Nostalgic, thoughtful out the window and back to being pissed off...

This is what made it past the cutting room floor...I get it and yes, sometimes I need an editor...

So Pick put this tracker thing to show how many people check this blog out. Kinda jazzy. Which brings me to my next point. If you know me at all. I'm talking 20 years ago, last week, whatever; most of the time I'm pissed off about one thing or another. Even when I'm gitty like a school girl, no care in the world; you can bring me back down in no time with I don't know, "so...what sucks?" By the way, I discovered ; today. As in (;). I was reading something written by someone that remembers grammar and it looked cool and I think I know how to use it so I'm gonna throw it in a bunch just cause I can. My English teaching degree having dad and brother probably think I'm an idiot and by God; they're on to something.

Anyways, for real, things piss me off. Pick thinks it's funny to get me going. Today I am pissed off about expensive togo plastic cateringware. Let me elaborate. We did an off site function tonight. Jacksonville magazine Top 25 restaurant party. Sounds fancy. It isn't. There are maybe 25 decent, non chain restaurants in JAX most of whom if not all; advertise with JAX magazine. See where I'm going with this? Well, whatever, that's fine and all, good exposure, and the like but this is my point. Fancy cocktail party, fancy people, the who's who of a town that I didn't know had who's, 25 restaurants trying to showcase what makes them stand out from the rest and mostly what I saw was a lot of laying up. Taking the easy stroke to save par.....what a poor excuse for a human being; I am using a golfing reference; great to make movies about, horrible to imagine any real person enjoying. I should be dragged outside and... spare ol' yeller; put me down 1st for sucking so badly.

Really; my wife, my beauty, my love, someone who has spent the last 6 years putting up with me and has developed a truly hard, sinister persona for food critique (something I have many blogs to write about); said it first. There were many restaurants that I do respect with safe, cold, or from a chaffer; scoop and serve dishes with really, really, really, nice plastic spoons and bowls. Hot diggedy dog; nothing sells me like some fancy, made to look like silver mini spoon, made by some poor third world kid pocketing 15 cents a day. Good effort though poor third world kid, sorry to bring you into this mess. It's just that I feel the food should count for something.

I am no saint. I am no Bayless or Batali or T.K. I'm not the gum on their shoe; but I just want it to taste good. We've done....lots of these events. Let's say you got an oven that makes 5 pizzas at once. You got a car that holds 50 pizzas. You need 2000 people to sample your pizza 30 miles from your restaurant and oven. It's a challenge and that's an easy example of what I'm talking about. But I've never sacrificed what I thought we should put out so it can be in a fancy package. Brennan...just hush up. What you did and saw last October don't count. That was rubbish. You just go back to sleep...

At the restaurant we do lots of lamb. Lots. So I decided to do lamb sliders. 500 people, whatever. lamb shoulder/pork tenderloin blend, pickled cucumber/red onion, roma tomato, tzatziki. Simple. Me and my wife. Once again god bless her for putting up with me and these things I get her into. 1 18" by 12" electric grill, 1 chaffer, and 576 mini rolls that did not want to cut with the serrated knife I had brought. Sorry about your finger Becca...

But we cooked them there. 1 ounce scoop, 12 quarts of ground lamb; but it was fun. Mini lamb burgers in a random paper bowl w/ a bev. nap. Other chefs/cooks mingled, sampled. Becca and I got out butts worked.

Again, I'm not saying that we're better blah, blah, blah...but we had aroma, we had a little show going on, and....we had a line. That's all. Take it for what it's worth. Sometimes it's good to play it safe. I'm not a consumer; well, I'm not who we cook for. Maybe they like the bells and whistles. Maybe I'm totally wrong.
I know this. The little engine that could. That's what I call us at big events.

When you cook, do whatever feels right. If someone comes back for seconds or thirds...just for an instant, you're never wrong.

Thanks again Becca, you astound me with your elegance under heavy fire.