Page 17 - April 2021 Barbecue News Digital
P. 17

 water, plant and animal species ex- tinction, multiple other woes, and we have good reason to feel like Job.
An end to the pandemic may be in sight. Not so with tornadoes. Tor- nadoes have claimed such a wide swath of new turf as to re-map “Tornado Alley.” Somebody please tell Dorothy to tell Toto “We’re all in Kansas evermore!”
What’s a barbecuer to do? Let’s Baum it!
L. Frank Baum was a genius at mak- ing lemonade from lemons. As Michael Patrick Hearn noted in his Introduction to The Annotated Wizard of Oz, Centennial Edition (2000), Baum’s book “reflected and has altered American character.”
Baum’s imaginative story of Dorothy’s adventures with a Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Cowardly Lion in the color- ful, exciting, scary Land of Oz when a cyclone carried her and Toto away in Auntie Em’s and Uncle Henry’s one-room house from a gray and dreary Kansas prairie is an enduring classic beloved by all ages, even in Kansas. [Side note: Ahem, Mr. Baum. The real Kansas is far from gray and dreary!]
In the spirit of renewal, defiance and celebration, let’s Baum some creative new/old barbecue delights as we pull together, beat this danged pandemic and get on with a memorable 2021 barbecue season!
-Munchkin Chips & Dip: cream cheese, shredded cheddar, chopped bbq meat & bbq sauce, smoked until dippy.
-Silver Sipper: 2 shots of moonshine or a premier brand of rum, gin, tequila or vodka—or a glass of chilled lemon-lime soda. [Dorothy’s magic slippers in the book are silver.]
-Ruby Sipper: add grenadine to the above as a nod to the classic Hollywood Oz.
-Ozzie-style Monkey Island BBQ Baloney Sandwich: “Ozzie’s” bar- becue & libations emporium on Monkey Island, Grand Lake of the Cherokees, is no more, but we can forever pay homage to Joe Bob & Ronda Osborne’s classic Okla- homa-style bbq baloney sandwich: a thick slice of smoked chub topped with Head Country Barbecue Sauce in a bun, bbq beans & coleslaw on the side. I like to add a slice of sweet Vidalia onion & dill chips to the sandwich.
-Humbug Stew: Dorothy & crew discovered that “Oz, the Great and Terrible,” was really “a little old man, with a bald head and a wrin- kled face,” who pleaded with the
Tin Woodman, “don’t strike me—please don’t!—and I’ll do anything you want me to.” Scarecrow lamented, “you’re a humbug.” Your call as to making this your own version of a Brunswick Stew or Burgoo, real or fake.
Read the book and watch the movie for more fun and inspi- ration.
A Serious Note of CAUTION: Real tornadoes are deadly and destructive. Please take tornado warnings seriously. Take cover and stay out of harm’s way. Tongue-in-cheek defi- ance is one thing. Recklessness is another.
 APRIL 2021
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