out.
Well, I have to go, it's past time to feed the horses so I have to go be busy for a while. Take care, God Bless, Via Con Dios DM

It's Friday, But Sunday's Coming

Yes, it's Friday, end of another busy week at Poverty Flats USA. We have been super busy putting the final touches on the mobile kitchen . Everything on the inside is pretty much finished as of today. We can hardly wait to put it to work next weekend at the Greenfield MO "BUFFALO DAYS" festival. We will be there for two days. Should be a really busy time if the weather is good. That, of course, will be a matter of prayer for us this week. You can pray too if you want. We need the prayers and most folks can use the practice !!
Things are starting to look pretty good for our BBQ business thus far. We have a good chance to start setting up in the Walmart parking lot one day a week if we want. Don't know if we will or not. Our original plan was to do only festivals and events. However, the demand for our BBQ has become greater than we had ever hoped to imagine.
Well, there IS other things in our lives besides BBQ. The horses, Shasta,Amy, Star and Blaze are looking really good now that they have lost their winter coats. Shasta, at 16 hands, and about 1100 lbs is the undisputed head mare. She's the boss and everyone else knows it. She's an 8 yr old Tennessee Walker, and quite possibly the most magnificent animal in the world. Yet she is so gentle our 5 yr old granddaughter can ride her.
Amy is almost 5yrs old , a beautiful breeding stock Paint. She is just a big baby who loves to be petted , and thrives on attention
Star and Blaze are both almost 2 yrs old. Both are Quarter Horses but Blaze looks to have some Mustang blood in her. Both of them are rescue animals. They were about 15 mo old when we bought them, and they were a pretty sorry looking sight. In fact, they both looked so bad we almost left them. They were literally skin and bones, covered with sores and have been ran through barbed wire and had some very bad cuts. But, they touched our hearts, and we bought them for $40.00 each. Good nutrition, love, and time have worked wonders on both of them. So there is a look at that part of our lives.
It's late, Granny just left for work, the granddaughters are in bed , so guess it's time for me to go check out the ice cream options. I'm getting old and need my ice cream everynight.
Goodnight, Via Con Dios DM

Time flys when we're having fun

WOW, can't believe a week since the last post !! We have been busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest !!
We have finally just about finished with the mobile kitchen. Just a little more inside work. Sure will be nice to be able to work with it. We just got home from Lamar MO about an hour ago where we worked a festival today. Had to use the old tent and tables, and it rained just about all day. BUT, we sold a boatload of BBQ. We sold out of just about everything. Can't imagine what it would have been like if the weather had been better. As it was, we had people standing 6-8 in line to be served IN A THUNDERSTORM YET !!
Well, we have 2 weeks until the next event in Greenfield MO. Which is located on the south end of Stockton Lake. And that will be Memorial Day weekend. Guess I had better start cooking tomorrow.
But for tonight, it's boots off, big feet up and a much needed rest.
Til next time, Happy Trails DM Pit Master

It's Sunday !! Time To Rest

It's been a really busy week here at Poverty Flats USA. God gave us 6 days to work and 1 to loaf. Well I don't think HE said it quite like that but you get the idea. I havn't even breathed hard yet today. Good time to take a rest because next week promises to be even busier .
The mobile kitchen will be mostly finished this week and we will fire up the big smoker about mid-week. We usually start cooking a couple of days before a festival or event. It takes 1 day to apply the rub and let it marinate the meat, about 24-26 hours to cook, and another day to cut,chop, and wrap the finished product. So, it takes about 2-3 days of preparation for a 1 day event. I'm quite certain there are faster ways to prepare and cook the meat, BUT, there is NONE, I repeat, NONE BETTER. We at Texas BBQ and Beans cook the best BBQ in this area. The only place I know of that possibly does a better job of BBQing is a place called Heinz BBQ way down in South Texas in Wharton, TX. It sets on US hwy 59 about an hours drive southwest of Houston. And on a good day you can smell the BBQ smoke all the way to Dallas. We cook Texas-style BBQ in much the same way it is cooked in South Texas which is where I learned a lot of the basics.
If you are ever in the area and looking for really great BBQ pulled -pork, brisket, and hands down bet BBQ beans on earth, look us up and be ready for a trip to BBQ heaven.
Well, enough tooting my own horn, Granny is out brushing the horses and I promised to be right behind her. Just don't think I told her how far behind her I would be. Gotta go, happy trails, via con dios DM