Page 16 - DEC2021 Digial Issue: Barbecue News Magazine

An Old Fashioned NBBQA Christmas
As you pull up to the house, it looks like a postcard. Lights twinkle around the shrubbery, the snow blankets the yard like an undis- turbed white comforter. A blow-up Santa on the roof and moving reindeer welcoming visitors to grandma’s house. You walk in and the smell of desserts waft through the air. The perfectly decorated tree in the corner, but still the centerpiece of the room, awaits your gifts. There’s a fire in the fireplace decorated with stockings hanging from the mantel. As grandma comes in to hug the grand- kids, as only a grandmother can, she places her “famous” yule log dessert on the table. Drinking some warm apple cider and eggnog, there’s laughter mingled with some soft Christmas music in the background. As you sit there, you look around and think to your- self, “I’m in a Hallmark movie.”
Does this sound familiar to you with your family’s old-fashioned Christmas? Or, is it more like the kids running around the house screaming and playing? The snow in the front yard has been run through by the neighbor’s dog. Part of the house lights have fallen and the deer has stopped moving. Santa is still on the roof but part of him has started to deflate. The tree isn’t perfectly decorated but does have the ornament you and your brother made when you were in school. To you those ornaments get more hideous every year and you ask your mom why she keeps putting them on the tree. The stockings hung on the stair railing with everyone’s name in glitter on them. As you look around you think to yourself, “I’m in some version of the Griswold’s Christmas Vacation movie.”
Whether your memories resemble the Hallmark movies or the Christmas Vacation movie, they are your memories, and you cher- ish them. As we get older, especially this time of year, we begin to think about the years gone by. The family holiday parties. The kids running to the tree on Christmas morning. You remember that one time when that one relative brought that horrible dish, or some- one burnt the main dish. But you laugh. You smile. You remember with fondness all those times.
As we reminisce of years past, I begin to recall my memories of years gone by in the NBBQA, especially during the conferences.
These memories make me smile especially as I think how I didn’t know anyone when I first started attending. Becoming a member and getting more involved has allowed me to learn more about everyone and grow as an outdoor cook. The more involved I be- came the better I wanted to be as a cook. I hope as you sit back reading this, you can also recall all the NBBQA memories you have accumulated over the years.
Family
When it comes to the holidays, the very first thought that comes to mind is family. The memories we had growing up were amazing. I remember one year I wanted an Atari (don’t laugh, it was hot at the time) game console. We never had much money, so this was a big ask on my Christmas list. When the presents began piling up under the tree, I noticed a couple of items of peculiar size. So, once my parents were at work, I opened the smallest of them and it turned out to be the Donkey Kong Atari cartridge. I couldn’t wait until Christmas Eve when we got to open our gifts. The memories I have of my dad playing these games while mom was putting din- ner together will live with me forever.
This is just one of a thousand memories of family during the holi- days. As I think about the NBBQA, family comes to mind as well. Recently, I was talking with “Famous Dave” at an event. I told him one of my favorite memories were of him and Dave Raymond run- ning around in a golf cart at one of the BBQ Bashes. They would stop to talk to every cook team and just tell jokes to everyone. They had such a joy about themselves and as famous as each are, they never met a stranger that day (or any other day for that mat- ter). Memories like this are just one of a thousand memories we can all tell from being with the NBBQA family.
Stories of hallway encounters with Myron Mixon or Chris Lilly. Hearing Myron talk about “fat is flavor” and Tuffy Stone joke, “You must be the most flavorable person here.” Going to an oyster bar or Billy Bob’s with family are stories which get told and re-told year after year. When families get together, especially during the holiday season, laughter, teasing, and stories are abundant. This
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DECEMBER 2021