Ruybalid Chile Roast

Fall is nearly upon us, time for the annual Chile Roast. This year it was held at Brent's sister Tracy's house in Sparks. It didn't feel much like fall though, it was HOT all weekend long. Friday night me, Brent, and our girls headed up to help Tracy set up for the weekends events. The party starts on Saturday at about noon although it was already going when we got there. The process starts with 25 pound bags of raw Anaheim Chile peppers imported by Brent's dad's cousin Randy from California. Here you can see our nephew Brit and his girlfriend Maddie roasting the chiles on the gas grills.

From the grills they are taken by runners (the younger ones) to the cutting table to have the stems removed and then drain before being placed into freezer bags for freezing to be used all year until the next roast. Here are Shayna and her boyfriend Jeremy working at the cutting table. Madison spent a better part of the day working the cutting table. At one point there was a huge mound of chiles to be cut and she was all alone and said to anyone who walked by "I could use some help here, anyone..." it was cute.

Of course in between all the work there is some fun to be had. It is nice to see the extended family and get caught up on what has been happening in everyone's lives. It is also time for the kids to play with cousins that they don't see but once a year. Here are Logan, Madison, and Anjeanette near Logan's snow cone stand. He is quite the entrepreneur he was selling his cones for "tips" during the roast.

Another of the highlights of the day are Aunt Louise's margaritas. She starts blending as soon as the roast starts and keeps everyone hydrated throughout the day. Here she and Brent are discussing which blender he is going to borrow to make a batch of his salsa.

The roast is held on Labor Day weekend so when it is Reno or Sparks we get to attend the Best in the West Rib Cook off. We don't go for the ribs, we go for the music. Our friends The Heather Combs Band were playing that weekend so we headed down to see the show on Saturday night. Here is Brent with Kevin who took care of us that night. He got us a table, and the band got us a parking pass so we did not have to fight the crowds. Kevin also bought all our drinks that night, he is way too good to us.

Remember the margaritas I mentioned? Well lets just say that, and some beer makes Brent a happy boy. Here he is with Shayna at our table while Madison and I are out on the dance floor.

This is our friend Jeff he is the trumpet player in the band. We love watching him play, he is amazing. He is signing a CD for Brent's cousin Richard, we told him that his name was "pain in the ass" it was pretty funny. There were also some plays on the name Richard ending in weed if you know what I mean. Good times.

Here I am with my sister Trish and nephew Brit, you can tell we have been sweating all day we are all shiny. It was fun to unwind after a day of hard work.

Lastly, here is my baby girl. I think she worked the hardest of em all that day other than the time she spent inside in the air conditioning playing on the computer of course. She partied like a rock star that night.

Next year the roast is at Aunt Martha's house in Concord...stay tuned.