I didn't take any pictures of food (though there was, predictably, some amazingly delicious stuff that I'm sure others captured), but on the way home, I evinced interest in a graveyard near Jim's house, so we stopped. I hid in a gravedigger's shanty and shot this pic of C2 and The Wife, ambling among the headstones.

David Hammond wrote:I hid in a gravedigger's shanty

Somehow I get the feeling that this was not the first time.

Wow--what a day!! Jim, Vangie and Shaylen were amazing hosts and I don't think things could have gone any better if they'd been scripted! The weather held, the crowd turned out with more wonderful food than I've ever seen assembled (yes, I know, the LTH picnic, looking forward to it ), the pig was perfectly spectacular and even the mosquitos went easy on us.

Highlights for me included:

Larry the lobster, so succulent--no accoutrements needed. Thanks to Brian for doing the honors! I don't think I've ever seen anything devoured that quickly--one minute there was a 6 lb lobster on the table--the next there were a couple of empty shell pieces.

Dueling "Jim" ABT's--both were winners (and very different!!)

REB and RAB gelato-creamy, refreshing, bold flavors--loved the mint julep and thai peanut (or was it Horchata...)

Uncle John's Hot Links--only had room for a bite but what a bite! Took a couple home and fully intend to fry them up for breakfast with an egg...

Cajun shrimp--great crust/sauce--not sure what it was but very flavorful (and the shrimp were perfectly cooked despite challenging prep conditions!)

Stevez's beans--mmmm....

Ronnie_suburban's rum punch and the sangria (not sure who the chef was on that) were terrific--both were refreshing, not too sweet and perfect for the weather.

The pig. Wow. "Nuff said.

It was a great group to share a fantastic spread on a slightly steamy but lovely day. Way to go jimswside and family--can't thank you enough!!

Great afternoon yesterday, thanks to all who came out.

Being the host I spent mre time drinking and talking than eating

pig turned out great thanks to tips and help from Danny & Kevin, couldnt have done it without the loaner La Caja, and your tips and help.

Kennyz's ceviche was awesome, wish I would have had more.

jamaican beef patties, really nice

6# lobster spilt, and then "smoked" on the WSM was tasty.

gelato was as good as ever.

Ronnies Bourbon & punch were great

Alot of other things I am probably forgetting(I am a little foggy this morning), I wish I would have tried more items.

Special thanks to boudreaulicious, and petite_gourmande for all the help throughout the day, and the cleanup @ the end. I owe you guys.

Of course thanks to all for making this now annual event what it is. Thanks for making the long drives out west. I hope everyone had a good time.

Sounds great!! I wish my family and I could have gone. As it was, my son played his 4th baseball game without his cast, did well, but their team still lost.

One of these days, I'll hook up with you, jimswside. Based on your love of the Grateful Dead (I've noticed your ever changing taglines with Robert Hunter quotes), I know we'd hit it off.

Glad to hear yesterday's pig roast was a success!!

Seamus wrote:Sounds great!! I wish my family and I could have gone. As it was, my son played his 4th baseball game without his cast, did well, but their team still lost.

One of these days, I'll hook up with you, jimswside. Based on your love of the Grateful Dead (I've noticed your ever changing taglines with Robert Hunter quotes), I know we'd hit it off.

Glad to hear yesterday's pig roast was a success!!

thanks, it was fun, maybe next year if we do the roast again we can get together.

I think we are headed into Chicago today to eat, I dont feel like cooking after yesterday, and the bbq competition the weekend before.

Let me add my thanks as well. The Chow Poodle and I had a great time. Jim, you did a great job on the weather! The food and the company were fantastic. The Chow Poodle took some pictures which are posted here.

thanks steve,

great pictures in that album as well.

Ill get my pictures up later today.

Thanks, Jim and Vangie, for taking this on and doing such a great job for all of us. I cannot tell you how much we all appreciate the awesome hospitality you provided. It's a lot of work hosting that many people so my hat's off to you both. And you did a very nice job with the weather, too. Gotta give special thanks, too, to all the people who really helped keep the event flowing by cleaning up, changing trash bags and doing all sorts of grunt work throughout the day . . . way too many names to mention here but your efforts were really appreciated (especially by those of us who were relatively incapacitated ).

It was a really fun day and I loved everything I ate and drank -- and man, was there a lot of it! Just when I thought I couldn't eat another bite, some other irresistable morsel would appear and down it went. I was relying on my training for most of the latter part of the day.

Of course, another major highlight was the company. It was a great group and we had a blast shooting the sh*t with everyone.

Thanks again, to everyone who contributed to such a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Thanks, Jim and Vangie, for taking this on and doing such a great job for all of us. I cannot tell you how much we all appreciate the awesome hospitality you provided. It's a lot of work hosting that many people so my hat's off to you both. And you did a very nice job with the weather, too. Gotta give special thanks, too, to all the people who really helped keep the event flowing by cleaning up, changing trash bags and doing all sorts of grunt work throughout the day . . . way too many names to mention here but your efforts were really appreciated (especially by those of us who were relatively incapacitated ).

It was a really fun day and I loved everything I ate and drank -- and man, was there a lot of it! Just when I thought I couldn't eat another bite, some other irresistable morsel would appear and down it went. I was relying on my training for most of the latter part of the day.

Of course, another major highlight was the company. It was a great group and we had a blast shooting the sh*t with everyone.

Thanks again, to everyone who contributed to such a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

=R=

I don't think Ronnie left out a single thought I had and he said far more felicitously than I could so I am reduced to: "Ditto!"

I will, however, add my thanks to Vangie and Jim (and Shaylen!) for being such kind and thoughtful hosts. It's no small thing having such a large crew over for the afternoon and I am especially grateful for their thoughtfulness.

I'll echo all of the thanks above. It was a wonderful afternoon, and I offer special gratitude to Jim and Vangie for allowing us to use their property for our daughter's first al fresco diaper-changing experience.

I wholeheartedly agree with everything everyone has already said. Great company and some glorious food made for a grand time. Thanks to Jim, the wife and their adorable daughter for one fun afternoon. It was great meeting the LTH'ers I haven't had the chance to meet before yesterdays event along with all of Jim's peops. Its also always a blast when the Godfather and everybody else from LTH I have had the pleasure to meet, get to chill again. Always good times. The pig was fantasic.


The smell of smoke was in the air in Lasalle County yesterday


Where the pig was made...a great one indeed


Both Jims (thebeerguy & swside) made tailgate champion worthy ABT's


The Mack was at it...well his heavenly links anyway


The Godfather of the forum was there in person


Gwiv's buttermilk brined chicken thighs...mmmmm!



Jimswside's pig roast...good god thats good!

I didn't get as many pics as I would have liked nor did I eat as many items as I should have but everything was amazing and the best buffet (both food and price wise) I ever had. I gotta say that from the rum punch to the habanero stout, from the Jamaican beef pattys to the ceviche (so good and so perfect for the hot day it turned out to be), from every side dish to the red beans ice cream, from the low & slow chicken thighs to the star of the show, the fresh roasted pig, it was all fantastic eating and a great way to spend my Saturday. Thanks to all.


One of the two wonderful hostesses shaves some ice for the Korean ice cream

We had such a great time, Thank you so much to Jim and Vangie for being such wonderful hosts!
It was great hanging out with all the LTH'ers and meeting new ones-
everything we tried was so delish
I will try to get pix up asap- when I find my card reader LOL
so thankful the weather cooperated-
I hope no one was hard hit by the storms last night.

Best part is always seeing friends...

There's not much to be added to the praise expressed above, but Neta and I certainly want to heartily associate ourselves with ALL of these opinions. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed meeting a lot of my fellow forum members - some for the second time (we caught the Sun Wah blast last winter.)

We're going to try harder to get to these events.

Our sincere thanks to Jim and Vangie for what was obviously a he!l of a lot of work They carried it off beautifully, and, they have a lovely setting for this kind of party. The pig wasn't bad, either.

Our deepest gratitude to both.

Mike

Thanks to Jim and family for all of your hospitality. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves but what's not to enjoy when you're spending a day with fellow food lovers! The food, the drinks and the company were all spectacular.

all the food looks outstanding,
great job to all . sorry i had to miss it

Thanks Jim, we had a great time, food was great, company even better. So nice to meet your wife and daughter and to see our little ones playing together. Hope to be able to do it again sometime!

Jim,

Thanks to you and the family for a great event! Good to see you at your Local yesterday as well. Nice to meet such a cool crowd who had know problem driving 80 miles for a good pig! The food and drinks were awesome. See you soon.
Danny

Jim and family, thanks from me too! I brought my son along, and he wasn't too sure about the whole set up. (He had his Gameboy along just in case). Well the Gameboy never made it out of his pocket. His favorite of the day...GWiv's chicken (mom, why can't you cook chicken like that?). My son's one regret...he wasn't old enough to try Jim (the beer guy's) beer. I, on the other hand, loved EVERYTHING, and had no regrets! It was so nice to meet you all, and try to put faces to post names and real names. I really am terrible at this. However, with each event I attend, the better the details stick to the old gray matter. Jim, I know you and your wife worked really hard putting this together. It was a spectacular event! Thank you so much. Now that I think about it, I do have one regret. I wish it was easier for me to travel to Chicago to attend more events!

Jim and Vangie,

Thanks for once again hosting the LTH crowd. Jim, I can only imagine the effort that went into getting the pig, bringing it home and, of course, cooking it. Kudos to all involved in the preparation. All the food was fantastic and even the gods smiled and delayed the rain.

Jyoti

I'm reading all the reports with a tang of regret. Jim - it sounds like you pulled off another great event. If it happens again next year, I really hope we can make it!

thanks for all the kind words folks. My wife, daughter and I had a blast, and I cant thank all the folks who helped out enough. It was a team effort, and a success.

I am almost caught up with my work this a.m., and will post some pics soon.

Also I am looking forward to some of the pig tonight for supper.

heres my pics:

pig in the La Caja - 7:00 a.m.:



cooking area:



La Caja doing its thing:




ABT's on the WSM:



Lobster:



split and on the WSM:



Gwiv doing his thing:



pig pre-flip:





flipped and crisped:



happy partygoers:























the last folks standing:




From my family & I, thanks to all that came out, shared a meal, food they made, a drink or three, and some laughs. We appreciate the interest in this now yearly event and the folks that take time out of busy schedules to come out and participate, it is alot of work but the memories and friendships that come out of events like this make it all worth it.



slainte

As a side note I am really happy we went with the local pig. For me it was the star of the afternoon, really porky, and fresh. THe Mojo mixed with pineapple juice injection that the pig had in it for about 12 hours was nice as well. Real simple preperation, but great results.

Looks like a great event. We were tied up with something else that day but I was worried about you folks when the skies opened up around mid-day...doesn't look like it put much of a damper on the festivities.

jesteinf wrote:Looks like a great event. We were tied up with something else that day but I was worried about you folks when the skies opened up around mid-day...doesn't look like it put much of a damper on the festivities.

thanks Josh, maybe next year.

it rained a little while I was setting up the tent around 7:00 a.m., but after that the skies cleared a bit and didnt rain again til after 8:00 p.m. A little humid, but overall dry(other than the grass).

Thanks to everyone for a great event. Once again, it was worth the drive to Marseilles. I echoe everyone's praises, and also appreciate all of Jim and Vangie's efforts.

Ronna

Man I'm jealous...sounds like it was a great time, and everything looks fantastic in the pics. Makes me extra pissed that I had to work the whole weekend. Hopefully we'll catch up at Toons one of these days!

jimswside wrote:Great afternoon yesterday, thanks to all who came out.

Great afternoon indeed. Many thanks to you, Vangie and Shaylen, the perfect hosts.

Piggy was delicious, best I've had off a La Caja, marinade/injection really worked, pineapple juice a smart addition.



Sadly I did not get to try everything, but what I did try was to a mouthful delicious, Steve's beans, Ronnie's cocktail, Dickson's refreshing curried carrot soup. Danny Beck's bride Annie's curried Jamaican patties were terrific, as was Irisarbor's New Orleans style BBQ shrimp and Razbry did a particularly good version of the garlic slaw from Low & Slow.

Annie Beck's curried Jamaican patties



Boudreaulicious lobster, cooked to perfection by Brian, was a crowd pleaser, and MBH's giant stash of Uncle John's hot links a sure fire winner. Kudos to Reb/Rab's Thai peanut gelato, I would have liked a quart to go.

Boureaulicious and Shaylen w/giant lobster



Dickson checking out Uncle John's Hot Links



Kudo's to the pig team, Jim, Danny and Kevin, a lot of work went into that piggy.

Kevin, Danny, Jim



Speaking of a lot of work, thanks again to Jim, Vangie and Shaylen also to Bourdreaulicious and Petitie Gourmande, I don't think any of you stopped to rest all day.

Kenny Z brought killer ceviche, but that is far from the best thing he has produced lately.



Good as the food may be best part of the day are the conversations, I had terrific conversations, among others, with both Da Beef and MikeLM, two people who could not be more opposite if one were on the sun and the other on the moon. OH, and Hammond, stay away from my wife.

Additional pictures may be found --> here. Scroll down to 6.5.2010.

Enjoy,
Gary

Several people asked me to share the recipe for the rum punch I brought on Saturday. The recipe was conceived as a cocktail by Mike Page at Vie Restaurant in Western Springs. The team at Vie was very enthusiastic when I asked them if it would be ok to share the recipe here. So, here it is, as given to me by Mike himself . . .

Jack Portmore Cocktail by Mike Page at Vie
2 oz Coconut Jack Rum
1 oz Ginger Liqueur
1 oz Limoncello
1/2 oz Ron Zacapa 23-y.o.
1/2 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Orange Juice

Stir in shaker, pour over ice

When scaling it up to a large batch of punch, I made a few adjustments. Instead of using 2 oz of Coconut Jack per serving, I used one ounce of it and 1 ounce of Cruzan light aged rum. Using half as much CJ worked very well in the larger batch because the coconut note was still very prevalent and by subbing in the Cruzan, I effectively boosted the potency of the drink (because it's 80 proof, whereas the CJ is only 42 proof). I also cut back a wee bit on the juices to keep the finished drink from becoming too sweet.

I think pineapple juice works just as well as orange juice in this drink. For Saturday's batch, I combined the 2, using 50% of each. With all the juices, I highly recommend using freshly-squeezed or at the very least, using not-from-concentrate juices. And if your lime juice is particularly sweet, you should definitely cut back on the orange (and/or pineapple).

I stirred a little club soda into each cocktail when serving them, just to lighten them up a bit. You certainly don't want to dilute the beverage too much, but a little effervescence is an especially nice addition on a hot, sticky day.

=R=

Vie Restaurant
4471 Lawn Avenue
Western Springs, IL 60558-1765
(708) 246-2082