Two Cowboys: Smoking Meat, Cold Beer and BBQ is a Lifestyle at Trappers Mountain Grill in Waterton, Alberta

A BBQ Lifestyle

I once asked a competitor at a Canadian BBQ Society sanctioned competition how long he's been grilling and smoking meat. He surprised us with his answer. Two years, he said. Truth be told, my question was meant as a joke! We didn't know there was another way to cook meat. We've been doing it for all our lives.

DO YOU YOU WANT YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED?

BBQ, smoking and grilling meat is a lifestyle for the Two Cowboys. Five out of seven days, at the close of the day, we are outside doing our thing with steak, chicken, pork and whatever we can find to cook on the grill or in the smoker (including vegetables like pumpkin, asparagus, potatoes etc.).

We've done it in rain and sunshine, in blazing summer heat and when it is -30 C in Canada. To us, it is a sacred, primal, right of passage as a reward for being at the top of the food chain. We cherish the opportunity. The rite that plays itself out alongside our grill, fire or smoker is as old as humanity itself. It is who we are. We love every moment of it and are always looking forward to it. In the same way, we are always on the scout for fellow comrades with a similar passion and commitment to the lifestyle.

We meet many during our travels and we love telling their stories. This is how we've come to know Steve and Debbie West from Trappers Mountain Grill in Waterton, Alberta. Steve shares our love for BBQ and cold beer. He is also an innovator and a passionate entrepreneur that makes Waterton his home for six months of the year when he is not fishing in Florida. Steve likes to do something unique that allows him to share his passion for good food, BBQ, Gin and Beer.

Observations

This is how Trappers Mountain Grill is launching something new in Waterton this season. Steve calls it his Backyard BBQ. The plan is, once the rush of the summer days subsides and the lines for food and ice cream are over, to do a delicious smoked meat sandwich. It will be available at the back-door of his restaurant on main street Waterton Avenue.

It promises to be an excellent sandwich that will go down well with your own crispy cold beer (sorry folks, you have to bring your own beer). For Steve and his team, it is another way of sharing their passion for cooking meat in one of the worlds most picturesque locales. He is doing it with his new US$35,000 smoker!

Apparently, he's been practicing all winter to get the recipe locked down, and it is finally ready for the "big time". In his own words, "It is a mean piece of equipment with the single purpose of delivering the best-smoked fair available in Waterton town" - authentic Southern-Style BBQ.

Steve's venture promises to deliver a hearty meal and great fellowship when most food establishments in the town close down for the evening. It is the way it should be done, simply and deliciously with good friends. The Two Cowboys were there to give it a try. Enjoy our experience with us.

Hendrik van Wyk

Trappers Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. Please book us here so we can tell your story too. If you want to see us do more of these, then please forward the favour. We will use it for the next episode promoting a local business or event.

Photos

With Friends

Backyard BBQ

Southern Pride

Chevy!

See You There!

Traveling Cowboys: Hot Sauce and Dirty Poutine on the Alberta Prairie with Motoburrito, Turner Valley, Alberta

Travel is a Drug

Travelling is not a vacation. For a start, you don't always know where you are going and what you will be doing, seeing, who you will be meeting and how you will be experiencing. The unpredictability of travel turns it into a must-have drug for some, and a terrifying prospect for others.

We are self-confessed travel-junkies. We continuously hear the siren call of the open road. A week in a place is sometimes too long. We don't know where we will be next week or next month. All we know is that we won't be here anymore. We've sold our soul to unpredictability, opened our hearts to adventure and we are ready to be surprised by the fantastic people we will meet and the places we will explore on our journey.

DO YOU YOU WANT YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED?

We don't like the world traveller, even if it is part of our name - the Traveling Cowboys. The word wanderer has more appeal.

The urban dictionary defines wanderer as someone that travels aimlessly. In contrast to wandering, some people are in a place for life, or at least for a predictable time. They are comfortable with intimately knowing their surroundings and familiar with everyone around them. Every day, month and season have predictability and a routine for them. They have goals like graduating, getting married, having children, building a house and ultimately retiring wealthy with lots of grandchildren.

The Wanderer is out place. I will contend that his or her travel is anything but aimless. Instead, it is a journey of wonder. Far from leaving or moving away from the familiar, the wonderer is drawn by the adventure of the unfamiliar. Some prefer a particular style of surprise, through the window of an RV, with a backpack, continent-hopping or Couchsurfing. Everyone has their favourite destinations. Alaska, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, bush or city. However, all travellers have one thing in universal - absolute awe for the grandeur of the world around them!

Wanderers cannot get enough. The world is too big to explore in one lifetime. The more you do it, the more addicted you get to doing it.

On one's journey, you inevitably make friends with fellow travellers. We've made friends with Claudette and her team at Motoburrito in Turner Valley, Alberta, Canada. When Spring breaks on the prairie, they return like swallows from their travels, for a short three months, to serve the most delicious Mexican food from their food trailer. It is their way of financing their next journey and a surefire way to lure us back each year to catch-up, hear about the last trip, and find out what the plans are for the next.

Observations

Claudette introduced us to her homemade hot sauce. She finally revealed the secret to why a Dirty Poutine and a Taco at Motoburrito taste so much better than from any other attempt we've sampled. The secret is in the sauce. It is absolutely delicious. Kids have to be warned. This one is for adults only. It has a kick to it that will make you wish for ice cream in the morning.

Claudette's hot sauce is like the travel drug. Once you've tasted it, you want more. Once you have more, you are hooked and scheduled for an annual pilgrimage back to Turner Valley. We usually cannot wait for our next taco and poutine at Motoburrito and is always on the lookout for an excuse to do the next one. Apparently, they also do a Dirty Sanchez Burrito. I will let Claudette tell you more about that one...

Hendrik van Wyk

Wondering Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. Please book us here so we can tell your story too. If you want to see us do more of these, then please forward the favour. We will use it for the next episode promoting a local business or event.

Photos

Muchos Soldados! 

Biker Stampede

That Hot Sauce!

Taco Ladies!

Tacos

Poutinos

Cheesy

More Cheesy!

Two Cowboys: A Tiny Saloon and Watering Hole in the Wall, Where the Buffalo Roam in Canmore, Alberta

Big Thirsty

(Learn: * Inspire: ** Amaze: *** Live: *****)
(The Two Cowboys - Subjective Rate-o-Meter.)

"Descartes walked into a bar, and the barman said to him: 'Are you thirsty?' Descartes replied: 'I don't think I am'. He then disappeared."

If you were given a chance to design and build your perfect bar, what will it look like? Here are a few simple guidelines to help you set it apart.

See the Complete Video and More on Patreon: Click Here

"For as little as $1/month you will get the inside track on content like this and follow the travels of the Two Cowboys & A Camera. Join here."

It should be a place with the best there is to drink. Fresh beer, great wine, wicked spirits and amazing one-of-kind cocktails. It should be made with the very best locally produced ingredients, served by the most talented mixologists.

Secondly, the food should be outstanding. Prepared by talented chefs sophisticated enough to entice you with unfamiliar ingredients and exotic tastes, yet hearty enough to be familiar. It should draw from the best Alberta has to offer in beef and pork, and not shy away from the bounty of the rest of Canada.

Thirdly, the atmosphere should be cosy. Not cramped. The music should complement the drumming of laughter of people having fun. The decor natural and the seating comfortable. It should have ample counselling chairs at the bar for easy access to bartender instruction and wisdom. There should be tight-squeeze booths for new lovers and a spot in the sun for lazy late summer afternoons.

Lastly, the perfect bar should be filled with familiar faces. Friends. The people with whom you want to be.

This is exactly what Oona Davis and her business partner Shelley managed to create with the place they named "Where the Buffalo Roam", (also known as Canmore's Saloon). A place where they are comfortable. The kind of place they wanted, but couldn't find anywhere else in Canmore, Alberta.

Observations

For almost 4,000 years buffalo grazed on the Bow Valley's rich pasture and drank from the water of the Bow River. In 2015 the doors of a tiny little Saloon opened on Main Street, Canmore. It took its queue and borrowed its name from these gracious animals. Today it serves up pretty much the same concept. It takes care of the hungry and the thirsty. It is their place to meet, drink, date, socialise or to just to get away after a long working day.

We were welcomed with open arms when we filmed Oona and her team before Christmas 2016.

What appeared at first glance as a tiny, unassuming watering hole surprised us with a variety to drink that shows a real commitment to featuring local brewers, distillers and nearby wine producers. The food is inspirational. We recommend the slow braised beef rib with Christmas colour garnishing (see photo below). However, nothing comes close to the creativity that goes into the cocktails. A cocktail is something we usually pass over because of cost. At this Saloon, it is the feature attraction. Make it count.

I am told it is just the way it is done "Where the Buffalo Roam".

Hendrik van Wyk
Buffalo Cowboy

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers: Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys and our Producers when you subscribe to our email list.

We are a content company. We earn our livelihood from producing great content about inspiring people and their stories. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. It allows us to have a closer relationship with our collaborators and grow our audience. If you Sponsor us on Patreon: http://www.travelingcowboys.com or Donate to our cause on GoFundMe: http://www.forwardthefavour.com we can do a lot more for you, your business, event or community.

Photos

Three Deadly Sins

Christmas Rib

Apothecary

Brave Soldiers

Local Crowd

Two Cowboys: Mi Lugar Favorito Para Margaritas en Canmore, Alberta

My Two Girlfriends

(Learn: * Inspire: *** Amaze: * Live: *****)
(The Two Cowboys Subjective Rate-o-Meter.   )

Here's the confession. If you don't know already, I have two girlfriends.

Caipirinha and Margarita are both breathtakingly beautiful. They make my world a better, happier place. You need to be careful to pick a favourite. If you do, don't let them know about each other. If I have to pick one, it will be Margarita (Please don't tell Caipirinha).

See This Video on Patreon: Click Here

"For as little as $1/month you will get the inside track on content like this and follow the travels of the Two Cowboys & A Camera. Join here."

If I cannot meet her her at her place we often meet halfway at our favourite alternative spot in Canmore, Alberta. A small restaurant operated by Mexico City natives. A place she calls her home away from home. For me, it is my home with good friends, good food, and good Margarita. It is
Aroma Mexican Restaurant, an authentic Mexican establishment in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, that is owned and operated by Jose Castillo. A little bit of Mexico in the snow. Margarita and my happy place.

Jose and his maître d', Rafael transports us weekly to lapping shores on the Caribean sea, filled with flavours and aromas from his homeland. Mole verde, salsa verde. Pick any verde, for your little bit of Mexico in the mountains. Above all, remember to meet Margarita. She will take your breath away.

Impressions

Canada is a land of many peoples. Immigrants from all over the world make it their new home. The Castillo family from Mexico journeyed via Montreal to finally settle in Canmore. They operate their very own authentic restaurant on Main Street. They are now Canadian. With them came their traditions of authentic Mexican cooking and a wicked understanding of the perfect Margarita.

Canmorians gained a little bit of Mexico without having to make the pilgrimage south. We can have our weekly dose of the good times in measured and responsible quantities, right here at home in Canada.

How do I know it is authentic?

Ask for Jose, the owner, operator and head chef. You will see a head peak out from a hole in the wall with a view to the kitchen at the back. This is where Jose will be busy stirring his mole on the stove, which is Mamacita's recipe from way, way back when. The restaurant is authentic because, the owner, which is Mexican, cooks his favourite home-made dishes for his favourite customers, himself.

Aroma is often filled to capacity. Yet, you will always find one table marked "reserved". That is the table that is kept for the surprise arrival of special guests. Friends of Jose and Rafael. Loyal and long-standing customers.

Let us just say, we've never been turned away.

"Jose, thank you for introducing me to Margarita. Thank you for bringing Mexico to us in the mountains. Thank you for always treating my family, my guests and I with the very best in food, hospitality and friendship."

P.S. Thank you for sharing your favourite Mezcal with me.

Hendrik van Wyk
Mexican Cowboy

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers: Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys and our Producers when you subscribe to our email list.

We are a content company. We earn our livelihood from producing great content about inspiring people and their stories. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. It allows us to have a closer relationship with our collaborators and grow our audience. If you Sponsor us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/twocowboys or Donate to our cause on GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/twocowboys we can do a lot more for you, your business, event or community.

Photos

¡Salud!

Happy Place

Mexico

The Market

Teamwork

Andale

Mole Verde