Who's ready for braised octopus then seared on grill hotdogs
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Who's ready for braised octopus then seared on grill hotdogs
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You're have some 'octdogs this evening I see? I'll let myself out.

That thing is gnarly bro.

I saved that earthcake mess. The last 3 cakks I've made have been GC with coconut pecans. It's ma jam. I need some Earthquax in my slax

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I could really use you guyses help and knowledge here if you have any suggestions/advice...let er rip.

First, any of y'all fellow glue sniffers have any experience with Kamado grills? Like a Big Green Egg or a stylish Kamado Joe or similar? More on that in a minute though.

We just finalized the date for my mom's "Celebration of Life" and I am gonna cater it. I want it to be perfect. You only get one momma, and I want to blow some minds. She would have come straight to me if things were reversed, and we were planning this for my dad. I catered my own wedding for 65 without feeling overwhelmed. I watched as clean plate after clean plate came back. I got tons of compliments. Keep it fairly simple and nail the execution.

I am going with a similar menu here...I think. At least as of right now I am. I got a couple months to glue it all down, cross the i's and dot the t's. I'm just glad it's happening. FINALLY!!! (Don't even get me started, she passed in January of 2020. The local authorities have been crashing parties that are ¼ this size...and handing out HUGE fines to boot. Fortunately, the county just recently started allowing groups of more than 10 heads. There was no way to sneak it without getting nabbed. Plus, they were handing out multi thousand dollar fines like badayduh chips at a badayduh festival.


I am gonna smoke some pork on cherry for some Kansas City style chopped pork for a pretty big crowd. I would say at least 80. The venue we rented has an almost brand new built in party size charcoal grill, along with a full size reefer-igerator, and a four burner range. Here is my menu proposal as of now:



KC style chopped pork

Burgers & Zweigles Texas style red hots

Maple bourbon smoked pork baked beans

Baked penne with sausage & meatballs

Mac salad

Coleslaw

Salt potatoes

Grilled corn on the COB

Earthcwakes?

I am gonna get as much done the day before...like make the beans and smoke the pork shoulders. Make the slaw and Mac the day before, but wait til the day of to dress them. I will also put the penne together so all it has left is to get baked. Toss the COBs into the kiddie pool to soak overnight. I was gonna do some deep dank chocolate cake, but I'm seriously thinking about making the quakecake. Why not. My mother would have loved it

If my at home scoring system is accurate, then all I have to do on the day of is:

Dress mac & slaw
Throw penne into the gargler @ 375
Reheat finished insanity beans
Reheat chopped pork on charcoal
Cook burgers & dogs on charcoal
Salt badayduhs
Corn on fire pit.

I think the team at DBG (see attached photo) can handle this. I recruited Inspector Bonkers and Professor Bamboozle to assist where needed and help with the meds.

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I need to upgrade my smoking rig...I think a Kamado would be perfect. I want to smoke 50 pounds of shoulder while I'm in the weeds. Even if it takes two rounds. Small price to pay to have a Kamado until time itself ceases to exist.

I have my eye on this 24" that is 220lbs and $799. I've heard these things can run for 6+ hours and hold rock solid temps without any need to crack it open. I need that.

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I could really use you guyses help and knowledge here if you have any suggestions/advice...let er rip.

First, any of y'all fellow glue sniffers have any experience with Kamado grills? Like a Big Green Egg or a stylish Kamado Joe or similar? More on that in a minute though.

We just finalized the date for my mom's "Celebration of Life" and I am gonna cater it. I want it to be perfect. You only get one momma, and I want to blow some minds. She would have come straight to me if things were reversed, and we were planning this for my dad. I catered my own wedding for 65 without feeling overwhelmed. I watched as clean plate after clean plate came back. I got tons of compliments. Keep it fairly simple and nail the execution.

I am going with a similar menu here...I think. At least as of right now I am. I got a couple months to glue it all down, cross the i's and dot the t's. I'm just glad it's happening. FINALLY!!! (Don't even get me started, she passed in January of 2020. The local authorities have been crashing parties that are ¼ this size...and handing out HUGE fines to boot. Fortunately, the county just recently started allowing groups of more than 10 heads. There was no way to sneak it without getting nabbed. Plus, they were handing out multi thousand dollar fines like badayduh chips at a badayduh festival.


I am gonna smoke some pork on cherry for some Kansas City style chopped pork for a pretty big crowd. I would say at least 80. The venue we rented has an almost brand new built in party size charcoal grill, along with a full size reefer-igerator, and a four burner range. Here is my menu proposal as of now:



KC style chopped pork

Burgers & Zweigles Texas style red hots

Maple bourbon smoked pork baked beans

Baked penne with sausage & meatballs

Mac salad

Coleslaw

Salt potatoes

Grilled corn on the COB

Earthcwakes?

I am gonna get as much done the day before...like make the beans and smoke the pork shoulders. Make the slaw and Mac the day before, but wait til the day of to dress them. I will also put the penne together so all it has left is to get baked. Toss the COBs into the kiddie pool to soak overnight. I was gonna do some deep dank chocolate cake, but I'm seriously thinking about making the quakecake. Why not. My mother would have loved it

If my at home scoring system is accurate, then all I have to do on the day of is:

Dress mac & slaw
Throw penne into the gargler @ 375
Reheat finished insanity beans
Reheat chopped pork on charcoal
Cook burgers & dogs on charcoal
Salt badayduhs
Corn on fire pit.

I think the team at DBG (see attached photo) can handle this. I recruited Inspector Bonkers and Professor Bamboozle to assist where needed and help with the meds.

View attachment 1335233

I need to upgrade my smoking rig...I think a Kamado would be perfect. I want to smoke 50 pounds of shoulder while I'm in the weeds. Even if it takes two rounds. Small price to pay to have a Kamado until time itself ceases to exist.

I have my eye on this 24" that is 220lbs and $799. I've heard these things can run for 6+ hours and hold rock solid temps without any need to crack it open. I need that.

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I’ve used the kamados a couple times….one egg…one joe….both were great. I wouldn’t expect to knock it outta the park first time out (although you may) be sure to get a few cooks with it before the big day (sorry to hear about momma bubbles)….they can hold a temp for a long time if you have the intake and vent set right. They do make fancy controllers if you’re worried about it. Pork shoulders will take in the 12 hour range to be done right, unless you’re a hot and fast cooker…then you can shave it down some I suppose.
I don’t think there’s much difference in the various brands of grills, except the accessories that come with them. Honestly a 24” grill is small for that much pig…..one shoulder will pretty much take up the space…..maaaayyybbbeeee two if you get some pigs that worked out alot during Covid. They make bigger sizes ( bigger prices too).
 
Loosing your Mom is tough. I know this is a work of love for you.

80 people is a lot. You will have help? The Penne in the oven will take an hour longer than you think to heat. Make a rich pork stock to add to the pan reheating over charcoal so the meat does not scorch. I think you are looking at 25 -40 pounds of pork shoulder plus 10% more for waste fat. This depends on the kind of eaters you will have. If more will eat burgers and dogs you need less pork? This is always a problem in catering. I like your menu. You might think about fruit and a green salad for some balance but you already are committing to a big job. Back in the day I could do this with 3 people for about $60 a head. Not including service. Tables Chairs Plates Napkins drinks, water, ice, flatware not included. I don't do catering - thank Goodness - I am retired.

If you have access to good refrigeration some of your menu can be partially prepared 2 days ahead without any quality issues.
 
Never used an egg style smoker. I just have an ugly drum smoker I built years ago. I'd like to upgrade to one of the pellet grill
smokers when I'm able to. Here is one I've been eying PIT BOSS PRO SERIES ELITE 1600 and the other 1100 model. But with
amount of food I cook bigger is better.
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Never used an egg style smoker. I just have an ugly drum smoker I built years ago. I'd like to upgrade to one of the pellet grill
smokers when I'm able to. Here is one I've been eying PIT BOSS PRO SERIES ELITE 1600 and the other 1100 model. But with
amount of food I cook bigger is better.
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Yea I really like the pellet grills to…. Wasn’t into them at first but they seem like a great smoker, the more I look at them.
 
I started cooking and this is what came out….I’m calling it southwest chicken spaghetti lol…..
Poblano, onion, jalapeño blended smooth
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Fresh Roma’s, blanched shocked peeled and crushed
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Brown chix legs, deglaze with pepper mixture (sofrito)
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Cook sofrito for about an hour
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Deglaze with tomato’s and and chix stock add legs. Simmered covered all afternoon, removed lid for the last hour and a half….pulled chicken, served over spaghetti squash with cotija cheese
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Yeah, I got help. I'm an adopted bastard child so there is no siblings to recruit...BUT...the busty nurse is the first born of like 40, so there is all sorts of hands, a few of which have pretty much been molded exclusively by me, so they are very familiar with my standards and demands. I try to not ever cut corners in the kitchen. They do, lol...but only when it's for themselves. I trust em all when it's gotta get my seal. They don't have the balls to fuck up....lol

I wouldn't have even entertained the idea of attempting this if I wasn't 100% confident that it's not gonna ruin my day....or any of theirs. Yeah, there is some stuff, but I will be in charge of any real cooking, seasoning, finishing touches.

You sit here. Make many onions. Don't cry. You cut now. Medium dice. You cut now. No bleeding. You cut now. Less talky more choppy. You cut now. When finished you start corn. You shuck many corns. You shuck now.

My buddy is gonna give a hand too, and he is a Le Cordon Bleu grad that did a year internship in St Thomas, and was pretending to be an executive chef up in the Adirondacks last summer with a team of half a dozen underneath him. He was making $25 an hour living in a $250 everything included studio apartment that was on the restaurant property. He fucked that up because he got too comfy and started sipping from the house...which evolved into coming in boozed up. They were remarkably cool until he started pushing it. They pushed back and won. He went off the deep end and woke up in a mental institution 100 miles away...real close to the halfway point home. I just need him for a few hours thank the lordy.

Im sure I will appreciate his help though, he will definitely be there for me, and he can even have a few cocktails on me. I'm gonna get a couple half barrels. Heineken and I am hoping I can commission a super crafty IPA from my mad scientist buddy. I actually made an IPA with him last summer. That shit was DYNAMITE. He already said yeah, but you know how that goes. It would be incredible to have a one off beer though. He has been brewing for decades and he is very precise and scientific about it. We were constantly checking pH and temps, setting timers and weighing everything down to the gram. It was quite a busy evening. I had no clue what was happening, but I know how to set a timer!!! I can count all the way to 19 if need be. Teacher says I'm not apposta cross the road by myself though.

I bet 40 pounds would be good, but I want some pork leftovers, plus I need to steal some for the beans. A lot of older folks that I might or might not know...they won't eat much per person. But some of the Nurse flock can and most defy will eat for 4 once they get a couple drinks in em and then see the official Bubble Grubble.

I was thinking about buying a hundred dollar fridge off Craigslist just for this. I got the place from 9:00am till midnight, and I can probably use the fridge there the night before if I ask nice.

We are gonna wait till after the party dies down and walk down the hill to the lake, which is Lake Ontario. My mother was cremated, and her ashes are sealed inside of a little boat made of paper mache. She goin out to sea. I am gonna throw a 1 pound rock with an eye bolt drilled into it. I got 150 feet of cotton string that will be tied to my belt on one end, passed through the eye bolt on the rock, and the other end I'd tied to the doomed vessel. Throw the rock out 60 feet or so, and now I can gently pull the string on my belt and the little sinky ship lit up with tealights, hopefully will make it's way toward where the rock landed before she goes down by the head.

Lake Ontario is more akin to an ocean than a traditional lake. It's dark, it's deep, it's cold, it's more than 50 miles across and 200 miles long. Sometimes it's as smooth as glass. Other times, it has 10 foot waves. It's main calling card is that it flows to the Atlantic via the St Lawrence Seaway...allowing some huge ships easy access along the rust belt. Anyway, the water can be violent. I hope for some nice weather so the little ship can go down peacefully extinguishing the candles.

It's basically Titanic...except for a few trivial details.

Illegal as fuck. Shh. Nobody has to know.

I will document the whole shindig from the perspective of one of the Bubbles Grubbles team members.
 
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