Keep on Q-ing!!!

Just cleaned up the leaves from my yard yesterday…AGAIN!  Worse yet, as I look up there are still LOTS of leaves on those trees…it gets me every year!  Woke up this morning and it was 22 degrees outside and the last of our Pepper plants has finally succumbed to the season, happy with all the heat we got from the pepper patch this year!  My reason for talking about the season of course has something to do with “Q”!  (OK…I know the rhyming is a bit much…sorry)

I digress into my cold weather diatribe because while I love the Fall, I am not the biggest fan of cold weather and even less a fan of Winter, but that doesn’t get in the way of the “Q”.  As it turns out, most folks seem to equate BBQ with the Summer months which isn’t the case for us as you might imagine!  We think GreatQ is an all season treat and we deliver it all year long!  In fact, I have a theory about the ‘cooler’ months and the Q that we create during them.  You see…it takes a bit longer on the smoker to get everything just right in cold weather.  My feeling is that the additional time on the Pit leads to even Great-er Q!  Of course, everything in BBQ is up for debate, but we did some Ribs and Pulled Pork recently that was as good as it gets! 

Anyway, my point being that we’ve got the Pit burning all Winter long and BBQ brings smiles to people’s faces as much in February as it does on July 4th!  PLUS, Smoked Turkey for the Holidays is a truly tasty treat!  We are filling up the calendar with Holiday Parties and Family Gatherings, so give us a call and let us cook the Bird this year…you won’t be disappointed!

Every day is a gift…enjoy the season and thanks for stopping by! – jak

Thinking about Q!

Just got done updating the website and thought I should mutter a bit here to keep the Blog rolling!  We joined the NBBQA this past week as a Business Member.  I am happy to have the opportunity to continue supporting industry organizations such as Kansas City BBQ Society and NBBQA who’s efforts to spread the good word about BBQ have been so successful!  We join because we believe and because we can…we can because of our customers!

With that thought in mind, our most recent specials have been designed to help out during difficult times!  We are offering a 5% discount (2007 pricing) for all 2009 events booked by November 30th.  This locks in at a discounted rate and avoids any price increases in the months ahead, which I believe will be inevitable.  We have also lowered our Booking fee for all 2009 Events booked prior to November 30 from 30% to 20%.  All of this translates to Great Deals on GreatQ! 

Our inagural season with the Traeger COM-200 smoker has been tremendous.  We are quite satisfied with its performance and with the quality that we are able to achieve!  We’ll be tryin’ it out with a few Whole Hogs this Fall for select audiences…so keep your eyes peeled for a chance to be a part of that party…if all goes well, we hope to offer Pig Pickin’s (Whole Hog Cookin’) on our Spring ‘09 Menu.  Look for lots of changes to come in 2009!

Not to let any cat out of the bag just yet, especially given the crazy banking situation today, but we are looking to add to our mobile kitchen capacity in a BIG way in 2009 in order to offer even more cost-effective solutions for Corporate clients and large events!  I’ll keep you posted on our progress…meantime if you know any bankers or folks who build mobile kitchens…let me know!

That’s all for now folks…talk to you again sometime soon! – jak

Tough Times…GreatQ…Even Better Offers!

As the leaves begin to change and “Q” Season (if there is such a thing…I’d like to think NOT) begins to wind down a bit, we’re doing our best to remind our clients and fellow BBQ lovers that we cook “Q” year round!  Lots of stuff going on to spread the word, we’re doing direct mail and have made a few changes to the website. (GreatQ4U.com)

We are also doing our best to help you beat the ever increasing cost of EVERYTHING!  We still are offering FREE DELIVERY for clients within 25 miles of Carlisle.  We’ve also got two current special offers: First is the “Book by November 30th at 2007 Prices” promo which offers a 5% discount for any 2009 Event booked by November 30, 2008 and our second promo is a reduced Booking Fee of 20% for ‘09 events…down from 30%, which lasts until November 30th as well!

We do expect that we will have to raise prices due to a significant amount of pressure from all sides.  I am not sure when that price increase will occur, but I believe it will happen by year’s end.  To combat the increasing costs, we’re re-evaluating our menu and adding bigger portions where we can.  As always, we still work with each and every client to create menus that meet their tastes and their budgets!  I’ll keep you posted as these things progress!

‘Til then, thanks for visiting the Blog!  -   jak

Alas, a weekend off doesn’t mean NO “Q”!

As we prepare to enjoy our first and only whole weekend “off” with many close friends at the beach…not a bad way to spend a weekend…I am thinking about getting motivated and getting to the butcher to pick up a few Butts to toss on the Smoker overnight tonight to add to our provisions for the journey!

In fact, when it comes to making GreatQ, it seems that the time spent enjoying it with good friends is an essential ingredient.  Without question, whenever we cater an event…even when we’re just dropping some GreatQ off…the one thing that each event has in common are the people!  They’re having a good time and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anyone who wasn’t smiling!

So, as we prepare to take ‘off’ this weekend to spend some well earned time with folks who are even busier than us for most of the year, I think about “Q” and what it means to have Great Friends!  For all those friends and customers out there…I know that you’re the reason I can keep doing “Q” and I am truly appreciative!  If you’re still on the fence…call me, I love to talk BBQ!!!  (717)-254-1937

Amendment on 10/15/08: Turns out…I didn’t make any Q for the weekend and no one seemed to notice!  Hmmmm…must have been the Bloody Marys! – jak

Birth of a Blogger…

As I type these words, I am becoming more aware that I really don’t have much of an idea what I am doing!  Bolgging is as foreign to me as some tribal language on a forgotten island in the South Pacific!

ANYWAY, this week in BBQ land has been a mix of lining up resources for our Fall and Holiday events and planning for an upcoming escape to the beach.  We are doing our best to offer value to our clients during these difficult economic times while meeting increasing costs on just about every front.  A couple promotions right now at GreatQ4U.com including our “Lock In at 2007 Price Promo” allowing anyone Booking an event for 2009 to do so at our 2007 prices!  We’re also still taking reservations for holiday events in 2008!

Our sister website How2Q.com is coming along nicely.  We’ve got some substantial content on the site and are looking forward to ongoing updates.  Useful information on creating a ‘Signature’ BBQ Sauce and Rub as well as product reviews are all there.  We’re smack in the middle of pepper season along the mountain here in PA, so we’ll probably add a recipe or two for ‘pepper related’ stuff in the coming weeks.

That’s it for now…have to get bacl to peddling GreatQ!  We hope that you make it a Great week!

Upcoming BBQ Competition Plans…

Well, 2008 turned out to be a truly Great year for business thanks to our many customers…it seems that most of our time was spent catering and not competing!  Not to mention a wife finishing her schooling just as a daughter heads off!  Busy, busy, busy!

We did manage to sneak in an appearance at ‘Pork-In-the-Park’ this past May in Salisbury, MD.  What a GREAT event that was!  The folks from the Wicomico County Parks & Rec Department were A#1 and our fellow competitors AWESOME!  Overall a good showing at that competition with our Butt and Ribs placing in the top 40 out of 84 teams.  Sent the parts of a whole Chicken to the judges and they rewardwed me with last place!  Lesson learned…perhaps thighs in the next competition!  Anything Butt, we smoked some Virginia Oysters and served them in a nice fresh mignonette with some asian pepper sauce to accent both visually and on the palate…the bribe didn’t work, but we were in the top 30!

I also took the KCBS Certified Judge course at Meadow Creek Welding this past Spring with my good friend Richard Osenberg of Racer’s Cafe fame in Parkville, MD.  We had a great time, but alas no opportunities to put those judging skills to work yet.  I plan on doing my fair share of judging next season as we prepare to hit the circuit once more in 2009!

For now…thanks for the memories…

GreatQ4U! …let the Blogging Begin!

OK, OK…so this is completely new territory for me.  While I learned to program in the age of punch cards and cut my teeth on an Apple II, I have been reluctant to join the online ‘blogosphere’ as it seems that I’ve always got something tugging at my attention which is more important at that moment.

Regardless, I am beginning this journey to share the ‘word’ about our BBQ Catering Company: GreatQ4U! (GreatQ4U.com) of course, but more than that I am hoping that this can be my online repository for all of the great things that I run into during the course of running a busy catering company.  From the people and places that I experience to the unforgettable memories of “Q” that I have had a chance to experience.

This is our first year of Competition as a BBQ Team on the Kansas City BBQ Society circuit and despite my plan to attend many competitions this summer, business fortunately was better than expected and competition opportunities limited…no complaints!  In fact, many thanks to all who chose to experience some GreatQ in the Central Pennsylvania area.

Our sole competition this year so far was back in May at the ‘Pork-In-the-Park’ event in Salisbury, MD.  Our experience was tremendous and our results better than expected!  84 teams competing in an intense national event is certainly something to behold.  My most significant impression was the amount of comraderie and help was available!  Everyone was more than happy to help each other…a true community of BBQ nuts!

I also completed the class and became a KCBS ‘Certified BBQ Judge’ this year, something that I’ve wanted to do for many years now!  I have yet to judge my first competition (if you’ve got one coming up and need help…let me know!), but the experience was a good one!

That’s about it for now, I’ll keep the posts coming!