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After a day of hunting the
sagebrush flats and the juniper mountains of southeast Oregon's high
desert, it was good to relax by the fire with good friends and hot food
to tell the old familiar stories.
Page, my friend and mentor, surprised me by announcing his retirement and asking me to
take over his business. Page was a state champion BBQ cook who
was famous locally for his BBQ. It didn't take much
arm-twisting. After nearly 30 years of cooking for a ranch
crew, I was ready. That night, the Smoking Pit BBQ and
Catering Company was born.
The Smoking Pit BBQ, kept in
Page's tradition, won a loyal following over the years. I'd
heard it before, but one day I finally listened.
"Kristi, you ought to bottle
this stuff," said a frequent customer, holding a Mason jar of the
BBQ sauce he had just purchased, licking his lips with anticipation.
"Why not?" I thought.
I already had the gourmet
sauces, I just needed to market them. What to call it?
As I thought about my history with food and cooking, I fondly
recalled my childhood and how family, food and fun were always a
part of it. Dad was always there laughing and fussing over the
BBQ. Dad was called "Joker" by family and friends because he
was always joking and clowning around.
I decided to name my product,
Joker's Wild™ Sauces, in memory of my father.
My hope is that you will use my
gourmet sauces to spice up your cooking with a little flavor of the
wild west, and create lasting memories of family, food and fun.
--Kristi Rickman
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