Sweet. Baby. RAYS!

You know how there are some condiments that you try them once and you're like, "This is it. I never need think about what to buy again, because I am ONLY buying THIS condiment."

Well, folks, I had that epiphany when I was a senior in college, and my ex-roommate, Dara (who is now the JAPpiest lesbian EVER and one of my favorite people, even though I never see her) introduced me to: Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce.

I believe I first sampled it while drunkenly shoveling Tyson's fried chicken strips into my mouth one night after a long night at The State (Awww. The State. How I miss The State... the first guy I ever slept with was a bartender at The State. Fond. Memories...)

(Do you like that? How I disappear forever and then come back and be all TMI? Yeah. I'm classy like that.)

I'm sorry, but I'm getting SUPER far off the point. The point of this story is, one night I was drunk and eating chicken strips, and I have never given Barbecue Sauce much thought, because I think before I was introduced to Sweet Baby Ray's, we just used to buy Bulls Eye Barbecue Sauce because they sent it to our house once as a sample in the mail and that's how we rolled: Send us a free sample, and we'll buy it forever!

Until that magical night when I squirted this strange new taste sensation on my plate.

And the world stopped.

And then we all flew off because gravity stopped.

And then the world started again, and we all fell back to Earth, and car alarms went off EVERYWHERE!

It was one of those moments when I was like, "Where has this BEEN all my life?!"

And the fact of the matter is, it had been in the Chicagoland area all my life. (If we're considering Madison, WI to be Chicagoland. Which, I think we safely can, because otherwise it would be Milwaukeeville, and Milwaukee is still in the Chicagoland area...)

Thank goodness, around that time, Sweet Baby Ray's started getting distributed around the rest of America (at least where I was in America) and I was able to buy the stuff.

Which is both sweet and tangy and spicy and rich and just... it's the pinnacle of barbecue sauce.

I would not change a THING.

It is exactly what barbecue sauce is supposed to taste like.

And that, is why I am a fan of Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce, and have even considered pouring it over vanilla ice cream. Gross, right? I'll bet it'd be FANTASTIC.

Or tossed with strawberries?

And as a glaze on a meatloaf? NOTHING BEATS IT.

So.

There you have it.

Sweet Baby Ray's. The Sauce is the Boss.