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Bay Area BBQ Championship & A Food Gal Give-Away

Get ready to have a smoky, meaty good time when the 2nd annual Bay Area BBQ Championship rolls into the Oakland Coliseum on July 7.

Professionals, amateurs and community groups will be competing to determine who has the best barbecued chicken, ribs, brisket and pork, plus the tastiest side dishes and desserts.

What’s more, in-between sampling all that food, you can take in the A’s vs. Mariners game.

All proceeds benefit Alternative Family Services, a local organization that provides services for foster children.

General admission tickets, which include five tasting tickets each and admission to the baseball game, are $33 for adults, $12 for kids. VIP tickets — which include all of that plus VIP tent and stage seating, as well as a “Blues, Brews & BBQ” party, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. July 6 at the Coliseum — are $78 for adults and $41 for kids.

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win two VIP tickets to the Bay Area BBQ Championship on July 7, which includes admission to the baseball game, a total of 10 tasting tickets, and access to the VIP party on July 6. Entries, limited to those who can be in Oakland on July 7, will be accepted through midnight PST June 10. Winner will be announced June 12.

How to win?

Just tell me about one of your favorite times that involved barbecuing or grilling. Best answer wins.

Here’s my own answer:

“It would have to be the rib contest that my friends, Nate and Annie of the HouseofAnnie blog, hosted at their home when they still lived in the South Bay. Not only did they cook their own, but they got take-out from various local bbq joints. The rest of us contributed side dishes and desserts. But the main event, of course, was them bones, them bones. We loaded our plates with rib after rib, took discerning bites, and even filled out score sheets. I can’t even remember which one won. But I do remember it was one fun and filling time.”

Winner of Last Week’s Contest: In the previous Food Gal contest, I asked you tell me about a favorite occasion you’ve enjoyed in which tea was prominent. The winner will receive samples of each of the new three varieties of Tazo Iced Tea Filterbags, along with a pretty glass pitcher to serve it in.

Congrats to:

D., who wrote, “My family loves to go dim sum and try all the little plates of food and enjoy the chaotic but homey atmosphere of barking waitresses and patrons fighting for the last plate of something delicious. Dim sum has to go with tea, for us we enjoy the darkest tea possible. We weekly fight over the last drop of the tea in the tea pot where the taste is deep and rich and coffee like. When a waiter tries to refill the pot we kindly tell them to wait, while the my Dad and I ensure that every last drop is taken. It is moments like these that I remember that family is important, food is central and our idiosyncrasies make us special. To the waiters we may be crazy, to us this is how it is meant to be done.”