Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Life is good
Wow, where to start. Well, I guess I'll go back a few weeks to Harvest Days. What an experience, I learned a ton and had a pretty good time in the process. I'm new to this food game, so I look at each event as an opportunity to learn something that will make me better in the future. Harvest Days was 2 months of school packed into 3 days. It started on Thursday with the packing. What a zoo, I've packed for single day events, but 3 days is a different animal. I wanted to be in Battle Ground by 7 o'clock and hopefully begin cooking by no later then 9. Yeah right, we finally rolled in about 9, but the staff at Harvest Days was struggling to find a place that would fit me and keep the fire marshal happy. After about an hour of deliberation, I agreed not to use any propane and they placed me smack dab in the middle of the food court/concert venue. I thought this was great, but I would find out later that it would have one MAJOR drawback.
Now the unpacking started, which was a boatload of fun, I have to thank my wonderful wife Kim for working so hard and getting me incredibly organized. I don't know what I'd do without her. By the time I got the bbq and everything squared away, it was 12:30 and the meat wasn't on yet. Not good. I fired the 'Q up and introduced the pork butts and briskets to their new home. Now it was the bbq's turn to give me fits. I couldn't stabilize the heat where I wanted it, so I had a decision to make: high heat faster cooking or low heat more smoke. I chose the safe route with low heat. Sleep was calling my name, as it was 2 am, so I hit the rack and got up just after 6 to check on everything. Things were not looking good, the temp had dropped to far and the meat wasn't really cooking. Wow, not where I wanted to be with 4 hours until I needed to be ready to serve to the masses who would certainly be swarming us.
I worked the temps, up and down, up and down, trying to get some kind of sale-worthy product, the meat just wasn't having it. This was my first big lesson. People are not ready to run to the food booths at the local fair at 10 am on Friday to eat. Heck, at this particular fair, they weren't ready for my bbq until 4:45. This caused me to learn lesson 2, overstaffing your booth costs you money, especially when you aren't selling anything. I sold 3 bottles of water and 1 bag of chips until 4:45, not something I saw coming. Luckily, after it cooled down, people started to get hungry and we salvaged an alright night. I could see that my sales projections were a bit lofty though.
I got a little bit of sleep Friday night, actually about 5 hours I think and was right back ready to go about 7:30 Saturday morning. We had a decent day Saturday, although there was a major lull in the mid afternoon when it got a little warm. Saturday, some of the guys came out to visit, including my old boss Kris and my father-in-law Ron. It was nice to have them around to break things up and they all enjoyed the concerts. Oh yes, the concerts. I was about 50 yards from the stage where they had a performances throughout the day. Lets just say that by the end of the 3 days, I was ready for a little silence.
Sunday was actually a better then expected day, I slept in till somewhere around 7, made my stops at the store and ha everything pretty well in order by the time Curt got there. We had a nice little day, with a steady stream of customers. 4:30 came around and it was time to pack it all up and call it a weekend. By the time I got everything home, dealt with a trailer hitch issue and got things unpacked it was 9:30. I was absolutely beat.
Overall we did alright for the event, but because of my lofty expectations, I ordered to many supplies and had to much staff on hand which severely cut into the cash flow. Those are the biggest things I took from this, inventory control and payroll.
Monday morning I got up and started returning everything I had rented so that I could get on the road to the beach. The family was already down there, they left Saturday morning. I finally arrived shortly after 2 and was ready for a couple of days relaxing, including a trip on the ocean to do some fishing on Tuesday.
Greg and I wanted to be up by 4 and on the road no later then 4:20 Tuesday morning, but I was so excited that I woke up at 3 and never went back to sleep. We had a great time on the boat, I caught probably 10-12 fish, 5 keepers and lost a few right next to the boat. I may have caught the most on the boat, but a lady standing right next to Greg caught 2 big kings, they weighed 24 and 26 pounds dressed out (no guts). It was a great day on the ocean, until we turned for home, at which point I got sicker then a dog. Oh man, I looked terrible Greg said, a fact he reminded me of many times.
I did the concert at Crown Park on Wednesday, which was once again a great learning experience. I had a few hurdles to jump through, but all in all we had an okay event. I just did burgers, dogs and for some reason I decided to have chicken legs. Bad idea, they took to long to cook and I just didn't need them. I've got to stop over thinking these things and always remember KISS (keep it simple, stupid). The best thing to come from this event was the fact that I was able to pack in 20 minutes, set up in about 20 minutes and then break down in about 20 minutes. Getting these processes streamlined is vital, because of the amount of headache it saves me
I got right back up Thursday morning to head back to the beach, where I was able to really just chill out and enjoy everything and everyone.
Saturday morning I headed out early to go to Corvallis for my Uncle Bob's 80th birthday party. I had a great time there, it was really nice to see my Dad's side of the family. I hadn't seen them in a couple of years and would really like to get closer with them. Even though the trip was long, I absolutely love driving through the Willamette Valley. It's so picturesque, like a postcard the entire way.
Now it's back to the grind, tomorrow we'll be at the concert again, then this weekend we're at the Beaverton Relay For Life. Have fun!
Now the unpacking started, which was a boatload of fun, I have to thank my wonderful wife Kim for working so hard and getting me incredibly organized. I don't know what I'd do without her. By the time I got the bbq and everything squared away, it was 12:30 and the meat wasn't on yet. Not good. I fired the 'Q up and introduced the pork butts and briskets to their new home. Now it was the bbq's turn to give me fits. I couldn't stabilize the heat where I wanted it, so I had a decision to make: high heat faster cooking or low heat more smoke. I chose the safe route with low heat. Sleep was calling my name, as it was 2 am, so I hit the rack and got up just after 6 to check on everything. Things were not looking good, the temp had dropped to far and the meat wasn't really cooking. Wow, not where I wanted to be with 4 hours until I needed to be ready to serve to the masses who would certainly be swarming us.
I worked the temps, up and down, up and down, trying to get some kind of sale-worthy product, the meat just wasn't having it. This was my first big lesson. People are not ready to run to the food booths at the local fair at 10 am on Friday to eat. Heck, at this particular fair, they weren't ready for my bbq until 4:45. This caused me to learn lesson 2, overstaffing your booth costs you money, especially when you aren't selling anything. I sold 3 bottles of water and 1 bag of chips until 4:45, not something I saw coming. Luckily, after it cooled down, people started to get hungry and we salvaged an alright night. I could see that my sales projections were a bit lofty though.
I got a little bit of sleep Friday night, actually about 5 hours I think and was right back ready to go about 7:30 Saturday morning. We had a decent day Saturday, although there was a major lull in the mid afternoon when it got a little warm. Saturday, some of the guys came out to visit, including my old boss Kris and my father-in-law Ron. It was nice to have them around to break things up and they all enjoyed the concerts. Oh yes, the concerts. I was about 50 yards from the stage where they had a performances throughout the day. Lets just say that by the end of the 3 days, I was ready for a little silence.
Sunday was actually a better then expected day, I slept in till somewhere around 7, made my stops at the store and ha everything pretty well in order by the time Curt got there. We had a nice little day, with a steady stream of customers. 4:30 came around and it was time to pack it all up and call it a weekend. By the time I got everything home, dealt with a trailer hitch issue and got things unpacked it was 9:30. I was absolutely beat.
Overall we did alright for the event, but because of my lofty expectations, I ordered to many supplies and had to much staff on hand which severely cut into the cash flow. Those are the biggest things I took from this, inventory control and payroll.
Monday morning I got up and started returning everything I had rented so that I could get on the road to the beach. The family was already down there, they left Saturday morning. I finally arrived shortly after 2 and was ready for a couple of days relaxing, including a trip on the ocean to do some fishing on Tuesday.
Greg and I wanted to be up by 4 and on the road no later then 4:20 Tuesday morning, but I was so excited that I woke up at 3 and never went back to sleep. We had a great time on the boat, I caught probably 10-12 fish, 5 keepers and lost a few right next to the boat. I may have caught the most on the boat, but a lady standing right next to Greg caught 2 big kings, they weighed 24 and 26 pounds dressed out (no guts). It was a great day on the ocean, until we turned for home, at which point I got sicker then a dog. Oh man, I looked terrible Greg said, a fact he reminded me of many times.
I did the concert at Crown Park on Wednesday, which was once again a great learning experience. I had a few hurdles to jump through, but all in all we had an okay event. I just did burgers, dogs and for some reason I decided to have chicken legs. Bad idea, they took to long to cook and I just didn't need them. I've got to stop over thinking these things and always remember KISS (keep it simple, stupid). The best thing to come from this event was the fact that I was able to pack in 20 minutes, set up in about 20 minutes and then break down in about 20 minutes. Getting these processes streamlined is vital, because of the amount of headache it saves me
I got right back up Thursday morning to head back to the beach, where I was able to really just chill out and enjoy everything and everyone.
Saturday morning I headed out early to go to Corvallis for my Uncle Bob's 80th birthday party. I had a great time there, it was really nice to see my Dad's side of the family. I hadn't seen them in a couple of years and would really like to get closer with them. Even though the trip was long, I absolutely love driving through the Willamette Valley. It's so picturesque, like a postcard the entire way.
Now it's back to the grind, tomorrow we'll be at the concert again, then this weekend we're at the Beaverton Relay For Life. Have fun!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Living The Dream
Well, where do I start? Things have been unbelievably busy for me as of late. Last weekend I competed in the Oregon BBQ Championship at the Tigard Balloon Festival. What a kick in the pants. We had to be down there by 10 am on Saturday, so of course I got there early at 9:55. It was kind of like your first day at a new school, most everyone was already there, they all know each other, and they're looking right at you like "who is this guy". Right off the bat, I backed up traffic as I had to unhook the BBQ to park it. I got the BBQ parked, and parked the Ex so that the guys who were coming in could get to their spots. I looked around at the other teams who already had their spots all set up, a lot of guys came in on Friday, and figured out I'm going to look pretty ragtag. These guys have bottles of sauce and rubs all set up in a pyramid, huge banners complete with logos, multiple canopies, stereos, trailers and tables galore. I've got one 6' table and two wobbly card tables, one borrowed canopy, and a decent, but small, banner (thanks to Colombia Litho). I reminded myself that these guys and gals have been doing this for awhile, and if I do well, someday I can have a sweet set up like them.
From there on out, things went pretty smoothly, save for a little issue with the generator. People came up and introduced themselves and many offered all kinds of tips and tricks. Kim and the boys hung out and helped me until about 4 or 5 and then I was on my own. It was actually pretty easy from there on out because I had already put on my heavy meats (pork shoulder and brisket). My chicken was in it's marinade and the ribs didn't need any tending until the morning so my main job was making sure the generator didn't run out of gas. The rest of the evening I mingled with the other participants, listened to the radio and checked out the carnival. I felt kind of weird walking around the carnival by myself, so that was a very short trip. As the evening progressed, I realized that it was getting quite cool and because I didn't remember a coat, i was in turn going to be cold. To make matters even better, the rain we had earlier in the day had soaked my bag which contained the extra clothes I did remember to bring, so I couldn't put an extra shirt on. I managed to shiver my way through the evening until it was time to call it a night at 2. I had to stay up so that I could make sure the generator didn't run out of gas, which in turn would cause the BBQ to quit running. That would be very bad. So I hop in the back of the Expedition where I've got a nice air mattress all blown up and a very warm and inviting sleeping bag laid out. I maneuver around and finally get myself into the sleeping bag of warmth I had been looking forward to, only to find it's my son Brandon's. This means it's not 31 year old large man size, it's 10 year old skinny kid size, BIG difference. I hunker down as much as possible and try to get some sleep. At 4, I wake up and need to use the restroom, so I head over there and open the door to feel a joyous thing. Heat. I actually stay in the bathroom a few extra minutes to defrost. I've never been happier to be in a public restroom at 4 am.
After the eventful and cold evening, I woke up about 6 to the beautiful hum of the little power plant that could. The BBQ was chugging smoke and I was ready for competition day. I went to check on the meat, and found any BBQ'ers worst nightmare. My pork was like a basketball, hard and firm. I was not a happy camper, but I had to pull it together if I had any chance of winning as I was only 5 hours from pork turn in. I played with the temperature over the next few hours to try and get the meat somewhat ready and about an hour before turn in, I noticed one of the shoulders was actually looking good. By that time, Kim and the boys came over and had gotten the lettuce needed for the all important turn-in box. I pulled the shoulder off that was ready and let it rest for awhile before it was time to pull it and turn it in. I was so happy when it pulled clean and was as tender as can be, it was such a relief.
Next up was brisket. It was terrible, absolutely terrible. I wrapped up the brisket in aluminum foil to let it soak in the baste I made for it. I removed it from the BBQ only to find a hole had ripped in the bottom and all of the juice ran out. The meat I turned in, which was part of the "flat", was dry and in my opinion, inedible. The "point" part of the brisket was absolutely wonderful, with juices running like the Salmon of Capistrano. I gave away the entire brisket to the "taste hounds" that were walking around in about 10 minutes. I knew I was going to get destroyed by the judges, but I definitely learned something.
My ribs were alright, but I messed up and used spare instead of baby backs. Big screw up, I hadn't cooked spareribs in probably two years, and it showed. The ribs didn't pull off the bone like they should, but the flavor was still good. I'll do much better next time I think, as I know baby backs are where I need to be.
The chicken was another learning experience for me. I used bone in thighs, which is what most everyone else uses also, but where I screwed up was using frozen thighs instead of fresh. I also found out that I need to "de-feather" the thighs, something I'd never heard of. Low and behold, not every feather is completely removed from the chicken and this is something the judges are sticklers about. I was very happy with the flavor of the meat, but I need to clean up the appearance in order to really be able to win anything.
After all of the turn in mayhem, it was over, just like that. It was kind of like after you open up all of the Christmas presents, you've been building up to this moment for so long that you don't know what to do when it's passed. Well, I remembered quickly that it was now time to clean everything up and get ready for the awards.
We walked over to the area where all of the awards presentation would be, and I thought the only division I've got any chance is pork. The give awards and money to the top 8 places, but with 26 competitors, I didn't know if I had any chance. Well, evidently I did, as I received 5th place in pork and I was only 2 points away from second place. I was very happy with the finish, and making the walk up to the presenter to get my ribbon made all of the work the past day and half worth it. It was a hell of a feeling, and something I want to do again.
I didn't fare so well in the other categories, but I know that with what I learned and the comments I received from the judges, I'll be in a much better position to place in the future. I can't wait to do it again. I've also got to mention my Aunt Sara for sponsoring us in the event, THANK YOU SO MUCH!
From here, we go to events. We've got a nice schedule coming together that will possibly kick off this weekend at the William Clark Park Fourth of July Celebration in Washougal, followed by Harvest Days in Battle Ground, Beaverton Relay For Life, the Concert In The Park series in Camas and some other events that are still up in the air.
Life is going great, the other ventures I'm involved with are swimming along and the family is happy and healthy. I couldn't ask for anything more.
From there on out, things went pretty smoothly, save for a little issue with the generator. People came up and introduced themselves and many offered all kinds of tips and tricks. Kim and the boys hung out and helped me until about 4 or 5 and then I was on my own. It was actually pretty easy from there on out because I had already put on my heavy meats (pork shoulder and brisket). My chicken was in it's marinade and the ribs didn't need any tending until the morning so my main job was making sure the generator didn't run out of gas. The rest of the evening I mingled with the other participants, listened to the radio and checked out the carnival. I felt kind of weird walking around the carnival by myself, so that was a very short trip. As the evening progressed, I realized that it was getting quite cool and because I didn't remember a coat, i was in turn going to be cold. To make matters even better, the rain we had earlier in the day had soaked my bag which contained the extra clothes I did remember to bring, so I couldn't put an extra shirt on. I managed to shiver my way through the evening until it was time to call it a night at 2. I had to stay up so that I could make sure the generator didn't run out of gas, which in turn would cause the BBQ to quit running. That would be very bad. So I hop in the back of the Expedition where I've got a nice air mattress all blown up and a very warm and inviting sleeping bag laid out. I maneuver around and finally get myself into the sleeping bag of warmth I had been looking forward to, only to find it's my son Brandon's. This means it's not 31 year old large man size, it's 10 year old skinny kid size, BIG difference. I hunker down as much as possible and try to get some sleep. At 4, I wake up and need to use the restroom, so I head over there and open the door to feel a joyous thing. Heat. I actually stay in the bathroom a few extra minutes to defrost. I've never been happier to be in a public restroom at 4 am.
After the eventful and cold evening, I woke up about 6 to the beautiful hum of the little power plant that could. The BBQ was chugging smoke and I was ready for competition day. I went to check on the meat, and found any BBQ'ers worst nightmare. My pork was like a basketball, hard and firm. I was not a happy camper, but I had to pull it together if I had any chance of winning as I was only 5 hours from pork turn in. I played with the temperature over the next few hours to try and get the meat somewhat ready and about an hour before turn in, I noticed one of the shoulders was actually looking good. By that time, Kim and the boys came over and had gotten the lettuce needed for the all important turn-in box. I pulled the shoulder off that was ready and let it rest for awhile before it was time to pull it and turn it in. I was so happy when it pulled clean and was as tender as can be, it was such a relief.
Next up was brisket. It was terrible, absolutely terrible. I wrapped up the brisket in aluminum foil to let it soak in the baste I made for it. I removed it from the BBQ only to find a hole had ripped in the bottom and all of the juice ran out. The meat I turned in, which was part of the "flat", was dry and in my opinion, inedible. The "point" part of the brisket was absolutely wonderful, with juices running like the Salmon of Capistrano. I gave away the entire brisket to the "taste hounds" that were walking around in about 10 minutes. I knew I was going to get destroyed by the judges, but I definitely learned something.
My ribs were alright, but I messed up and used spare instead of baby backs. Big screw up, I hadn't cooked spareribs in probably two years, and it showed. The ribs didn't pull off the bone like they should, but the flavor was still good. I'll do much better next time I think, as I know baby backs are where I need to be.
The chicken was another learning experience for me. I used bone in thighs, which is what most everyone else uses also, but where I screwed up was using frozen thighs instead of fresh. I also found out that I need to "de-feather" the thighs, something I'd never heard of. Low and behold, not every feather is completely removed from the chicken and this is something the judges are sticklers about. I was very happy with the flavor of the meat, but I need to clean up the appearance in order to really be able to win anything.
After all of the turn in mayhem, it was over, just like that. It was kind of like after you open up all of the Christmas presents, you've been building up to this moment for so long that you don't know what to do when it's passed. Well, I remembered quickly that it was now time to clean everything up and get ready for the awards.
We walked over to the area where all of the awards presentation would be, and I thought the only division I've got any chance is pork. The give awards and money to the top 8 places, but with 26 competitors, I didn't know if I had any chance. Well, evidently I did, as I received 5th place in pork and I was only 2 points away from second place. I was very happy with the finish, and making the walk up to the presenter to get my ribbon made all of the work the past day and half worth it. It was a hell of a feeling, and something I want to do again.
I didn't fare so well in the other categories, but I know that with what I learned and the comments I received from the judges, I'll be in a much better position to place in the future. I can't wait to do it again. I've also got to mention my Aunt Sara for sponsoring us in the event, THANK YOU SO MUCH!
From here, we go to events. We've got a nice schedule coming together that will possibly kick off this weekend at the William Clark Park Fourth of July Celebration in Washougal, followed by Harvest Days in Battle Ground, Beaverton Relay For Life, the Concert In The Park series in Camas and some other events that are still up in the air.
Life is going great, the other ventures I'm involved with are swimming along and the family is happy and healthy. I couldn't ask for anything more.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Busy Busy Busy
Well, I haven't posted a long form blog in awhile, sorry about that. I've been doing some updates via Posterous, which you should really check out if you haven't yet.
Life has been going gangbusters lately. About a week and a half ago, I was asked to be a food vendor for the Relay For Life event in Camas by our close friend Jen Caine. I accepted and set forth on my journey to feed hundreds of people. I've never feed hundreds of people at once, I've fed ten's of people at once, but not hundreds. Big difference. I wanted to use the event to support the Relay, but also to gauge the interest people would have in my food and if it is something that may be viable in the future as a source of income. I love to cook, as you may be able to tell, and this was just so much fun for me to plan, prepare and execute. I think we pulled it off pretty well, but I know if I didn't have the help of Kim, Tim and Curt I would have been dead in the water. They were the stars of the show, they were dialed in and had a system set within 20 minutes of opening to make sure we were running as smoothly as possible. The only slight hiccup we had was when the health inspector showed up at 10:30, but we passed our inspection with flying colors and no violations, which made all of us extremly happy. After that, we were off and running, and running, and running until 12:30 in the morning.
We had a great reception from all of the patrons, in fact, many said that we needed to raise our prices. I will be taking that into consideration from this point on. We also got many contacts for possible future events, which is what I was really hoping for. I really did have a good time doing this event, and I learned SO much invaluable information. In my opinion this really was a blessing for me, it gave me the opportunity to put forth my product, see if it was any good and to give me that kick in the rear to take the chance on it.
From here I just try to find more events. I've already been sending emails to Battle Ground, Camas, and Washougal MX to see if I can get into their events as a food vendor. I don't think there are that many traveling BBQ joints, except for Lou in Camas, so hopefully they'll want me. There are many other events I'll be looking into, with the overall goal of being a vendor at the Clark County Fair. It won't happen this year, but hopefully next year. I've got a lot to learn before I can take on the 260,000 people at the fair.
On the internet side of things, Tough Guy is trucking along, but we just started another project a couple of weeks ago that will take up the majority of our time in the near future. Tough Guy is built out, and running on it's own, so that is what allows us to look at new and more interesting concepts and projects. Even though we're not computer programmers, we still have ideas that in my opinion will translate wonderfully to the online world, and we just have to continue to overcome the challenge of not being hackers. A year ago, we couldn't build a website in a month, now with all we've learned with TG, we could probably knock out a fairly simple one in a matter of days, if not hours. Like Vanilla Ice said, "If there is a problem, yo, I'll solve it." Who knew he could be so inspiring! So keep an eye out for FierceFeed, it will be here, and you will love it.
Have fun, and I'll post up some recipes in the next few days. Remember to let me know if they're great or crap!
Stay Positive
Life has been going gangbusters lately. About a week and a half ago, I was asked to be a food vendor for the Relay For Life event in Camas by our close friend Jen Caine. I accepted and set forth on my journey to feed hundreds of people. I've never feed hundreds of people at once, I've fed ten's of people at once, but not hundreds. Big difference. I wanted to use the event to support the Relay, but also to gauge the interest people would have in my food and if it is something that may be viable in the future as a source of income. I love to cook, as you may be able to tell, and this was just so much fun for me to plan, prepare and execute. I think we pulled it off pretty well, but I know if I didn't have the help of Kim, Tim and Curt I would have been dead in the water. They were the stars of the show, they were dialed in and had a system set within 20 minutes of opening to make sure we were running as smoothly as possible. The only slight hiccup we had was when the health inspector showed up at 10:30, but we passed our inspection with flying colors and no violations, which made all of us extremly happy. After that, we were off and running, and running, and running until 12:30 in the morning.
We had a great reception from all of the patrons, in fact, many said that we needed to raise our prices. I will be taking that into consideration from this point on. We also got many contacts for possible future events, which is what I was really hoping for. I really did have a good time doing this event, and I learned SO much invaluable information. In my opinion this really was a blessing for me, it gave me the opportunity to put forth my product, see if it was any good and to give me that kick in the rear to take the chance on it.
From here I just try to find more events. I've already been sending emails to Battle Ground, Camas, and Washougal MX to see if I can get into their events as a food vendor. I don't think there are that many traveling BBQ joints, except for Lou in Camas, so hopefully they'll want me. There are many other events I'll be looking into, with the overall goal of being a vendor at the Clark County Fair. It won't happen this year, but hopefully next year. I've got a lot to learn before I can take on the 260,000 people at the fair.
On the internet side of things, Tough Guy is trucking along, but we just started another project a couple of weeks ago that will take up the majority of our time in the near future. Tough Guy is built out, and running on it's own, so that is what allows us to look at new and more interesting concepts and projects. Even though we're not computer programmers, we still have ideas that in my opinion will translate wonderfully to the online world, and we just have to continue to overcome the challenge of not being hackers. A year ago, we couldn't build a website in a month, now with all we've learned with TG, we could probably knock out a fairly simple one in a matter of days, if not hours. Like Vanilla Ice said, "If there is a problem, yo, I'll solve it." Who knew he could be so inspiring! So keep an eye out for FierceFeed, it will be here, and you will love it.
Have fun, and I'll post up some recipes in the next few days. Remember to let me know if they're great or crap!
Stay Positive
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Sun Sun Sun
I am so excited for the nice weather this weekend, we haven't decided what we're going to do, but none the less, I'm stoked. It's just so nice to get outside and enjoy the air and have some fun. We've been having a lot of fun the last few days with Guitar Hero World Tour, which my folks got Brandon for his birthday(Thanks again!). It's been a blast, although yesterday morning the boys started at 6:15 am, and that's just a little to early to hear Eye of The Tiger over and over. I have to admit that I like the game quite a bit, Kim and I were rocking out last night, with me on the guitar and her on the drums. Those drums are tough, but once you get the hang of it, I'm sure it get's easier. I'm going to get a 3rd remote for us this weekend, that way I'll be able to bring in the vocals. For some reason, I'm a big fan of the singing. Ever since my Humpty Dance rendition at Tim's wedding a few years ago, I've loved rocking the mic. Although the audience in my living room is considerably smaller than the 150 or so guests at the wedding, it's still kind of a rush.
On the business side of things, we're cruising along. We're trying to get things worked through for our line of shirts, but sometimes being creative and original at the same time can be tough. The line "great minds think alike" is so very very true. You can come up with an idea, think it's the best thing since sliced bread and there is no way somebody else could have come up with that. Then you do some research only to find out that 17 other people came up with it before you did. Sometimes it is disheartening, but what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger. If you come up with enough good ideas, one of them is bound to stick. Things are looking up for us though, some of those ideas I spoke about in previous posts look like they may be winners, one in particular. We'll continue to grind on everything and do our best, because we know that we'll be successful at whatever we put our minds to. If we don't think that, then what the hell is the point of trying?
If you are looking to possibly go into business for yourself, here are some very good sites that you may want to check out before you start your journey. Believe me, it's a journey. SBA, Entrepreneur.com, if you're looking to get into online business, this is a good one at about.com.
I hope everyone has a great weekend, get out there and fire up the bbq, spend time with your family and be thankful.
Stay Positive
On the business side of things, we're cruising along. We're trying to get things worked through for our line of shirts, but sometimes being creative and original at the same time can be tough. The line "great minds think alike" is so very very true. You can come up with an idea, think it's the best thing since sliced bread and there is no way somebody else could have come up with that. Then you do some research only to find out that 17 other people came up with it before you did. Sometimes it is disheartening, but what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger. If you come up with enough good ideas, one of them is bound to stick. Things are looking up for us though, some of those ideas I spoke about in previous posts look like they may be winners, one in particular. We'll continue to grind on everything and do our best, because we know that we'll be successful at whatever we put our minds to. If we don't think that, then what the hell is the point of trying?
If you are looking to possibly go into business for yourself, here are some very good sites that you may want to check out before you start your journey. Believe me, it's a journey. SBA, Entrepreneur.com, if you're looking to get into online business, this is a good one at about.com.
I hope everyone has a great weekend, get out there and fire up the bbq, spend time with your family and be thankful.
Stay Positive
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Thursday's Recipe-24 Hour Brined Chicken
This recipe is another one that is easy, but it takes some waiting around to see the results. My recommendation is to prepare this the night before you're going to eat, while you are cooking that evenings' meal. That way, it cuts down on the mess you'll make.
Ingredients:
1 whole 5-7 lb fryer
1 qt apple juice
1 qt water
1/3 cup + a little extra BigSpill's Basic Rub (recipe to follow)
2 t liquid smoke
Combine the apple juice, water, 1/3 cup of Rub, liquid smoke and chicken in a non-reactive bowl and allow to brine for at least 24 hours. 1/2 hour before you're ready to cook, remove the chicken from the brine and let it sit on a plate, followed by sprinkling a little extra rub all over the bird.
Now you have a decision to make. You have to decide how you would like to cook the bird. When I do it, I like to split the chicken in two and bbq on a charcoal grill for about 45 minutes. You can also cook it "beer can" style, using the brine in the can instead of the beer. Another route would be roast it whole in the oven at 375 for 1.5-2 hours. Or, just throw it on the hood of a 67 Chevy.
However you decide to cook the bird, check for your final temp of 170 degrees by piercing the meaty part of the thigh with your meat thermometer. Whatever you do, DO NOT CHECK THE TEMP BY POKING THE BREAST! Sorry, I know my capital letters are loud, but I just don't want all of the juices to roll out.
BigSpill's Basic Rub
1.5 T Salt
2 T Garlic Powder
1/2 t onion powder
1 T Black Pepper
1/4 t celery salt
I hope you enjoy this, and as always, let me know what you think.
Stay Positive
Ingredients:
1 whole 5-7 lb fryer
1 qt apple juice
1 qt water
1/3 cup + a little extra BigSpill's Basic Rub (recipe to follow)
2 t liquid smoke
Combine the apple juice, water, 1/3 cup of Rub, liquid smoke and chicken in a non-reactive bowl and allow to brine for at least 24 hours. 1/2 hour before you're ready to cook, remove the chicken from the brine and let it sit on a plate, followed by sprinkling a little extra rub all over the bird.
Now you have a decision to make. You have to decide how you would like to cook the bird. When I do it, I like to split the chicken in two and bbq on a charcoal grill for about 45 minutes. You can also cook it "beer can" style, using the brine in the can instead of the beer. Another route would be roast it whole in the oven at 375 for 1.5-2 hours. Or, just throw it on the hood of a 67 Chevy.
However you decide to cook the bird, check for your final temp of 170 degrees by piercing the meaty part of the thigh with your meat thermometer. Whatever you do, DO NOT CHECK THE TEMP BY POKING THE BREAST! Sorry, I know my capital letters are loud, but I just don't want all of the juices to roll out.
BigSpill's Basic Rub
1.5 T Salt
2 T Garlic Powder
1/2 t onion powder
1 T Black Pepper
1/4 t celery salt
I hope you enjoy this, and as always, let me know what you think.
Stay Positive
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Tuesday's Recipe-Bacon Topped Chicken
Since I decided to try this whole 2 recipes per week deal, way back last week, it seems like all of the recipes I have in my head have evacuated. Of course, being a man, I don't write most of them down, because you just never know who may bust into my house looking for them! Like that will ever happen although no one on earth knows the bbq sauce recipe but me. To me, and so far only me, it's like the Colonel's 11 herbs and spices or the Coke formula.
So, today I give you one of my tried and try concoctions, it's not hard to do, and you don't have to do it on a bbq, although I really recommend it. If you've got a smoker, give the breasts a good hour smoke.
Bacon Topped Chicken
Ingredients:
Boneless chicken breast-1 per person
Bacon-2 slices per person
BBQ Sauce of your choice-preferably BigSpill's BBQ Sauce
Sliced Cheddar Cheese
BigSpill's Basic Rub-recipe to follow
Sprinkle your chicken liberally with BigSpills Basic Rub on all sides then start cooking your chicken breasts, on the bbq, on the stove, over the fire, however you want to cook. Then, cook your bacon. Once the chicken is just about done, NOT OVERDONE, slather it with bbq sauce on both sides, top with 2 strips of bacon and then sliced cheddar. Make sure you can cover it, so that the cheese has a chance to melt. Remove from heat and serve.
BigSpill's Basic Rub
1.5 T Salt
2 T Garlic Powder
1/2 t onion powder
1 T Black Pepper
1/4 t celery salt
This is not a hard recipe, and it has many many different variations, some of which you probably see here down the road. Pair it with a baked potato, and you're dialed in for a great dinner.
Please let me know what you think of this recipe, or what you think in general in the comments section. Have a great day!
Stay Positive
So, today I give you one of my tried and try concoctions, it's not hard to do, and you don't have to do it on a bbq, although I really recommend it. If you've got a smoker, give the breasts a good hour smoke.
Bacon Topped Chicken
Ingredients:
Boneless chicken breast-1 per person
Bacon-2 slices per person
BBQ Sauce of your choice-preferably BigSpill's BBQ Sauce
Sliced Cheddar Cheese
BigSpill's Basic Rub-recipe to follow
Sprinkle your chicken liberally with BigSpills Basic Rub on all sides then start cooking your chicken breasts, on the bbq, on the stove, over the fire, however you want to cook. Then, cook your bacon. Once the chicken is just about done, NOT OVERDONE, slather it with bbq sauce on both sides, top with 2 strips of bacon and then sliced cheddar. Make sure you can cover it, so that the cheese has a chance to melt. Remove from heat and serve.
BigSpill's Basic Rub
1.5 T Salt
2 T Garlic Powder
1/2 t onion powder
1 T Black Pepper
1/4 t celery salt
This is not a hard recipe, and it has many many different variations, some of which you probably see here down the road. Pair it with a baked potato, and you're dialed in for a great dinner.
Please let me know what you think of this recipe, or what you think in general in the comments section. Have a great day!
Stay Positive
Monday, May 11, 2009
Onward and Upward
Wow, what a great weekend. We started it off with a really nice dinner on Friday night over at Mimi's house (For those of you that don't know her, Mimi is my Grandmother). It was really nice to spend time with the family. Ever since I was a little kid, being together with the whole family has been one of my favorite things to do, and it remains that way today.
On Saturday, Kim had my nose to the grindstone working out in the yard. We got the garden planted, trees trimmed, lawn mowed, dog washed and a bunch of other things done as well. Working in the yard may not be my favorite thing, but I always enjoy seeing the fruits of my/our labor.
Yesterday was, of course, all about the Mom's. We had a great brunch with Mom at Smitty's, I have to recommend the Super Omelet sans gravy. We then we came home to get ready to go to Kim's folks. We had a nice time up there, especially when I got into the AirSoft gun war with Brandon and Luke. Lots of fun.
I think I'm going to start posting recipes to my blog twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursdays. It's going to be for fun, and to hopefully give people an idea for good things to eat. They won't just be about bbq, I'll have things you can cook in the kitchen too. I'm going to try and keep them all original, but on occasion I may have to pass one on that is somebody else's, but just to good to pass up. I'll of course give them credit.
Now we're onto this week. As I posted on my Facebook status, I think this is going to be a good one. We're seeing orders pick up at Tough Guy, which is always a good thing, although our traffic was down a little bit this weekend. I never like to see that, but just like anything, it ebbs and flows. I'm actually glad that this swine flu thing is over so I don't have to deal with backorders anymore. We're in the process of adding a bunch of new products that were recommended to us (Thanks Jeff!) and hopefully this week we'll make some real headway on the shirt/logo production. Summer is coming up and we need have the T-Shirts ready for all those construction guys.
We continue to come up with new and interesting ideas, along with ideas from outside sources, to try and find something else we can build on. We know that there is a place for us to do something significant, we just kind of need to pick where we want to go. I think that the bbq line of products is probably going to be the most cost effective endeavor to begin with, so we'll continue to focus on that, but we've got to many good ideas to put them all out to pasture. We've been looking long and hard at financing solutions, but haven't pulled the trigger on anything. With the bbq line (bbq sauce, hawaiian marinade, and rub, to begin), we're really looking at soliciting investors. It would be a pretty low entry point for the investor, and I think there is a really big opportunity. We don't want to focus on the individual consumer, but instead on restaurants, bars, anything that will require a constant need for the product. Consumers may only go through 1-3 bottles of bbq per year, but if we can get into eating establishments, they will use a lot more. Just my thoughts, I could be completely wrong. I could be wrong about everything I've said about business in this blog, but it's me leading me, so I've got to keep on trying until I know for certain I'm right or wrong.
I'm also still looking for a solid job. I really would like to get on with Vancouver Clinic, mainly because of the benefits and I know they treat their employees well. God will take care of me, he always does.
Stay Positive.
On Saturday, Kim had my nose to the grindstone working out in the yard. We got the garden planted, trees trimmed, lawn mowed, dog washed and a bunch of other things done as well. Working in the yard may not be my favorite thing, but I always enjoy seeing the fruits of my/our labor.
Yesterday was, of course, all about the Mom's. We had a great brunch with Mom at Smitty's, I have to recommend the Super Omelet sans gravy. We then we came home to get ready to go to Kim's folks. We had a nice time up there, especially when I got into the AirSoft gun war with Brandon and Luke. Lots of fun.
I think I'm going to start posting recipes to my blog twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursdays. It's going to be for fun, and to hopefully give people an idea for good things to eat. They won't just be about bbq, I'll have things you can cook in the kitchen too. I'm going to try and keep them all original, but on occasion I may have to pass one on that is somebody else's, but just to good to pass up. I'll of course give them credit.
Now we're onto this week. As I posted on my Facebook status, I think this is going to be a good one. We're seeing orders pick up at Tough Guy, which is always a good thing, although our traffic was down a little bit this weekend. I never like to see that, but just like anything, it ebbs and flows. I'm actually glad that this swine flu thing is over so I don't have to deal with backorders anymore. We're in the process of adding a bunch of new products that were recommended to us (Thanks Jeff!) and hopefully this week we'll make some real headway on the shirt/logo production. Summer is coming up and we need have the T-Shirts ready for all those construction guys.
We continue to come up with new and interesting ideas, along with ideas from outside sources, to try and find something else we can build on. We know that there is a place for us to do something significant, we just kind of need to pick where we want to go. I think that the bbq line of products is probably going to be the most cost effective endeavor to begin with, so we'll continue to focus on that, but we've got to many good ideas to put them all out to pasture. We've been looking long and hard at financing solutions, but haven't pulled the trigger on anything. With the bbq line (bbq sauce, hawaiian marinade, and rub, to begin), we're really looking at soliciting investors. It would be a pretty low entry point for the investor, and I think there is a really big opportunity. We don't want to focus on the individual consumer, but instead on restaurants, bars, anything that will require a constant need for the product. Consumers may only go through 1-3 bottles of bbq per year, but if we can get into eating establishments, they will use a lot more. Just my thoughts, I could be completely wrong. I could be wrong about everything I've said about business in this blog, but it's me leading me, so I've got to keep on trying until I know for certain I'm right or wrong.
I'm also still looking for a solid job. I really would like to get on with Vancouver Clinic, mainly because of the benefits and I know they treat their employees well. God will take care of me, he always does.
Stay Positive.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The Good and the Bad
Well, today is one of those good and bad days. First, the bad. I found out that my suppliers are 49,000 units backed up on a respirator that I just sold a bunch of. That's really not good for Tough Guy, we need those, but we'll just have to wait, I guess. This swine flu is a complete joke, it's just like the normal flu, it affects the young and old. If you're in between that, you're just going to get sick. We'll get through it though, we always do.
Now, the good news. Kimberly had her yearly review today and got rave reviews! They told her she is the "backbone" of the department, and whenever there is a problem, people know to go to her. I'm so proud of her, she really is special.
I'm off to try and solve some problems, have fun and stay positive!
Will
Now, the good news. Kimberly had her yearly review today and got rave reviews! They told her she is the "backbone" of the department, and whenever there is a problem, people know to go to her. I'm so proud of her, she really is special.
I'm off to try and solve some problems, have fun and stay positive!
Will
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Weekend
This weekend flew by, just like the rest of them do. Friday night Kim and I just grabbed some dinner and relaxed at home so that we'd be ready for the big shopping adventure on Saturday. We got everything we needed for the birthday party taken care of and then Thad and Trish came over. On Sunday, we went to church and then came home and immediately started preparing for the party. I made a new batch of rub, got 3 racks of ribs on the Traeger, made a new batch of bbq sauce, mowed the lawn and then prepared the chicken so it would be ready to go on the grill. We were expecting everyone at 2, and Kim and I finished all of our stuff at 2 on the dot. We had a great time with all of the family, ate to much and just relaxed.
On the business side, things went well with the change to the new look. My Mom gave us some good ideas for things to change so that it would look better. If anyone knows what looks good on the net, it's Mom. Now that we've got the majority of the remodel done, we really need to focus on our branding, from logo, to shirts to marketing. A lot of the marketing can be done for free, but we need everything to look streamline. We'll get it done, our graphic designer is just waiting on us to get her our ideas, and then she'll be off to the races.
It looks like the swine flu pandemic is causing some issues with suppliers and their customers. Seems that people like to hoard these masks, so one would think the supplier would provide more product. That is not the case, they want to discourage people from this hoarding, so they release just a bit more then what is normal. That makes it hard for people like us to have products for our customers. We'll make it, this swine flu is a joke anyway, it's just the damn flu.
We tossed around the idea last week of submitting my idea to Techcrunch50, but I don't think it's going to happen. Frankly, I think I'm pretty overmatched by these guys. I don't have a degree in computer science and don't know how to code, so I'd have to find a programmer that I know and trust to work for free. That is not an easy task, as I don't know any full fledged programmers. Who knows, we'll see what happens, I've actually got another idea that I think may be even better. That's me, full of ideas, but I just need to figure out how to bring them to fruition.
Stay positive.
Will
On the business side, things went well with the change to the new look. My Mom gave us some good ideas for things to change so that it would look better. If anyone knows what looks good on the net, it's Mom. Now that we've got the majority of the remodel done, we really need to focus on our branding, from logo, to shirts to marketing. A lot of the marketing can be done for free, but we need everything to look streamline. We'll get it done, our graphic designer is just waiting on us to get her our ideas, and then she'll be off to the races.
It looks like the swine flu pandemic is causing some issues with suppliers and their customers. Seems that people like to hoard these masks, so one would think the supplier would provide more product. That is not the case, they want to discourage people from this hoarding, so they release just a bit more then what is normal. That makes it hard for people like us to have products for our customers. We'll make it, this swine flu is a joke anyway, it's just the damn flu.
We tossed around the idea last week of submitting my idea to Techcrunch50, but I don't think it's going to happen. Frankly, I think I'm pretty overmatched by these guys. I don't have a degree in computer science and don't know how to code, so I'd have to find a programmer that I know and trust to work for free. That is not an easy task, as I don't know any full fledged programmers. Who knows, we'll see what happens, I've actually got another idea that I think may be even better. That's me, full of ideas, but I just need to figure out how to bring them to fruition.
Stay positive.
Will
Friday, May 1, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
My New Blog!
Go check it out at: BigSpill's World. I know, just what everyone needs, more of my bs. But hey, it's all for the greater good!
TechCrunch50
Tonight we've been looking over the video's from the 2008 TechCrunch50 conference. Man we learned a lot. It's amazing to me how much you can learn by just sitting back and listening to a panel of incredibly smart people. The key word there is "listen", these guys know what it takes to be successful in business and life, and they're telling the world, for free. And, believe it or not, what they're saying is not rocket science. Basically, if you work hard, have a good idea and are a good person with good motives, you're probably going to get somewhere in life and in business. If you're interested in starting an internet company of any sort, I highly recommend you check this out. Here is the link: www.techcrunch50.com. Even if you're not interested in the internet scene, they've got great info on entrepreneur.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tough Guy Supply
I forgot to tell all of you about my website, the place you need to go for all of your safety product needs, along with many other items! Check it out at www.toughguysupply.com
My first real blog
Well this is my first real blog ever, so I'm going to keep it short and sweet. Hello everyone, and welcome to BigSpill's World!
Will
Will
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