How did we get here? And where are we now?

Holy Moly!

What a busy summer! We’ve only just begun, and its been such a success. John and I spent a lot of weekends this summer cooking for people, searing our fingertips and eyebrows, and having a great time in the process. In fact, we've been so busy cooking and experimenting with new ideas, that I’ve had no time for blogging on any of my pages. 

We’ve discovered a lot of new tips and tricks from books, the internet and from plain experience. Our pig roasting and BBQ skills have gone past whatever I imagined we could do.

We even took second place in our first amateur pulled pork competition…against some formidable competition (and not all amateur at that.)  Now we are booking gigs for Fall events, and thinking about the “big picture” for future endeavors. 

 

There are cool tales to tell and great photos to share. Look for more blogs soon. When I have more time, I’ll bring you up to date with all the fun and deliciosity that we’ve been part of this summer.

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Even though the summer is officially over, with Labor Day done and gone, sunny autumn days and cool autumn nights will soon be upon us. There’s nothing more festive than a pig roast, coupled with chilly nights, the scent of autumn in the air, a cold beer in one hand and a plate of delicious fire roasted pork in the other! You’ll have a party that everyone will remember.

Our September weekends have booked up already, and October is looking like it could be busy as well so give us a shout soon to lock in your next epic event!

Where did it all start

Can you point to a specific event or happenstance and say “That’s it! That’s what started all of this!”? Each point in time has importance; but there was a choice, a conversation or a decision that preceded this spot in time and that lead you down your current path… something, that if changed, would not have brought you to where you are now. So honestly, I can’t tell you that “This time, this event… This is the thing that created J.R. Smokey’s”

I can tell you a story of a few key events that seem instrumental for me. Probably the biggest singular event was Tracy joining the Elm City Derby Damez. That was what lead up to us meeting and getting to know a group of the sweetest, most loving, sexy and kick ass group of ladies that you'd ever want to meet. Ladies that welcomed Tracy & I into their circle of friends with open hearts, and invited us to come along on their adventures. I’d point to some of those adventures as the seeds for our growth into a BBQ & Catering business.

During the derby season in the summer of 2011, we went to a party with some of the Damez, along with many of their significant others, at Daisy Duke Nukem’s Uncle Eric’s place… a place fondly called Sander’s State park. That was the first time I really got to know the girls outside of a roller derby ring or fundraising event. I also met a bunch of the husbands, boyfriends, family members and guys that were part of the whole crew, including John.

So there we were, cooking up a storm. There were all kinds of tasty foods roasting and smoking on the grills. John & I started babbling about food, BBQ, charcoal vs. propane, the best BBQ sauces, beer…all kinds of stuff. At one point, I mentioned that someday I really wanted try and to do a pig roast. We got talking about the whole idea and decided that sometime we should do one… you know, the kind of sometime that’s out there, but like as not, may or may not ever happen. Beer talk.

We didn’t go much further than that on the idea front. There were no big epiphanies that night, nothing major scheduled, no big plans for future endeavors formulated. The pig roast idea was just left floating out there in someday world.  One of those great beer ideas. After that chat, we all went on our way, enjoying the food, the party, the beer, the bonfire and the great company of friends.

Who knew that only three months later, we would actually be hosting our first Pig Roast… at an end of the season party for the Derby Damez… and that party would hurtle us down the path even further towards the birth of J.R. Smokey’s.