Yesterday was a typical Friday… I got up, ran, showered and fed the dog. But then… the day became something of what I should start calling “Evan and Harriet’s Adventures.” It’s remarkable what two food-obsessed people can accomplish in one day. A few weeks ago we went do Long Beach to an olive oil shop, followed by a finger-licking meal and Bludso’s BBQ. Believe me, the contrast of those two experiences was not lost on us. Yesterday was no exception. We drove down to Santa Ana, to the lovely home of Miss Delilah Snell – owner of The Road Less Traveled, and Master Preserver. She gave Evan and me a lesson in preserving, with pearls of eco-wisdom added for good measure. We made pickled asparagus, basil jelly and peach habañero jam. We sipped Delilah’s own kumquat liqueur and browsed her collection of old-timey preserving books.
When 5:30 came, it was time to race to the OC Fairgrounds where we met up with Eddie Lin and the gang from 4Q BBQ Crew (a tongue-twister for sure). Professor Salt and his team of BBQ masters were gearing up for the OC BBQ Festival competition happening today (Saturday). Professor Salt was preparing a Bacon Explosion specifically for us. It took two hours to smoke so we spent the time wandering the grounds and talking to a lot of men about their meat. There was lots of beer, some cops (off-duty, who were BBQ competitors), a few cigars and lots of gravity chairs. We taped a segment, which you’ll hear on Good Food next Saturday.
We returned to the tent and tasted a heavenly, flavor-laden, salty, smoky Bacon Explosion, then drove home, our hair smelling of bacon, fighting the traffic back to LA and dreaming of basil jelly.