It’s time again for my hometown BBQ contest – the 2010 Que N For Kids BBQ Festival in Costa Mesa on June 12, 2010. My team, Four Q BBQ, won the People’s Choice championship here two years ago, and we’re looking to take back the title with our very special People’s Choice menu.

This is the fourth edition of the best organized contest in Southern California. Why best? The public gets to sample the contestants’ barbecue and vote for their favorite in the People’s Choice contest. For competitors, the organizers lavish us with all the cook-friendly amenities we could ask for.

All proceeds go to Kristie’s Foundation, which supports families of terminally ill children. The $10 gate fee, and funds from selling the People’s Choice sample tickets go toward a very worthy cause.

This year, there’s a rib eating contest. I’m not sure how that works, but if you’re interested, check out the details on the event website. It’s a very family friendly event with lots of activities that the kids will enjoy – a butterfly release, a car show, and a carnival atmosphere with many vendors taking part.

For the foodies, I suggest getting there by 11am so you don’t miss out on the meat. Teams start turning in BBQ for the official judging at noon, and shortly thereafter, we sample our leftovers to the public. The last meat category is at 2pm. So while the event runs through 6pm, the best time to eat is from noon through 2pm. Once the meat’s gone, it’s gone. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Enter the Orange County Farigrounds on the northwest corner, off of Arlington Drive.

View Orange County Fairgrounds: Que N For Kids location in a larger map

Ever wanted to become a certified judge at a barbecue contest and taste some of the best que in the world? There are several opportunities in California this year, and the next class is in Sacramento. Sign up here.

Kansas City Barbecue Society Members $ 65.00 (members please bring your KCBS card for identification)
Non-KCBS Members $ 100 includes one year membership to the KCBS

Date: Saturday, April 10, 2010
Time: 9:00am – 3:00pm
Location: Saint Ignatius Church 3235 Arden Way, Sacramento, CA 95825-2014
Contact: Scott Gomes
scottgomesbbq AT sbcglobal DOT net
(530)559-5274

It’s like when two people you know would hit it off finally meet. This week, Pulitzer Prize winning food writer Jonathon Gold happened (finally) upon my BBQ contest teammate Neil Strawder’s BBQ stand at the Atwater’s Farmers Market. It’s only been a year since Neil quit his banking career to run BigMista’s BBQ full time, Mr. Gold. <\eyeroll>.

Neil tells me that J Gold stopped by at 1:30pm, long after almost everything was sold out. He scraped together a few leftover pieces of meat and made an impromptu sampler plate. Not the best way to impress L.A.’s most influential food critic, perhaps, but what can you do?

In this week’s Squid Ink blog on the LA Weekly, Gold said,

If Bigmista could scrounge together a lunch this splendid from scrapings and bin-leavings, I can only marvel at the possibilities afforded by the food he actually means to sell.

Hopefully, my two friends can start spending more time together, and get to know each other better. If anyone can appreciate the wonders of real BBQ, it’s these two. Congratulations, Neil, for the well deserved props.

Champion BBQ pitmaster Chris Lilly of Alabama’s Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q team will be golfing at next week’s Bob Hope Classic celebrity tournament in La Quinta, CA. This year’s Hope Classic lineup includes Snake Plisskin, Agent Dale Cooper, Detective Kevin Bernard, and Subliminal Man, to name just a few. Personally, I hope my friend Chris plays circles around Dr. Phil.

Chris dropped me a note to say,

“It’s great to hear from you and I would love for a bunch of my California friends to drop by and see me!! Yes it is true. I will be playing in the BHC and cooking all week as well.
To pull this off I am bringing my right hand man, Ken Hess, to help with the pits during the week. Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q will have pulled pork sandwiches available all week for the public Wednesday-Sunday during the tournament. I will also be doing a short cooking school on Sunday at about 9:00 or 9:30am at Hope Square…samples available. [ed - Hope Square is located between the Nicklaus Private Course and the Palmer Private Course, directly behind the practice facilities at PGA West]“

For those who can’t make it to the Palm Springs area, you can watch the tournament all week on the Golf Channel. Lilly’s legendary pork shoulder just won’t taste as good on the telly.

January 18- 24, 2010 La Quinta, CA
Bob Hope Classic