After a peaceful 3 hour drive, I arrived here in Fort Worth just in time to head down to the judging for the Fiery Foods Challenge. The poor judges next to me were having one hell of a time listening to the conversations I was having on the cell phone that kept ringing as everyone was arriving. With names like MSK, Creator, Cheffy, Chili, Big Dawg and CaJohn they were having a blast trying to figure me out. Anyways, that judging event went smoothly – with nothing too hot. I did recuse myself from the wing category after catching a wiff of Defcon wing – 52 wings will bring back memories real quick!
Once that wrapped up around 4, I met up with Defcon Creator, Cheffy and Bob and had a few beers before heading down to judge the Burger Bash. All three burgers were terrific to say the least and I’d be happy to order any one of them at a restaurant. However, Chef Grady’s burger was the winner of the night and some say the secret was in the bun he used. While there, Big Dawg and Candy arrived – along with the rest of the usual crew. Once the burgers were finished up, everyone headed to Booger Reds until the place closed down (10pm) and then we made the long journey across the street to the White Elephant and stayed there until they closed. Not to mention that Lee, Creator & I got tossed out of the place before anyone else due to some huge drunk guy that was just looking for a fight. Of course when Lee & I added ourselves together we wouldn’t be bigger then one of this guys legs – so we decided it was for the best. And we did the right thing going back for Danny (once we thought about it a block later). The party continued for a while in the Creators room until we realized that there were still 3 days of show to get through.
On another note – a few people have been asking about the bull riding. It is available for everyone (even under 18) and though some of us are still missing a few parts from the last time, we’ll most likely head over to the bull after the awards dinner tonight.
3 responses to “ZestFest 2007 – Thursday”
Just getting around to checking out the site after zestfest… We came home with 22 bottles of various sauces. Love all the pictures of my hometown! I recognized the inside of H3 Ranch- did you try the spicy margaritas? I really enjoyed meeting and spending time with Jim Campbell since he grows the peppers for Krakatoa! We bought the last 3 bottles that CaJohn had (couldn’t get down there till late Sat due to my sons baseball game).
Nice chatting with you too Paul! Heading back down that direction tomorrow afternoon- Houston Hot Sauce Festival here I come 🙂
Paul, it was good to meet you and your family, if you can make it down to Houston, the “Show” sauce is Krakatoa! made from fresh chiles (this years crop). It’s a good time amid the heat & dust and well worth the trip!