FINAL COMPETITION

I have been so swamped these last several weeks, I have neglected A LOT! So after the first GrillMaster Challenge in June, I was then supposed to compete on July 9th at the Regional competition. A week before the competition, I had a somewhat unexpected knee surgery. I hoped that I would be just fine to compete, so I went with it. We had a little frustration figuring out how to get our brand new grill to the competition that was about 10 miles away. We borrowed a trailer from a friend of ours, and it was not at all what we were expecting! We had to try to figure out how to get our grill on this tiny trailer without any sides and not much to tie it down to.

We then had to drive about 15 mph under the speed limit to keep our grill from flying all over the highway. Once we arrived at the competition, we unloaded the grill and all of the equipment and got set up. They went all out for this competition, they had carriage rides, giant blow up bouncy areas, concession stands and all sorts of carnival type stuff. We all gathered together as a group for a picture and then all the rules and conditions were explained.

A few of the rules were a little frustrating in comparison to the first competition. You weren't allowed to turn in your meat until exactly 2:00 p.m. and you couldn't really do much of a plate presentation because it had to be in a Styrofoam container. REALLY?! The competition started at noon, so I started on my Mango Pico de Gallo while I waited for what I thought was a good time to put my meat on the grill. I made the horrible, dreadful and inconceivable mistake of putting my meat on the grill an hour and 20 minutes before the turn in time! What was I thinking?!?My meat only took about 14 minutes to cook so there it sat on my table "resting" for waaaaaay too long. I knew that I had just blown it...but I hoped for good results.

I finished the Mango Pico, and the Brazilian lemonade and began preparing my "Styrofoam" container for the judges. As soon as the food goes to the judges you can sample out your meal to anyone that wants to try. Everything I made was gone in a matter of minutes, but they weren't the real judges, so I had to worry about them.

They announced the winners and I placed 3rd. I know, I know...it is still a good position, but I can't help but think that if I hadn't made the mistake with my meat, there would have been a different outcome. It was still so much fun. I had a blast and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Brennon also had a good time at the challenge. He got a new bike!

He L-O-V-E's this bike! The moment he wakes up in the morning, until we force him to put it away at night he is riding it! If you don't know what a Strider bike is, you can Google it or YouTube it. They are WONDERFUL! Brennon was riding it in 8 days, it is so easy for them to learn balance and it is far better than tricycles or training wheels! I am sold.

This is a video of his first day riding compared to his 8th day riding.