There are lots of time when I'm reminded why Carla is so wonderful.  But there's nothing like eating out of a serving bowl of steaming stroganoff , guzzling two $80 wines from the bottle I smuggeled out of Nantucket in my duffel bag, and playing video games in our underwear to show me just how great she truly is.

Pig's feet, dry-cured pig sausage, and pig's blood boudin noir: now that's what I call a pot full of piggies!

         I made it back from Spain on Sunday night!  It was a great trip, although I think I learned more from the touring and the other people than I did from the actual expo.  The convention, Salical, was put on by Spanish trade comission, who brought in merchants from across the world, with large contingents from England, Brazil, the U.S., ( Read more... )

Things are going well.  I'll probably get cable and internet in my apartment in the next month, which will make it easier to stay in touch.  I've been working a good deal, trying to write a script for every product igourmet sells.  We want to have a 15 - 60 second video clip for each product to show off serving suggestions, texture, or some other ( Read more... )

Work at igourmet.com is going well.  The hours are long, running 11-12 hours a day, but I’ve learned a lot about food and the business.  And after work we’ve had some great tastings, where we try to pair our products to certain brands of wine (St. Francis Vineyards has a business arrangement with us), sake, or spirits.  The biggest problem has been ( Read more... )

I'm taking the job at iGourmet.com.  It's for a position as a customer service supervisor, which entails ordering from our distributors, working with external shippers who handle the "perishable" food categories, the fun (and infrequent) trips to work a booth at food/wine conventions, and the not fun (and frequent) job of handling customer ( Read more... )

Tonight I heard one of the worst covers in my life, to-date.  This bar was blasting a pop-punk cover of the Dead Boys' "Sonic Reducer."  They totally cut the balls off the song and left a withered ghost of a tune that was unable to stand on its own legs.  There's not enough Stroh in the world to make me forget that shithouse of a cover.

My post-college education continues. My mother gave me a book showing me how to dispatch and skin eels for terrine and galantine dishes. The photos are other-worldly. It also gives intricate photo instructions on how to de-spine swine.

French cooking is 50% art and 1,000,000% mad scientist kitchen-rampage.

Carla had the most wonderful idea this morning ( Read more... )

Strange things have been happening in warmer weather. It’s been over a year and a half since I had shingles. On hot, humid days, I feel like the scars on my back become statically charged. Apparently they can tingle and buzz for years. They’re oddly sensitive, where the nerves became inflamed and bubbled up into sores. It is almost as if I ( Read more... )