How many 14- year -old’s do you know that have a recipe for barbecue sauce? Here’s an easier one. How many 14 -year- old’s do you know that can cook…at all?

Chase Bruckner, a freshman in high school, might be an all around living and breathing Super Girl. This tiny little lady is not only an awesome cook, but a multiple award winning gymnast and a pretty cool kid in general.

After sampling a little dab of her sauce on a spoon I was immediately intrigued. The sauce was different than any other barbecue sauce I’d ever encountered and there were hints of garlic and a nice ending of heat. What really made it stand out was the subtlety of sweetness. Later I found out that not only does she make her own sauce, it has 22 lock and key ingredients. She calls her very special blend, Chase It #5, “I call it that because the 5^th batch was the best batch,” Chase said with a shy grin. She began the process at age 12 (can you believe that!) and after a wee bit of trial and error, she had that whole barbecue sauce thing down.

I began to imagine the possibilities of the sauce on ribs. Then it happened, I got an invitation to eat with Chase AKA Super Girl and her family.

During our evening together she prepared the following items of deliciousness: grilled pork ribs, heavenly ranch style mashed potatoes and asparagus drizzled in her signature balsamic glaze. Note, those asparagus were some of the best asparagus I have ever eaten. In fact I wanted to keep eating them until there were no more to be eaten, but, sadly, my manners would not allow for such behavior.

Following a full belly, a wonderful dinner and falling in love with their precious pups (especially the very delightful Hoss, a white and black Great Dane) Chase, her parents and I really began to chat.

Chase explained that a few years ago she entered her special blend into a barbecue competition where a pal of her father’s purchased a gallon of it. She scored big time getting 7^th place out of 36 and beating the top 3 sauces overall that won. “This is how much I like it, I have 2 bottles in my secret stash,” her dad Tom said. Tom pretty much refuses to try anyone else’s sauce, unless his daughter encourages him. “It’s not that I’m biased, if she makes something that doesn’t taste great, I will tell her, but I love her sauce,” Tom continued. Chase snickered, “He puts it on everything.”

“People will ask, ‘Is the sauce ketchup base or mustard base?’Yes,” her mother said while smiling. “It doesn’t follow the normal pattern, either you’re this or you’re that,” she continued. Chase doesn’t have too far to reach when it comes to her marvelous abilities in the kitchen. For several years her mother, Michelle, ran a successful catering business. “I never measure anything, my mom never measures anything, I just kind of take that from her,” she said. Somewhere between gymnastics and school, Chase observed her mother, watched Food Network and acquired the skill that came natural to her. “When I make things I just make what I like, I make what I think tastes good and go with that,” Chase said.

While Chase is interested in marketing her sauce she’s got other things to think about like possibly getting back into gymnastics, joining the marines upon graduation and high school.

Maybe one day she will go to culinary school and even start her own barbecue restaurant in Texas. And in this place we may all be so lucky to partake in the sauce. But for now Chase It #5 is only available to a few close friends and family. For the rest of us the chase continues. TxMb