Chicago

Jive Tofurky: A Document of PRF BBQ Meatless Grilling

Tree a-grillin' by Jodi Shapiro

Hey man, my name is Tree and I helped head up the grilling team for the 2009 PRF BBQ and its successor, the 2010 PRF BBQ.  The food at these BBQs was something to be proud of and very representative of the PRF’s lack of willingness to engage in the store-bought/prepackaged/cheap.  There were dozens of sausages from Chicago’s stellar Paulina Meat Market, even more sausages from the state of Wisconsin, homemade sausages, burgers hand-formed and seasoned with love and topped with a variety of cheeses, chicken parts, fish, and even pork shoulder.  “You Eat Well or You Go to Hell” was our motto*.

For both of these events, I made the decision to handle the vegetarian grilling duties.  I am not a vegetarian, far from it, though I tried it for about six months in 2003 until my wife became pregnant with our second child and was ravenous for meat.  Since it turned out the baby was mine, I figured I should start eating meat again as well.  I am a vegetarian sympathizer, and as an avid griller, it pains me to attend/host a cookout and see the meatless folks show up with frozen veggie patties, or even worse, tofu dogs.  There are actual vegetables to be consumed and many of them are delicious when grilled, so allow me to talk about the items that I made for these BBQs.

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Jimmy Two Hands Live at Caffeinated Recordings

Nothing could be finer than having your one of your good friends play music for even more friends by the fire. This is what went down on a beautiful August Saturday night in Chicago when Jimmy Two Hands regaled us with songs about drinking, getting into trouble, and douche-y landlords on his banjo and his bucket. The session, which was streamed live over the internet, was lovingly mastered by Mr. Matt Engstrom, and filmed by Mr. Thomas Banks.

Check out the Jimmy Two Hands Live at Caffeinated Recordings album to see the rest of the videos from the perfomance.

Bone and Bell Live at Caffeinated Recordings

Once we decided that we were going to have bands perform in the garden at our annual summer bash, our first thoughts went to Bone and Bell. Heather’s incredible voice and baritone ukulele danced off of the flowers and fruit of the garden as they sparkled in the glow of the party lights. The session, which was streamed live over the internet, was lovingly mastered by Mr. Matt Engstrom, and filmed by Mr. Thomas Banks.

Check out the Bone and Bell Live at Caffeinated Recordings album to see the rest of the videos from the perfomance.

Small Awesome Live at Caffeinated Recordings

Negotiations were long and hard, but we managed to secure the incredible Small Awesome to be the first act to perform music live in the gardens of Caffeinated Recordings. Poised under the stars, and between the sunflowers and tiki torches, Small Awesome’s Faiz Razi and Jim MacGregor with some terribly beautiful music. The session, which was streamed live over the internet, was lovingly mastered by Mr. Matt Engstrom, and filmed by Mr. Thomas Banks.

Check out the Small Awesome Live at Caffeinated Recordings album to see the rest of the videos from the perfomance.