Mmm, barbecue!

The dreamy weather this weekend made it the perfect weekend for barbecuing! Camillia talked me into stopping by "cook your own" night at the Elks Lodge in Santa Maria to say hi to our Sun co-workers. I'd never been to a CYO event before; I thought we were supposed to bring some hamburger meat and throw it on a tiny Webber out back, but it turned out to be way cooler than that! I wasn't going to eat at first but the perfectly marbled steaks were hard to resist. Here's how it works: You line up at the meat station with your ticket. For an extra $5, one of the volunteers carves you an extra-thick cut of ribeye. (Since I had just had a Bloody Mary and a bunch of parmesan french fries at the Santa Maria Inn, I decided to go with the regular cut.)

Elks Lodge volunteers carving meat.

You pick out your piece of steak, chicken, or fish and write your name on a wooden skewer. Then you take the meat out back to the barbecuing room—and when I say barbecuing room, I mean it. The Elks Lodge has a special room with a gigantic barbecue pit for events just like this one. You season your meat, stick it with the skewer, and throw it on the oak grill. The wood is burning so hot, you can feel it on your face, and you have to move quickly. Then you stand around, drink some beer, and chat. After about five to 10 minutes, you grab a barbecue fork and flip the meat over.

Once it's done, you take your plate inside to the salad bar to get some salad, beans, and/or a baked potato. Then you all sit down and dig in as country music blares in the background. It's a blast and very Santa Maria! I felt liked I'd stepped back in time 50 years; I almost expected to see my grandparents drinking martinis and cutting a rug on the dance floor. I've always been hard on the Elks Lodge because I thought it was outdated and too conservative but this was so much fun! If you're ever looking for something different to do on a Friday night, go check it out.

The Elks Lodge barbecue pit; there were cooking stations for steak, chicken, and fish.
Photo by Camillia Lanham

I think Peter was jealous of my fun night at the Elks because he decided to barbecue some pork spare ribs in his smoker today. When he first told me he was going to buy an $800 smoker so he could cook hunks of meat, I thought it was a complete waste of money. But it's been worth every penny because the meat he makes on this thing is so freaking delicious! I'm glad he likes barbecuing and that he's patient enough to do it because, like my Grandpa Hank, I'd probably burn it to a crisp. Our favorite barbecue sauce is Philthy Phil's from Mo's Smokehouse, which you can pick up at the restaurant in either SLO or Pismo or at a local grocery store. I also made some coleslaw to go with it using a recipe from amazingribs.com, the site Peter goes to for all of his barbecuing needs. If you're ever looking for good recipes or information on how to cook meat, I highly recommend it.

Peter's amazing ribs and my delicious coleslaw.

Here's to plenty more barbecuing this summer!