July 19, 2008. A day of infamy … and pork … and the specially-commissioned J&D Pale Ale.

Our good friends Jen and Derek have a yearly bash to celebrate all that is good in this world: BBQ, beer, amazing food, music, and friends. This year was the biggest yet, with nearly 50 people in attendance (I think … I didn’t really spend much time counting).

Steph and Tim were commissioned to brew a beer for the event, and they came up with a crowd-pleasing pale ale that was smooth, light, and flavorful for that style of beer. Sure they could have brought one of their ass-kicking beers (and I mean ass kicking, as in the beer whups your behind), but they went the smart route and concocted a brew that anyone could enjoy, from a typical macro-drinker to a beer snob.

The beer in all its kegged and labeled glory.

Oh yeah, and their keg kicked in 3 hours, even before the Victory Festbier. Go Steph and Tim!

Steph shows us how it’s done.

Derek’s pulled pork was flavorful with smoke, had a great texture, and just the right amount of moistness — no shoe leather here. Ray and Tim clamored over the ribs, as did almost everyone else, and I think I actually saw Tim eat an entire one — meat, bones and all!

For my contribution, I baked my orange chocolate chip cookies, with help from Ray. They were a huge hit, and Steph even went so far to say they were my best yet. I upped the ante on the orange extract after a suggestion from Ray, was heavy-handed with the chocolate chips, used parchment paper, and kept a steady eye on them so none burned. I was exceedingly happy with my sweet treats.

Jen also provided one of the desserts, a pan of chocolate peanut butter brownies made with 70 percent bittersweet chocolate. They were rich, moist and would have gone most excellently with a roasty stout.

There was pimento cheese and sangria, also from our host and hostess, and cornbread to die for. Who am I kidding? It could take another hour to describe all of the amazing food we had, so let’s just leave you with some pictures.

That was food.

Steph checked out the “7 Minutes in Heaven” booth. I wonder if anyone really used it?

Friends of Jen and Derek, the band The Helper Monkeys rocked out the night with tunes you could tap your feet to.

Such fun!

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