1st Annual BBQ Battle Royale!

Over the fourth of July weekend, we held our first annual BBQ Battle Royale! Here's how it went down: 

All the participants brought an entree to grill (with enough servings to feed their family plus leave a sample for all in attendance) and a side dish or dessert to share potluck style. 

See? It's on the dining room chalkboard. It's official.

We all gathered at our place to mingle, grill, taste and then vote. Vote for what? For awesome awards and prizes, of course!

Among the dishes vying for the prize(s) were: awesome homemade baked beans, delicious grilled asparagus, surprisingly tasty wasabi mashed potatoes, sumptuous spicy mussels, juicy tuna burgers, and two delectable variations of BBQ ribs (one dry-rubbed, one with homemade BBQ sauce).

After everyone was done grilling and all the food had been sampled, I passed around ballots for everyone to vote for their favorites in several (unique) categories. All the ballots were kept secret, naturally.

Once the voting was counted and re-counted (yes, re-counted; I am a perfectionist, after all), we got down to business and handed out awards and prizes to all the winners.

Kirk, Cambria, and Ladybug

Hubs and Jelly Bean havin' a good ol' time

Kirk and Cambria chilling after a good meal

Katie doesn't want her picture taken...

Dawni and Zach looking over the ballot.

Let the voting commence!

Katie and Zach enjoying a well earned prize of pineapple sunglasses.

Ladybug as a Pirate with a Chocolate Mousse Frosting Goatee

Nick proudly displaying a hard-earned certificate.

(Ignore the dying grass backdrop, please.)

All the winners got one of these snazzy certificates...

...with the official BBQ Battle Royale 2011 seal (with illustration by my own dear Hubs; he be so talented)!

Me, handing out awards, prizes, and 

eternal BBQ glory!

I'm sure you want to know what awards were won by our esteemed chefs/guests. Well, here they are:

Best Grilled Entree

"The Lord of the Flames Award"

Nick W. for his Dry-Rubbed Pork Ribs

Best Non-Beef Entree

"The 'Where's the Beef?' Award"

Dawni and Zach H. for their Grilled Teriyaki Chicken

Best Side Dish

"The 'Holy Amazing Side Dish, Batman!' Award"

Kirk and Cambria S. for their Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

Best Dessert

"The Better Save Some Room Award"

Hubs and I for our Brownie Cookies with Chocolate Mousse Frosting

(though it wasn't hard for us to win as I made the only dessert of the night ^_^)

Most Complex Dish

"The E=MC Mmmmmm... Award"

Katie and Zach E. for their Spicy Mussels

Most Unique Dish

"The BBQ-Unique Award"

Katie and Zach E. for their Spicy Mussels

Most Likely to Be Featured on The Food Network

"The Next Paula Deen Award"

Kirk and Cambria S. for their Tuna Burgers

Most Likely to Cause Cravings Fortnightly

"The 'Colonel' Award"

Hubs and I for our Brownie Cookies with Chocolate Mousse Frosting

Most Likely to be Used as Currency After the Zombie Apocalypse

"The 'Don't Forget to Kill Phillip!' Award"

Nick W. for his Dry-Rubbed Pork Ribs

Best Dish Overall

"The Highlander Award ...there can only be one!"

Kirk and Cambria S. for their Tuna Burgers

And what did the champions of the evening win?

The BBQ Battle Royale Championship Belt!!!

(made by yours truly)

Kirk accepting the grand prize!

Of course, it wouldn't have been much fun if our peeps didn't get into the spirit, but they didn't disappoint and all awards were accepted with great excitement and pride. I'm sure a lot of people would find me to be a total dork for throwing such an over-the-top barbeque, but not our pals. We have wonderful friends who will not only humor me when I attempt such cheesy endeavors, but let their inner campy selves out, too!

I think it's safe to say that a good time was had by all, seeing as everyone requested that we make this an annual event!

Oh, and to all you who were there for this epic event, I expect to see your certificates hanging in a place of honor in your respective living rooms next time we visit!