Saucy

We like to eat. Whether it is trying new recipes or enjoying old favorites, the one thing our food has to have is flavor, and I don't think there is a spice out there that we will not try. Bland simply does not make the grade in our house.

James tried out a new recipe for barbecue sauce back in May when we had our Derby de Mayo gathering, and it was delicious. When the employee activities committee at his company announced a barbecue sauce competition, he was happy to have an excuse to make it again. The recipe is Bourbon Whiskey BBQ Sauce and it calls for almost one full cup of whiskey, so you know it has to be good. While it is not at all (to us) spicy, it does have a bit of a tang but mainly, it just has a nice mix of flavors.And don't forget the 3/4 cup of whiskey!

Since James used the last of our Jim Beam Devil's Cut bourbon to make the sauce, he decided to put the finished sauce back into the bottle:

He had to get it to work SOMEHOW.

The sauce competition was yesterday after work, and the company brought in some pulled pork (and sides) so employees could taste the sauce on meat. There were five entries and when the votes were tallied, James' sauce came in...dead last. He was quite surprised, especially after tasting the winning sauce, which he said quite bland. Another sauce that he thought was quite good received only a few more votes than his, and many people said it was too spicy.

We have learned over time that most people have very different palettes from us; we like depth of flavors and we definitely like spice. Not always hot spice, either, but rich and complex spices. So a sauce that tastes delicious to us may just be too much for many people, as evidenced by James' last place showing.

His sauce may not have won the work competition, but it is a prize winner at our house - bring on the pig!