Pinto beans, Bike ride, Hog ride, Renegade football

When I thought I had seen it all, guess what, I was introduced to something I had never experienced, a cook off contest. I volunteered to be a judge for the 3rd Annual World Championship Buffalo Wing Cook-off at Buffalo Springs Lake(yep, the same lake that has hosted the infamous, challenging, Ironman 70.3 triathon). This event was sanctioned by the International Barbeque Cookers Association of America, that involved pinto beans, chicken wings, beef brisket and beer. Seems as though everything I have been associated with over the past few years always involves beer as a side item, could it be that I gravitate to that beverage or does it gravitate to me. Back to the judging. I was assigned to the judging of the pinto beans and found this to be interesting. As part of my judging I was advised of how important this job was and how the National Sanctioning rules would be followed(reminded me of a Charlie Crawford talk on the rules of triathlon and non-drafting). The instruction sheet started pointed out the following: "Bean should look good, smell good, and taste good!(mg tidbit-I would think this three things would be the order of the day without question). Each cup of beans should be judged from 1-10 with 10 being the highest. The five criteria are: aroma, pleasing color, consistency, taste, aftertaste.(mg tidbit-if any of the five listed criteria is violated you will most certainly throw up) There should not be anything larger than the bean itself in the cup. Make your decision the first time because the beans cannot be retasted after the cup has been passed. Use a new spoon for each taste. Pace yourself because you have several samples of beans to judge(mg tidbit-there were 32 entries and two tables, so we tasted 16 entries, almost an endurance event in itself). Clean your palate between tasting, using carrots, cheese, crackers, water or beer. Place your score on the sheet and do not talk to a fellow judge. Oh, forgot, NO SMOKING PLEASE!!" What I found from this venture was many variations of pinto beans, some good, some bad. I only scored three 9's and no 10's, at least four 1's(didn't look good, didn't taste good, and their aroma was under suspect of what was put in this kettle to cook these dudes). Some of the cooks tried to re-invent the bean and missed the point completely. The idea was to cook and present the pinto bean with its' own aroma, taste, appearance, etc., not cover it up with a bunch of additives. I was reminded of my child hood when my mother would make a complete meal centered around pinto beans. We would take a piece of crumbled cornbread, cover it with pinto beans, sweet pickles, sweet onions and that would be the meal. Since my parents came from the great depression era they were masters at preparing good meals with very little cost, but still filled us up. Oh for the good ole days!

After I had done my duty as an official judge(I only judged the pinto beans, since they had judges for each category), I went on a 30 mile bicycle ride, then got on the Hog for a visit in town at a small rally. While they had some nice displays of antique autos, and motorcycles, it was really about the ride in to town and back. The weather was perfect for both rides!!

Later that night I met my friend Mark and his Hog at the Lubbock Renegades Arena2 football game and enjoyed the 65-27 victory. This was their first victory of the year and with a new quarterback they should win some more. Now off to the Caprock cafe for some food and a brew, then back to the canyons. Great day, with all hours filled with something to keep me out of trouble(very hard to do).

No movie review, but in my radar is "Fracture" and I will get that done within a few days. Tonight is bowling night, even though I filled in as a sub for a two man league held on Tuesday night and had some fun. We only have a few weeks left for this season, so got to knock some pins down tonight.

greerman