SnT 07

[Bluto]

Here are some pics of this past weekend:

1 Poker Run - Whose driving that black Taco? He was MIA after this shot! Terrences white 4R, blacknblues Taco, toyrunners red 4R.

2. I finally found the GCC camp!

3. One of the newbies (its not that guy on the right of the pic) receiving the Cow Bell Award - best offroading move of the month.

[Bluto]

1. I can hardly see 5 feet from the hood - a Taco passenger. Mr. Wheeler, LongBeach FJ, and Terrence somehere in his 4R holding the steering wheel.
2. Sand Dune driving at night with fog to boot. This is the reason to buy those auxillary lights! Terrences 4R up ahead and Im in Mr Wheelers Taco.

Attachment 187025

Attachment 187026

[Bluto]

The Crew - well some of them.

[PabloVTA]

hey, i know those dudes!

those are great shots alan.
now where's my egg rolls?

[PabloVTA]

here's a write up on the Sand Chef competition:

Surf n Turf Sand Chef Report:

Last year “Team Tapablo” represented the GCC in the event with an impressive second place finish in the contest that replicates the TV show Iron Chef. Sand Chef 2007 was going to be too much to handle this year by myself, so I went to the event with hopes of maybe watching and possibly getting a sample from one of the plates. Basically, thru the IH8MUD.com forum we find out the night before what the secret ingredient is and show up with our ideas on what to make for the two savory dishes and one dessert, then you have 90 minutes once the sun goes down to create your dishes and then get judged.

Last year it was Rice, this year it was Peppers. Any kind of pepper would do, even pepper jellies and sauces count. But you get more points for creativity than you do for presentation. Each team ponies up their 20 dollar entry fee and the show begins. Pasquale had the sound system covered and they had all the teams enter from behind one of the trailers with the theme music from the actual show playing. It was a nice replication of the TV show and gave everyone a chance to see who the teams were. Jay was filming the whole event, as were the FJ Trail Crew guys and Alvaro “the MC” the event organizer, had a microphone for commentary throughout the event.

The cooking started at 7 PM, and the teams had to finish by 8:30PM, no later. Last year I remember trying to time everything so that we delivered all the plates hot at the end, but right at the start of the cooking, they changed the rules and you could deliver to the judges at any time. This year it was the same way, and as a judge it makes it very complicated to remember who made what with which ingredients because you have up to 3 plates for 5 teams at a time show up at once. I was up to the challenge though, and only had one dish get the better of my heat limits.

Luckily the team “Third Member” also had a keg of homebrew beer they were serving and I could wash down the super hot Thai peppers with their amber ale. There were three soups made by teams, a couple of stuffed peppers, and a venison stroganoff too. The desserts were the most intriguing to me as the contest went on, since I could not figure out what I would have done for that. One team made a “Mexican Smore” with pepper jelly, marshmallows and Hershey’s chocolates, “Team Yopo” had a pepper glaze from brown sugar over cream cheese and pepper crackers, and “Team PMC” had a caramel apple with caramelized walnuts that had cayenne pepper dusted on them, but I think the favorite was the peanut butter cookie. It was served with a shot glass of cold milk, and after you took a bite and waited about 45 seconds, a wave of heat would come thru from the cayenne pepper they had mixed into the batter. The “Three Little Pigs” were giving these away to the huge crowd that gathered to watch and partake in all of the food.

This year none of the teams made their own aprons like we did last year, but they all took our lead and came prepared with generators, pit tents, huge tables and gear. One team had a stove on top of their BBQ, another had a Quisinart even. Team Yopo went from placing last in the event last year to second this time around. There was a two point difference to third place but the overwhelming winner was team “Three little pigs”.

The winners got 60 dollars in gift Certs from Spector Off Road, the team’s entry fees cash total of 100 bucks, custom artwork plaques and the honor of being named Sand Chef grand Champions 2007. I had some of the best food ever, for free and all I was hoping for was a sample when the day started.



Link to my photos on the web:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pablovt...7602891720020/

link to other photos of the event:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paintla...7602897861409/

and yet more:
http://www.tlcwagons.org/Norcal_Wago...Turf_2007.html

this last one takes a while to load. But nice shots of the whole weekend.