This week we bring a temporary cease fire to the weekly Peoria Hot Dog Wars to present some photos from Slow Kids At Play, The First Annual Sausage Fest at the Luciano Compound in Germantown Hills. Apparently I had something to do with this idea, but I can’t remember that. But I do know that the first rule of attending a cookout is to bring plenty of mustard. And so I did. You’ll see.
Here we are at the Luciano Compound. The headquarters to the compound is here at the garage. Some of you may remember a tour we took here back when this blog first started about a half a year ago.
Here's the hosts of this year's Sausage Fest, Phil and Karen Luciano!
I brought a couple of cereal box records by The Archies. Since Hot Dog was a member of this cartoon band, I thought it was an appropriate choice for Sausage Fest 2013.
After playing the record for 23 seconds, we discovered something...
They sound a lot better hung on the wall beneath the Bowl-Mor bear.
Nearby a signed Captain Jinks and Salty Sam picture hangs in the garage. I didn't notice this last time and had to document it on this trip.
Eric and Paul arrived before me and they proudly display their Budweiser and Meister Brau cocktails. Cheers!
Eric's a photographer and he took this photo of Phil and Karen on their wedding day outside of Kelleher's Pub.
Phil recently acquired a new grill and here he is getting it ready for Sausage Fest 2013!
And here's the mustard I brought. Once you get locked into a mustard buying frenzy, it's hard to stop. We've decided to have a mustard judging to see which one of these is the best mustard of the bunch.
I also brought Party Toasts and a shaker of citrus flavored beer salt.
And no, you don't snort the beer salt...
You pour it right into your beer. And it really added to the beer flavor, I have to get more of this stuff for home use. Sip ahoy!
The Sausage Fest is officially under way as the grill is loaded up with hot dogs and sausage. This is the first of many rounds to be cooked.
Phil starts to lay the mustard out for judging. You can feel the tension mounting in the air!
We all agreed that the mustard made for quite a work of art.
Mark Fitton, who's the managing editor of the Southern Illinoisan, came all the way from Carbondale to reveal...
The greatest t-shirt in the history of the universe!
I have to get one of these for Saturday Night Cheeseburger!
After much discussion and scrutiny, Phil tallies up the votes for the best mustard of the group. Drum roll please...
And the winner of the best mustard from Sausage Fest 2013 goes to the Jalapeno Cilantro mustard on the left! Colman's Mustard took second place and Nathan's Coney Island mustard took third place honors. The worst mustard of the day went to Mustard Girl mustard. A condiment that I had high hopes for and was severely disappointed in. Oh well, you can't win them all.
Here's Steve and Kathy who have been married for quite some time and first started dating on a blind date that started at...
Billy's Tap in Canton, Illinois. A coaster from this establishment proudly hangs in the Luciano garage. I need to stop there one of these nights and check it out.
Karen's son, Jake is an artist and here's a surfboard adorned with a shark he created.
This piece by Jake is really cool. It's a bear he made by cutting out paper with an X-acto knife and creating the bear's head in this unique collage. Great work, Jake!
Outside, back at the Sausage Fest, Dana breaks out a bottle of aged Jack Daniel's while Phil attempts to touch his nose.
Okay, when Jack Daniels is being poured into a Mickey's Big Mouth, it's time to shut the camera off. What happens after this at the 2013 Sausage Fest stays at the 2013 Sausage Fest!
Well, I guess it's safe to take one last obligatory bathroom mirror shot. Thanks to Phil and Karen for hosting a great inaugural Sausage Fest! We'll do it again in 2014! See you all tomorrow.
Further reading: MBIP House Call, Urban Dictionary and Barstorming.
