"And yes, we'll be near the In-&-Out Burger."

Alright, glad that's out of the way. On to the more enjoyable activity of cooking and eating our landscaping crew.

There's a lot of meat - much more than my immediate family could fit in their freezers. So we're dusting off the original Couchon de Lait roaster and launching a spur of the moment goat roast for tomorrow night. Since those goats hit the ice on Saturday, I've been digging for some advice on how to best cook these guys. I hit the jackpot at about 6:30 this evening.

Google came up with the link to Brady, TX's annual Goat BBQ Cook Off. Took me right to the city's governmental webpage. At the bottom is a link to their Facebook page. (Check out the most recent post.) From there, I found a lone telephone number, apparently Brady, TX's phone. Elaine picked up. After hearing my story, she gave me the names and numbers of two of the competition's most well-known local cooks. Cha ching. (Well, I got Alton's number. She couldn't find Charlie's, so she gave me his mom's number. Never could get a hold of her, though.)

Alton, it turns out, is like the Gandalf of goat roasting. A cabrito Olympian. He's competed in each and every cook off in the event's 36 year history. 175 teams of serious goat cooks, and Alton's hoisted the 1st place trophy on several occasions, including last year's "Super Bowl," a separate event only for previous winners. On Cook Off weekend, next to his RV setup is prime real estate. He and his teammates, the "Three B Company" collectively, feed the neighbors all through the night - 5 goats, 60 lb pork ribs, brisket, sausage, 8 lbs of beans. I thought our two pigs was a big deal. "Ha. Laughable, man!" These guys are Hall of Famers.

These people are crazy about roasting goats.

And he was generous with his advice, too! Family recipes, blue ribbon winners, traditional methods, mesquite versus oak firewood. I was schooled on bbq goat for a solid 20 minutes, scribbling away the whole time. After hearing about and approving our exiting pig roaster situation, he recommended the following:

1. Flatten the goat's bulk by splitting in half or quartering.
2. Add a dry rub seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic. Be generous with the salt.
3. Add a wet mustard rub.
4. Prepare a baste with following: cider vinegar, mustard, butter, Worchestershire sauce, and plenty of salt.
5. Roast for an hour over 275 degree heat, adding baste. Then flip.
6. Roast for another hour, adding baste.
7. Wrap meat in foil. Before sealing, generously baste.
8. Let it do its thing for another 2 - 3 hours.
9. "Done when it pulls apart and you can't stop eating it."

I'll be sure to take pictures before, during, and after this whole fiesta. Once everyone present has eaten their fill, the rest will be bagged up and sent home with friends to recreate the event with a microwave.