The third weekend of October seems to usually be the best weekend for fall color in Ohio. Saturday, my wife and I decided to drive to south-central Ohio to see some color, as the Cincinnati area is kind of dull this year due to drought. We got in the convertible and drove east to Wilmington, Ohio, then continue east from there, staying on country roads and avoiding divided highways.

After about an hour and a half, we ended up in the Chillicothe area. Chillicothe isn’t a big town and it’s not on an interstate highway. It does carry the disctinction of being the first state capitol of Ohio. As we got near town, we saw signs for the Adena House, and, having no set plans, followed the signs to see what the Adena House is. It turns out it was the home/estate of Thomas Worthington, called the father of Ohio’s statehood and the sixth governor of Ohio.

It was a gorgeous day, starting off in the low 50’s and getting up to about 73 during the day. The sky had nice, fluffy clouds in the morning, clearing to brilliant blue later. The grounds at Adena included the mansion, which we toured, along with a barn with a covered wagon in it, a tenant farmer’s home and the spring house for the grounds. The home had extensive gardens, and I’d like to go back when things are in bloom, as it looks like the gardens are pretty well kept.

It was one of those days where it’s just comfortable to be outside. We spent about 2 1/2 hours at Adena, then found an ad for a barbecue restaurant in town and decided to go in and see how it was.
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For those of us that live and breathe barbecue, what could be better than a pig a day?

For 2008, it can happen! The “A Pig A Day Calendar - Icons of Barbecue” is now on sale!

The calendar features logos and signs from barbecuers of all types: competition teams, restaurants, caterers, etc. And Bucky McOinkum’s Barbecue was selected as one of the teams represented. Not only that, but we’re April 26/27 (a weekend), and April 26th is my anniversary, so it’s a great choice!

The calendars are only $12.99 and can purchased on the website or via Amazon.

Fall is in the air! Actually, it’s not in the air; in SW Ohio, we reached almost 90 degrees F today. I’m ready for 65 degree days, a touch of fog first thing in the morning, and temps that make you want to cook a pot of veggie soup all day long!

This is a tough month/year right now. Last September, I lost the Best Dog in World (a phrase I am now using when talking about Woody, thanks to Barbara at A Writer Afoot) . This year, we lost Patterson, the Best Cat in the World. One thing I have come to believe is that the first animal we adopted as adults is likely to carry the most meaning with it, the most emotion, the strongest bond. Why is this? I think it’s because it’s likely the first time we, as adults, accepted the responsibility to care for another living being. It’s something of a rite of passage into adulthood. So Woody was my dog; he was the dog God meant for me to have, the dog I would need when I was alone in other ways, the dog that would mean that I still wouldn’t be lonely. I think Patterson was that for my wife (but the cat, not the dog, that did all that for her).

Patterson was supposedly a Himalayan, but I’m not sure; he was pure Bacon Cat. Yeah, not a breed, but all I had to do was open a bacon package, and he was there telling me, very vocally, that he was glad I was fixing bacon for him, could I have it NOW(?). He loved bacon.

We miss him, a lot.

As a bit of a distraction from that, my wife and I are going to go out of town this coming weekend. We’re taking another trip to one of my favorite cities, Pittsburgh. This time, however, we’re staying out in Cranberry Township, but we’ll be heading into the Strip District, going to Vincent’s and the Dirty O, and maybe Primanti Brothers this time. I’ll try to get some shots of the Strip District to share; it’s a great place to go for foodies… You’ll see… No strippers at all, just shops and food!

Two things, among others, that I always look forward to in Ohio in October are apples and fall colors. We’re getting neither this year, though. A drought has been going on, and the fall color isn’t expected to be anything much at all, and an April freeze has taken out almost half of Ohio’s apple crop this year. The orchard I where I like to get my apples has zero, yeah, I said nada, apples this year. They’re bringing in foreign apples from Indiana and Michigan. (The photo of the tree was actually taken in their drive on the way out a couple of years ago).

The weekend of the 13th and 14th, however, is the Ohio Sauerkraut Festival, the largest festival in Ohio. Our town of less than 2500 people (Waynesville, OH) will host well over 300,000 guests for the weekend. Last year, an estimated 342,000 people attended. We sold pulled pork sandwiches last year, but, with everything else going on right now, we’re not going to do that this year. Instead, we’ll just enjoy the weekend and the festival.

The morning of the festival, I’ll be out with some friends shooting sporting clays. Not food related, no, but a lot of fun! A friend of mine has some new Citori shotguns that need to be broken in… What a friend I am to help out, huh?

The weekend of October 19-20, the Ohio Smoked Meat Festival will take place. We’re not competing this year, but my wife and I are going to see if judges are needed. This will be in Nelsonville, OH, which is a really pretty area, so it will be nice to get away and not have the stress of competing so we can just enjoy being out talking with teams and eating good barbecue!

Then the month will close with the annual McAdams Wine Party. We have to be careful as this thing is getting out of hand, with up to 22 people coming. I’m going to fix all the food, and our theme is French wines. Each couple coming will be two bottles of French wine, one red, one white. For food, I’m going to do some steak au poivre, loaves of bread, French cheeses, something vegetarian (and French), and… pan-seared, fresh foie gras on grilled brioche! I’ll be talking more about this, of course.

I’m also going to be doing a bit of research on foie gras. For any that don’t know, foie gras is goose or duck liver (I’ll be getting duck) from birds that have enlarged livers. Animal rights terrorists people have been going after foie gras production and serving, stating that the farming practices are inhumane. Before serving my guests, I’m going to do some research and get some viewpoints from a producer.

It’s here!!!

Autumn officially started today!  After this summer, I’m ready for lower temps and cooler evenings.  Bread baking filling up the kitchen with yeasty smells and apple pies cooling before being ready to eat are anticipated.

Nicole at Pinch My Salt recently posted on both comfort foods and biscuits.  I tried her biscuit recipe, which can be found here.  I have to say that this was not only an easy recipe but really makes some great biscuits!  The effort wasn’t much more than popping open one of those cannisters from the grocery, but the taste and texture were much better!

Biscuits and gravy can be found not only at Pinch My Salt in her latest Comfort Foods post, but also at The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  Ree at the Pioneer Woman Cooks does a fantastic job of showing photos of every step of any process during her cooking. 

With my wont to add smoke to whatever I’m cooking, I do my gravy a bit differently…

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This week is really hectic for Bucky McOinkum’s Barbecue.  We started off the week with a barbecue class at Cooks’ Wares in Springboro, OH.  The class was a big success; it was full in less than a week after registration opened up for it.  We had a full house, with some on a waiting list, too.  Props to my peeps (Maria and the staff) at Cooks’ Wares for all their help (like my ‘urban’ talk there… I’m so with it… Not!)  We did a full competition menu of chicken, ribs, pork and brisket, with cole slaw, tomato pie and doughnut bread pudding added.  The sauce for the bread pudding included some Maker’s Mark whisky… Man oh man, was it good stuff!

Keep in mind, if you’re local, that classes will only be advertised online from now on at Cooks’ Wares.

Before I forget about it, I’ll be posting a Carnival of Food Photography tomorrow (a day late, but I needed to get word out about the competition (see below)).

The photos today are from prepping for the kick off of the Dayton Vineyard’s Wild At Heart men’s ministry for autumn. 

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This is going to be a bit of an odd post for me.  I’m really blue today, and, since this is my blog, I’m going to type what I want to type… I’ll start with ribs, though, for those readers that want a bit of cooking today.

On Labor Day, I tried some babyback ribs.  I have to say that I still prefer spares, but these were worth a try.  They looked good, but one rack was a bit tough…  Sometimes, you just don’t have good meat to start with, I think.  The flavor was still there, though.

I did the same basic stuff I usually do for ribs. 

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I didn’t grow up in barbecue country.  My earliest memories of barbecued ribs were from places like the Montgomery Inn, famous in Cincinnati for ribs.  I don’t go there at all anymore, as their ribs are steamed and sauce-drowned.  People in Cincy swear by them, but I choose other ribs.  Pulled pork was done in a crock pot, and chicken was grilled at best.

Brisket was unknown to me in any form other than corned beef.  Later, pastrami could be found in the area, but I had no clue what part of what animal this stuff came from.  I take that back… I knew it wasn’t pork because the best places to get either were Jewish delis.

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I’ve seen several threads on message boards about whether barbecue competitors cook at home just like they do for competition.  The answer is often ‘Yes’.  I sometimes wonder, though, if this is due to wanting to practice or because of preferring competition barbecue all the time.

Here’s how I see competition cooking being different from cooking at home:

It’s simply that, when I cook at a competition, I concentrate on making 6 servings/slices/pieces/ribs as good as I can make them. 

That sounds simple, but there’s a bit more to it than just cooking 6 servings of everything. 

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Last weekend, my wife and I got the chance to cater a birthday party.  The couple were both turning 40 in the same week, and wanted to do something fun.  We were really glad to have the chance to help them celebrate by letting them not worry about the food or serving.

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Everyone seems to have their lists of advice, so I figured, now that we’re well into the peak of grilling season, to add mine!

So, with no further adieu, here is Bucky McOinkum’s 9 Tips For Cooking Outdoors:

1.  Have a fire extinguisher handy.

Ok, first one is boring, but, really, have a fire extinguisher on hand.  You never know when you need it, and even seasoned cooks have issues.  When you’re cooking outside, you’re likely working with flame of some sort, and things do happen!

2.  Take the time to determine what tools you like to use.

This is somewhat different than I hear most people say; most want to tell you what tools to use.  However, I think people do things differently.  I’ll give advice now and then on something I happen to like, but if you choose something differently, that’s fine with me, too.

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