The Holy Smokers

It’s fun when you have some really honest-to-goodness barbecue!

At the church where I work, our pastor started a group, the “Holy Smokers”. Now, before you begin to think of middle-aged parishioners puffing on fancy cigars, think again. This small group of men and women have an interest in smoking meats and have provided wonderful barbecue dinners for special events at our church. Lucky us!

Our most recent event was a concert with highly-acclaimed acoustic guitarist, Juan John De Hoyos. You can read more about his music here: https://juanjohnmusic.com/ . But before the concert began, we had the treat of dinner provided by the Holy Smokers.

You could smell the food walking down the hallway towards the room where the dinner was hosted. And upon arriving to the serving tables, several of the Smokers were donned with aprons and blue gloves, tongs in hand, ready to fill your plate with delightful goodies!

After filling my plate, I sat down at a table with family and began to sketch. I couldn’t resist getting a few of the servers in line. The meat on the end is a beautiful brisket, cooked and sliced to perfection. In roasters and heating dishes, the Smokers served up pulled pork sandwiches, a beautiful mac and cheese casserole, green beans with onions, coleslaw, and yummy corn muffins were inched onto your plate, if you still had room! Cookies and lemonade rounded out this delicious meal.

Before I got eating, I got out my sketch book and pen. I did a very quick line drawing of my plate and food, then a few days later, I painted the sketch using a photo reference I took to remember the colors. It looks so good, I could eat it off the paper!

As we all ease back into activities, this event with fantastic music by Juan John and fantastic food by the Holy Smokers was a great place to start, and it was enjoyed by all who attended!