Memphis in May

Well, we've managed to survive another Memphis in May. What a great one! We were honored to have some great friends and fabulous cooks to hit the big stage: Sassy Sows (the real queens of bbq!), Gwatney, and Mark Lambert all are familiar with Ubon's and made us proud! Our BBQ neighbors Natural Born Grillers did a great job with a first place Whole Hog and a Grand Champion. (They don't use our sauce but we helped keep them sauced all weekend.)

We had a beautiful couple of hogs. We had a big team and everyone jumped in and pulled their weight. Brian is a fearless leader and a hog magician. Maybe we can talk him in to running through the entire process to cook a whole hog. All together now: BEEVE BEEVE BEEVE BEEVE.

We had a number of awesome moments this weekend. I love an audience and secretly so does Brian. We had the chance to talk a little about our cooking process, sauce and general bbq ideas with a great group touring with the Memphis in May Cooker Caravan. Thanks to everyone for listening and indulging Brian and I.

Our standard Memphis weekend calls for a few traditions. 10 am calls for a Ubon's Special:

1 part Jim Beam
1 part pineapple juice
1 part Sprite
1 fresh pineapple spear
Mix with ice, drink quickly and have a 2nd.

This year we added to our repertoire. I'm still trying to find the right name for this Ubon's Bloody Mary. Seriously this is the best bloody Mary of all time. My biggest problem is that I don't have the recipe for the most important element. Vivian made some homemade dill pickles. (All together: V V V V V and maybe she'll email me the recipe to post.) So this is the actual and then the make at home as best you can version.

1 part vodka
1 part tomato juice
1 part bloody mary mix
1 part Vivian's pickle juice
1 large sprig of dill
2 table spoons Ubon's BBQ Sauce

My best guess for pickles and I'm sure I'm very far off...but you'll mostly need the juice.

boil 1 cup of vinegar 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1/4 cup of pickling salt, and 2 table spoons of pickling spices.
cut cucumbers into spears and place in a jar. quarter an onion and place the jar. throw in a handful of garlic cloves. pack every available space with fresh dill. pour boiling liquid over the vegetables and allow to sit until cool. When cool cap and place in the fridge.


At noon on Memphis Fridays we have the perfect sandwich. Prime Rib sliced and layered on an onion roll with mayo, mustard, horseradish and Videlia onions. Sweet mercy!

We had some new friends join us for this year's Memphis. These guys paired with our old friends helped us have a great weekend. Did you know that there are Rednecks in NYC? Well, they will be until their sunburns wear off. See if you can spot them. I watched male bonding at it's best this weekend: diverted fights where the benches cleared and everyone was the insulted's brother, fake threats being made by a short man (my dad) because he knew he had some big guys around, affectionate insults hurled at old friends, and cheers for Rusty at the dogtrack. Thank goodness the included me.

If you got pictures, please send them to me at leslie@ubons.net. My mom doesn't quite remember if she had a good time or not. Did I mention you CAN have too many of those Ubon's Specials?