Good ole days remebered

For many years (12 to be exact) I would not miss the Friday night Houston Rodeo BBQ cook off...... http://www.hlsr.com/ It is filled with sensory overload...Smells. flavors, sights and sounds all "Texas Style" Yesterday while still recovering from the week a friend called and invited me to go. At first I said NO (to myself) as I did not want to fight traffic and walk a gazillion miles (although that would be good for me) and come away smelling like smoke and the spills of celebrating Urban cowboys and girls....When he told me he had VIP parking and the shuttle will drive us ..I said "Lets Rodeo" and I am glad we did. . I ran into friends I had not seen in ages, walked paths I had spent many a time stumbling on and ate and smelt the flavors of some deliciously moist BBQ and some not so tender.. It was a great time. I even rode the Fares Wheel...and got pictures taken (maybe for the book) on some BBQ pits ..not just your ordinary pit these are Texas sized.... and to top it off met the Chef for Bon Appetite Magazine who was visiting from NY . Hopefully we will get to see him when in NY later this month. Have you ever seen the same movie twice? (I do with all my favorites....this week i watched fiddler on the roof for the 5Th time) each time you do you see it from a different prospective.....and get to see the finer details....that is exactly how it was last night....amazing how its changed.
I did get a few ideas for some recipes to include. I used to have a food booth at the rodeo and was always trying to squeeze crabcakes, ribeye sandwiches and shrimp fritters into the eating vocabulary of a cowboy...It never really worked. But last night I though of including boiled potatoes and corn in crab boil, A great BBQ sauce and some extra sides such as Rodeo Potato salad, cole slaw beans and more...we shall see. But I tell you there is something special about visiting old "Empty Bottle Moments " It will cause you to celebrate or go back and adjust so that you can celebrate