Judging the Smokin’ the Ute Pass Summit BBQ contest Aug. 18 at Paradox Beer Co. in Divide was a morning of feasting on smoky goodness.

Yours truly had the honor of judging the event, which was its seventh year and benefits Community Partnership Family Center in Woodland Park.

There were 11 teams of amateur backyard barbecue enthusiasts vying for bragging rights. We judged samples from the following categories: chicken, pork butt, brisket, dessert, tag-along side dishes, barbecue sauces and open-class meats, which could be anything the smoking teams wanted to attempt to enter. And there was a Spirit Award and a People’s Choice Award.

Hands down, the most unique entry in the open-class meats was the Colorado Cupcake by the Broad Acre BBQ team.

Chad Douglas, one of the team members described the creation of the “meat” cupcake:

“I laid down the bacon in the bottom of the muffin pan and added a seasoned, ground pork meatball with fresh mozzarella cheese in the middle,” he said. “I flipped it over to have the ends of the bacon in the bottom of the pan and put it in the smoker. While the meat was smoking, I made a simple cream cheese-based frosting and put it in the fridge. Once the meat was done, I scooped the frosting onto the top of the ‘meat cupcake’ and took a bite. It was amazing, and as I shared it with my family, they all had the same ‘OMG’ reaction.’”

As the saying goes, “Everything tastes better with bacon.” And it’s hard to beat the sweet taste of frosting with salty bacon. Add the hint of smoke, and you have a winner.

Drumroll please! Here are all the winning teams:

• Grand Champion: Smoke’em if you Got’em, which was a tally of scores from judges for best brisket, pork butt and chicken.

• Chicken: The Peak Antler Co.

• Pork Butt: Pork Around and Find Out.

• Brisket: JAZ BBQ.

• Dessert: JAZ BBQ.

• Tag Along (side dishes): Smoke’em if you Got’em for Bacon Chili Shrimp.

• BBQ Sauce: Smoke’em if you Got’em

• Open Class Meat: Broad Acre BBQ — Colorado Cupcakes.

• Spirit Award: Broad Acre BBQ.

• People’s Choice: The Peak Antler Co.

Asphalt dining

The Urban Arts Party takes place on Sept. 7 at 5 p.m. in AdAmAn Alley, between Tejon Street and Nevada Avenue (next to Colorado Craft and Chipotle). Proceeds from the event benefit the programming of Downtown Ventures.

For $175, you get a collaborative six-course dinner paired  with wine, prepared by many of downtown’s leading chefs including Colorado Craft Tejon Street Social, Ephemera, Golden Hour, Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub and Restaurant and Red Gravy. The meal is served at a long table in the alley. After dinner, dance to the projected animation and mural work of George Berlin and El Mac. Tickets at downtowncs.com/event/revel/.