I remember Allen, Texas, as a bump in the road on the long drive home to Bonham, Texas, from Austin. Their school wasn’t big enough for us to play them in football or any other male-only sports in those 1970’s days. McKinney’s lone high school at that time was our big rival. Now, Allen is a burgeoning suburb. You would never recognize it from its days of origin.
Present day thriving and growing City of Allen, Texas, has started an annual tradition of celebrating the Fourth of July. It’s called Allen USA Celebration, a family oriented event that is fun for all ages.
Kathryn’s Texas Kitchen joined up with the Atmos Energy Company’s cooking team and their giant cooker/griller/smoker you name it machine, Big Tex, for the festivities. These guys have the cooking routine down pat. I was impressed with their teamwork as they moved the briskets from the smoker to the oven to stay warm.
Ribs and chicken then made their way to cook on Big Tex.
Not only can these guys take care of our gas pipelines and natural gas service, but they can cook anything your heart, or taste buds, desire.
Standing left to right – Frank Guzman, Mike Dickson, Norman Shannon, Rob Richardson, Rodney Kuhlman, Doug Beasley
Seated left to right – Pat Ledbetter, Scott McCracken
No offense to the ladies who dedicate their working lives to Atmos Energy Company, but there were none present cooking on Big Tex at the Allen USA Celebration while I was there. I can’t blame them since this monster cooking machine puts out five million tons of heat. Mixed with our Texas summer days of 100 degrees, that’s a lot of fire! And being a short person, the last thing I want to do is try to reach over that cooker and turn meat.
Mike Dickson, the former Manager of the Atmos Energy Metro Eastern Region, was the catalyst for Atmos Energy’s involvement with this civic event. He spearheaded the cooking team and all the employees’ volunteer efforts in their second year to participate in this event.
The first wave of the cooking team arrived at the Allen city park at midnight on June 27. They set up Big Tex and got everything ready for the major cookout. At 3:00 a.m., 30 briskets were seasoned and smoked until 11 a.m.
Big Tex’s smoker was then filled with 100 racks of ribs. These were followed with 80 pounds of split chicken breasts. Not to be left out were 120 pounds of Kielbasa jalapeno sausages. No one was leaving the Allen USA Celebration hungry!
If you couldn’t make it to Allen, Texas, this year, remember to mark it on your calendar for next year. It’s a great event and your kids and grandkids will love it.
In our next cooking adventure, Kathryn’s Texas Kitchen will try a couple of summery salads for our 100 degree Texas August weather. Until next time,
Kathryn's Texas Kitchen author Kathryn Williams-Guzman with Pat Ledbetter
Hook ‘em Horns and bon appétit!