Originally posted on http://www.sfgate.com Woody Sims, owner Woody Sims Barbecue, works near his grill at an Operation BBQ Relief site on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017 in Napa. Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Richard and Kathy Horwath only had time to take each other when they fled the fires Oct. 12, 2017 in Calistoga, Calif. The Horwath’s bought the property 30 years ago, but they only finished building their new home in 2010. Richard Horwath got up to go to bed when first smelled smoke in…
When Erik Wood started planning a birthday party for his wife, Emily, he wasn’t trying to pick a theme that would help his 50 guests break the ice; they were friends who already knew one another, he said. But the Woods got a conversation starter anyway. Under a crisp white tent on a recent Saturday afternoon in his Ocean Township backyard, a 110-pound pig — freshly roasted and fragrant, with golden-brown skin — lay sprawled in a nest of purple cabbage, fresh coconut halves and…