Plan was to meet up around 11:30 and first man in score a choice table. When I arrived after Pilates class Shirlee had scored us a choice table on the beach away from the speakers – it was going to get loud. Kendall and Eric turned up not long after and Anna decided to join us for drinks. As I passed by the grill-masters on my way in, I noticed there was no females again this year, Big Shout out to the Q queens for next year. I know you are out there seen a few bad @ss grill girls on food network. Come claim your Grilling fame on Ambergris Caye.
When the party filled out and the heavenly meat aromatherapy started wafting over the crowd, you could almost hear the stomach monsters growling. Some went as far as skipping breakfast in anticipation of lots of food… of course I was not one of them. I am a lucky girls these days and 3 week house guest Dennis is making my morning smoothies, breakfast and other assorted cooking – now that’s what I call a friend with benefits 😉
The food was a little late getting served – can’t rush perfection, but it was all worth the wait. Although I could have eaten double, hoping for more grillers and bigger plates next year. I still had room for a chocolate shop fix later on 🙂 While the results were being tallied old school style, we were entertained by “Keith and the Beach Bums”. Recording artist Kelly McGuire was one of the judges and he also auctioned off a “Boat in Belize” (The name of one of his CD’s) bag with t-shirts in it. While Kelly raised a good chunk, we missed Cowboy Doug’s auctioning antics. There was also a 50/50 charity draw so the volunteers were very busy selling tickets. Way to go volunteers! Winner of the 50/50 was Sherlette – always love it when a friend wins something next best thing to winning it yourself.
A bit about the barbecue contest Judging process
Each of the Ribs had a colored Popsicle stick in it. Each ticket had the numbers 1, 2, 3 down the side and it was up to us (not really) to choose the #1, 2 and 3 best tasting ribs by writing the color of the stick that was in the rib we liked the best. The contestants did not know their colors until the judging was completed. Suggestion for the organizers, due to minor ink bleed next time only have the top of the popsicle stick colored. Of course, this is Belize and we are used to living life with no guardrails and the smell of the meat was so good we barely flinched at a small amount colored dye with it 🙂
It seems that the judges taste buds are a little different than the crowd’s. We only agreed on second place. That was about right because even the 4 of us at our table didn’t agree. Kendall likes spicy while Shirlee likes sweet. Eric and I are somewhere in between. “Tastes” are listed here with the top 3(‘s) People’s Choice (120 tasters)1st: Rick Saager (Orange) Tangy 2nd: Charles Worthington (Green) Smooth 3rd: Jim Gochenour (Yellow) – Very Spicy Judges Choice1st: Ali Rush (Blue – Turquoise) Kind of Teriyaki 2nd: Charles Worthington (Green) Tied for 3rd: Rick Saager (Orange) & Kevin Urbina (Purple) – Maple Syrup Sweet Randy Blanscert was Red and was also a spicy one.
A bit more about the Charity of Choice
The funds raised went to the Joy Flowers and Eve Durnback organization “Sunshine Scholarship Foundation” which helps fund children who may not otherwise be able to go to school. The Sunshine Scholarship Foundation is a registered nonprofit foundation whose purpose is the promotion of quality education for children of Belize. The foundation is supported by both corporate and individual donations to fund deserving students specifically to provide them with quality education. Your donation will give Belizean children the opportunity needed to ignite the power and potential within them to become leaders and problem-solvers and successful students. Join us by providing well deserving recipients with tuition scholarship. For any further information on how you can donate contact Joy Flowers at 226-3725 email joyayflowers@hotmail.com or Eve Dirnback at 623-9962 or email: eves1942@yahoo.ca. Tax Receipt will be issued.
Saga was also there, Kelly is a huge saga supporter and the fantastic work they do for Ambergris Caye Animals.
For more photos and another great article check out Ambergris Today – Can’t Stop the Finger Licking at Estel’s BBQ Competition. That was the first post I saw yesterday morning and I do not have time to look up the others. Been pulled in 50 different directions and doing logistics with Ministry of Health for our first two Red Cross volunteer vacations. I am doing my best to get this finished asap. DJ Hoy Hostel takes over night at Pedro’s in 1 hour.
Funny you should say that about female pitmasters as there are a ton of very successful female BBQ cooks up here. Heck I bet that Ruthie could make a go of it with Chunky’s guidance.