We were so excited to be invited this past weekend to the Big Apple BBQ as guests of JCPenney’s American Living. The Big Apple BBQ brings together the country’s top pitmasters who cook up their award-winning food for over a 100,000 barbecue enthusiasts in New York City’s Madison Square Park.
We had a packed day: I had my summer class until 3:00 pm, followed by the Big Apple BBQ, then off to a wedding in New Jersey. Although the weather called for some rain, there was no way that The Hubby was going to pass up on some yummy BBQ. He made sure that he and the girls were in their matching pink American Living polos, their rain jackets and rain boots – all set for a BBQ!
First stop: the shortest line that we could find! And that was a pulled pork sandwich. Absolutely delicious. The bread was soft, the pork was decadent, the coleslaw creamy and the sauce sweet and tangy. We found a bench nearby, hunkered down with our umbrella and ate that sandwich so fast. The girls were not into the messiness of it all – instead, they ate the potato bun.
Second Stop: RIBS! What would a BBQ be without ribs? We got two plates of ribs and beans. This time O decided she could dig in. She loved it, although it was a little spicy for her. Side note: I loved the fact that all the pitmasters used paper products instead of styrafoam or plastic plates and containers! With over a 100,000 people eating, that could have amounted to a lot of waste.
Third Stop: RAIN!! It started to downpour when it was time to head to the dessert tent so we headed back home. The girls were disappointed; in the end it was fine because the line looked like it went from Madison Avenue to Fifth Avenue and looked like it was at least an hour wait.
From a family-friendliness standpoint, I was so happy to see a ton of portable toilets and portable sinks all around at the event. As we all know, kids + bbq = sticky fingers so I was glad that there were lots of opportunities to clean our hands. The rib table that we went to gave out wet wipes as well. Benches are all around Madison Square Park, so it was easy to find a place to sit once we had our food. Despite the rain we had SUCH a great time: it was a great way to spend the afternoon with our family, our tummies were full and the girls experienced something truly New York.
Thank you to JCPenney’s American Living for hosting us at the Big Apple BBQ! (Note our clean faces: this photo was obviously taken before the pulled pork and ribs!)