I gave in…finally. Good or bad, that is yet to be determined.

Well, it finally happened…I have a blog. After being prodded (like a cow I guess – hey this blog will be mostly about BBQ and other food I love)  by my loving mother and after getting some inspiration from two friends who have great blogs of their own (more on them later) I decided to create a blog. Now….what to do with it? Well, for those of you who don’t know me, I assure you, it is no big loss. (just a little humor, mom) I intend this blog to be a little bit of everything ranging from BBQ and the fine art of smoking different cuts of meat (one of my current passions) to my boring everyday life…with different things sprinkled in from time to time that I hope you will find funny and enjoy as well.

So, my first “real” entry will be on our (my beautiful wife Nikki and my awesome 5 year old son Dustin) trip to Hutchins BBQ in McKinney, Texas. I am sure you are asking yourself, why the heck do I want to read about a rookie bloggers visit to a BBQ joint in McKinney, Texas? Well, as mentioned above, one of my passions is BBQ and smoking all types and cuts of meat. I began smoking BBQ in November of 2009 because my best childhood friend (Jeff Surles) had been smoking meats for a while and around the same time my uncle gave me an old bullet style charcoal/water smoker that he was going to throw away from a property he had just purchased. He called me and asked me if I wanted it and I said yes, as I hardly ever turn down free stuff, even if my wife and others consider it to be junk. Long story short, I read up and researched all I could find about smoking meats…then I took the plunge, head first with no life jacket to save me. I was still pretty clueless when it came to knowing what I was actually doing, but I caught the BBQ bug BIG time.

Over the course of the next year, I smoked something 50 out of 52 weekends…yeah, think about that for an hour or two…. And, I wasn’t using a set it and forget it electric smoker or a Big Green Egg (which I would love to own one day). Nope, I was feeding my fire with wood about every 45 minutes…and sometimes I would do this for up to about 14 hours straight. Some thought I was crazy (which I might be), but I loved every minute of it and really enjoyed learning more about the great big wonderful world of smoking meats, and doing it the traditional way of low (temperatures) and slow (smoking the meats until they are done to a specific temperature of the meats internally).

So, fast forward almost four years later and I am ready to do this blog. Now rewind to why my first real post will be about our trip to Hutchins BBQ in McKinney. If you don’t love BBQ as much as I do, then you might not know that Texas Monthly (what, you haven’t heard of Texas Monthly????? What, are you a Yankee????? Do yourself a favor and Google it and get you a subscription) publishes a Top 50 BBQ Joints in Texas article every five years, and the current June 2013 edition has the new kings of que.

That being said, we (me, my wife and my son) are going to attempt to visit each of the 50 joints in the next 12 months (I told you I was a bit crazy)!!!!! So, we are going to Hutchins first because it is about 25 minutes away and I wanted some BBQ on Friday night. My plan is to dine on the Holy Trinity (sorry for that reference mom…I will go to confession soon) of Texas BBQ – brisket, pork spare ribs and sausage at each joint and get each pit master to sign their name on the corresponding write up of their joint in the Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ joints issue. I also want to see if they will let me take a photo of them with us and I will take as many photos of the food at each joint and their pits as well.

I think it is going to be a ton of fun and I hope you will enjoy living vicariously through my words and photos. If not, no big deal, I know I will still enjoy the journey I am about to em-bark (BBQ lovers like me will get that) upon. So, sit back, relax (no need to tighten or put on any seatbelts, in fact, at some point you might need to loosen your belt (because some of the food photos will make you want to eat your screen) and enjoy this little journey with me.

Okay, if you have read this far, thanks, and I truly mean that. I hope that this blog will entertain you and I hope you visit often and I hope you share your comments and experiences with me as well. I will mainly post about BBQ and BBQ related items, including things I smoke, but I will also post about baking, grilling and cooking as well and I like to do all three. If at any time you have any suggestions for me, don’t hesitate to let me know…just take it easy on this rookie blogger!!!

And…remember I mentioned earlier that two people besides my mother inspired me to create this blog (that’s okay, I know you are lying and don’t remember)? Well, they both have blogs, and quite good ones at that. One I know through Facebook and his blog and the other I first “met” at TheSmokeRing.com, but then I finally had the pleasure of meeting him in person. Do yourself a favor and give them each a visit: Griffin’s Grub and Cranky Buzzard. Thanks Jason and Charlie for getting this charcoal chimney started…

Until next time, BigPhil out…