Honeymoon in India. Ch. III – Udaipur, Rajasthan, lake of rooftop royalty

It was hard to leave Hampi after so short a stay.  Our alarm clock that morning at 6am was a symphony of drums coming from the temple, as practitioners lit small rafts of offerings on fire and floated them down the river in an exquisite morning ritual.  From Hampi we headed back to Goa before taking a quick flight to Udaipur in desert region of Rajasthan.  In keeping with our tradition of travel difficulties on the trip, our train ticket was never purchased by our host’s friend, whom thought he could get us a deal.  Poor Shailesh had to drive out and get us and then bring us back to Goa, but the trip over the rural countryside was well worth the time.                                                                                  Udaipur is a shining old world city, which sits on the shores of a lake built by a Sultan of the 1300’s.  It was our first taste of an Indian city, with the constant motion and tight urban quarters.  Still, we found folks to be friendly for the most part, and the architecture and lake views where quite wonderful.  The place reminded me of an   M.C. Escher painting, with something new and intriguing around every turn.

Shailesh, drove six hours through the night just to drive us six hours back, and he never so much as grumbled about it. Not me

Indian roads are amazing. There are few highways, so all traffic of every kind uses rural two lane roads. Not to mention the fact that every few miles there is a speed bump. Everything has to get where it is going whatever the cost, so no limits to loads, as long as your vehicle can take it

This fellow was riding a stack of ten foot bamboo poles on his bike, and taking a full lane to do so

The most important thing to move is people. With few having their own transportation, you see every vehicle packed with bodies. I’m sure it’s safe, I just hope no one sneezes

An interesting phenomena of the agrarian landscape which we passed is the tractors, each one decorated like it was homecoming parade in Iowa. Trucks are decorated with all manner of glam, and if you spend so much time in your truck, and are lucky enough to have one, I suppose you might as well

Big trucks where less prevalent than American roads. Check out the hand painted warning signs on this one. At a mountainous point of the trip several trucks cold be seen crashed off on the side of the road, as it is common for them to loose control in heavy fogs or to failed brakes

Motorbikes are the family transport

Now and then you pass a procession of people, off to some great event. They look so humdrum in the picture, but they had a decided dance in their step. This picture is just a lovely snapshot of life in those communities

A fixture of the Indian roadway is the omnipresent cow.

Back in Goa we wanted to get a cellphone to use on the trip. Part of getting a plan is you need a photo for the application so they directed me next door to where a man has a studio for passport photos. I took one of him taking me. It cost me $1 for 5 copies and it cost me $10 for two in NY.

A perfume stand on the street in Udaipur

My belly wasn’t its hardy self when we got to Udaipur, so I got some tomato soup for supper. It was good, but still garlicy and spicy. I suppose their mothers never made them a can of Camble’s when they where sick, but I still thought it was good. Did the trick anyhow

All the living goes on at rooftop in Udaipur, to take advantage of the cool breezes from the lake

The next morning was lovely, and I was up early to answer emails from the states and catch some cool breezes before the sun got high

You could see the large stufa of a temple that sat someplace in the neighborhoods behind our place. Later we found our way there with the help of a guild we sequestered for the day

The temple was buzzing with folks beginning worship for the upcoming holiday of Holi, and a delightful din of singing, bells, and drums where emanating from the inner sanctum. It wasn’t priests or practitioners but local people who just come at odd times during the day to spend on hour or so singing vedas.

The temples was carved from foot to sky, and our guild told us about some of them. They tell stories, the equivalent of pulling every page from the bible and pasting them to the outside of a church

Elephants bring luck, so many hands have rubbed and adorned these figures

On another side was a fountain of sorts which dripped water which had run down the temple walls from the top, and was big magic to dab on your forehead. I already had bowel issues so what the heck

You always see the most poor and vulnerable at the temples. It’s not even homeless in the American sense, that would fail to capture it

The ones Westerners would consider bums are the wandering gurus, who devote themselves to poverty, god, and life as a hobo. In reality we have nothing like this in America, and such a complete devotion to god is more admirable than a crappy job at Starbucks

We then went to the palace of the royals of Udaipur, which looked to me like Pankot Palace from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

You couldn’t take picture inside, but it was nice. A cavernous maze of hallways to confuse enemies, with many courtyards and fountains. These gardens where outside

The courtyard in front was where the Sultan staged elephant fights, and he kept tigers, which where caught in these cages

A short ways from our hotel was a big public park, with fountains, flowers, and a small zoo. The dangerous animals where all on tour they said, but these guys where cute

Not even in the zoo, the most amazing animals where these giant fruit bats. They’re like vampire chiwawas.

We where looking in the gardens for something called ” the Singing Fountain”, which it seems was pulled out at some point. We did find a picture gallery dedicated to some unknown guru, which depicted his life and times. There was no English to describe anything, or a sole around to ask, so we just made up our own captions for each square. My favorite is of him threatening a bear with a stick. It was all pretty hilarious

A group young fellas wanted a picture with us, as is the Indian way. Maybe they where on a scavenger hunt and needed a picture with some white folks? They look like a Hindi band. Good kids

The gardens where in stark contrast to the shanties (I hate call people’s homes slums) on the far hill. All of Indian and in Udaipur there is the height of opulence at the palace at one end of town, and the antithesis at the other end

All around on the streets you find these guys selling sugarcane juice. Your order one and they fire up a loud diesel engine and proceed to run whole spars of sugarcane through a menacing looking grinder, perilously close to fingers. The sweet juice gets a shot of lime in it and is exquisite. No taste really like it, and with a nice sugar high

We saw a sign for a hotel with a rooftop pool down a street level and investigated. Turns out you could pay a few bucks and swim all you wanted. We spent the afternoon cooling off from the beating sun

You could see the top of the temple real well from the rooftop, and I noticed a baby carved on the side. A naked baby climbing the side of the temple set in stone for eternity. I asked some folks about it but no one knew the significance. They say that the artists have freedom of expression in carving, so maybe it’s the artists child.?Maybe

poolside pigeon friends

After failing countless selfies we tried an old fashioned

Everything you buy in India is a compromise. Meredith pawed through dozens of curtains to find some for your kitchen, and was dickering down price all along. She has the gift, where as I get flustered. I don’t buy much but food anyhow

The one thing I wanted was a real Rajasthani push dagger, a gnarly weapon of wars past. They’ve been selling fancy ones in shops ever since the British found them handsome souvenires. Ones like this are found out in farmers fields, and where possibly dropped in battle. I carried it bundled in my bag for the next month

In the streets of Udaipur it’s hard to imagine much has changed in a millennium. Donkeys loaded with building material head to a job site in town, most likely the way every building there was constructed

The poorest workers take care of their children on the job site, and they play with rocks, hauling them around like Mom does

This bull was as big as the street, and I can’t believe the are so docile they can just walk around in peace. A lesson for us all

Little stands sell snacks all over. About $1 or less will get you some samosas

These samosas with a spicy mango sauce where to die for. I wish he lived down the street from me, but I doubt the same business model would hold up

We love a trip through the back alleys to see what’s going on for regular Joes, like these amazing stairs to somebodies house

A door open to a courtyard full of cows. Why not?

Cooling off in the lake. There are no pleasure boats for fishing or sailing aloud on the lake, and that is something Americans couldn’t abide. Even I would have a hard time looking at it all day and not playing in it

We had lunch in a little, classy, courtyard restaurant on the lake. I loved their fountain

Another common thing is the floating of flower petals in a basin. Why isn’t that in our lives more?

Tandoori fish. Pretty nice for a fresh water fish.

The local museum of culture put on a show of traditional dance every night. Although I skip on the touristy stuff, this is different than the steel drum band on the cruise ship. This woman kept stacking pots on her head while then walking on broken glass and stuff.

This dance was indescribable, and depicts a hero of old fighting a green faced, umbrella headed demon that rides a tiger. Life without CGI one would suppose

In one room of the museum a family of puppet makers for the royal court kept hundreds of stringed puppets.

It was a fantastically creepy place

Miniature paintings are a specialty of the Rajasthan region, and everyone has a best ever, or best price. This guy gets hands on with the clients and painted a little peacock on Meredith’s thumb

There it is. So we bought a painting. Nice pitch buddy

Honeymoon in India, Ch. II – Hampi, the Jungle Book

From Goa our next stop was Hampi, an ancient grouping of temples about 8 plus hours into the interior.  We took a sleeper bus there and awoke in an amazing place, where nature, animal, and religious beauty all swirled together in a harmony that I have never experience elsewhere.  We only had one day, but it was an amazing one.  I could have been the heat, exhaustion, or beginnings of the gastro intestinal disorder that would plague us the rest of the trip, but I have never experience a place that pulsates with such magic.

Around 10pm we where whisked away in the night on a sleeper bus. Like the cars of an old train, there where curtained berths for folks to sleep

We had our own berth, with just enough room to be comfortable

The trip was bumpy, and the Indian practice of honking the horn every few seconds to alert those around you are driving seems to work contrary to propper sleeping conditions. Every few miles there was speed bump, so the trip is a constant acceleration and braking. The drivers could be heard up front, telling stories and listening to music in Hindi. Not the most restful trip, but a memorable one.

We arrived in the predawn hours, and found what we thought was our hotel. No one was around, so we caught some sleep on loungers in the courtyard area, as the sun slowly came up. In the daylight it became apparent that it wasn’t in fact our hotel, so we gathered our things and started walking down the road

A small troop of dogs started to follow the only two people awake in town. We headed down the road, not certain where exactly we where going

We where on a dirt road on the outskirts of town, surrounded by rice patties, and we weren’t sure what this place was going to be like when we found it. The hills of boulders around us where extraordinary as they became plain in the light. A solitary figure could be seen on a high bolder doing yoga in the warm air

We finally made it to our place, with a lovely row of cabins overlooking the river and temples

There was a little patio restaurant area where we ate breakfast early

As we eat, the monkeys started playing. They bounced off of chairs and tables, and landed on the roof of the patio with a thud. They cased each other, and the hotel staff chased them

They sat in the trees in their family groups. It was joyful to just sit and watch them

We had a perfect view of the temples from the patio, and music could be heard coming from the complex in the morning mists.

We walked down to the river through the boulder field and grasses. The one in the foreground we named “Dolphin Rock” for what I hope is apparent reasons. Meredith asked if we should watch out for anything, and I said “yes, cobras” and it was exhilarating to know I wasn’t kidding

to get to the temples you cross the river on a boat resembling a sardine can. Passage is .25 cents

A traditional round boat woven out of reeds.

We heard that the temple elephant Lakshmi takes her bath in the mornings around 8am, so we hurried to get there.

She lay down as her handler scrubbed her belly and ears, barking shrill commands to her in Hindi and now and then whopping her with a switch, much to our chagrin

Scores of women washed cloths along the riverside. They do live close to nature in India, and we where amazed to watch a young boy pull up a bowl of water from the river and drink it straight, not ten feet from where the elephant was bathing. I envy their stomach flora

I still think it’s cleaner than a laundromat

Hampi has been hosting pilgrim worshipers for 800 years or more. Snake charmer like music played ambient, while monkeys climbed up and down the carved figures on the temple walls.

Temples are refuge for animals that are held sacred, and they are fed and cared for all day

After baring witness, I feel and animal presence is what is surly lacking in other houses of worship

You can get as close as you dare, and have your monkey buddy say hi to your friends at home, but it’s best to remember they still aren’t pets.

All the while religious rights are being preformed around you. Faithful walk through stations of worship, not unsimilar to a Catholic mass. They smash coconuts on phallic rocks called lingams, in a ritual representing the creation. The air was hot and think with incense, and the temple’s inner sanctums where dark and cavernous, with only shafts of light. I would have taken more pictures, but I felt it rude

Elsewhere on the grounds was a temple build around this stature of Ganesh, the god of wealth and wisdom, which was carved from a massive single boulder. The Buddha like belly of the statue had been worn down by innumerable pilgrim hands

A truly spectacular landscape

After a morning of exploration, it was time for rest and a bite. The day’s heat is often around 100 degrees, so mid day is a time of lounging for travelers. This little cafe did the trick

The best part about India’s restaurants is that the seats are all mattresses and pillows on the floor, and no one cares how long you stay and relax.

Vegetable pakora are a great snack. The fruit juices where also welcome in the heat

Everyone around us agreed that you had to go to the Monkey Temple in the evening hours before sunset. A cab ride was expensive, and renting a scooter was suggested as the best way. Even though I am an avid scooterist, I was a little hesitant, due to what I had seen of the Indian roads and driving, and Meredith was a little hesitant to get on the back.

In the spirit of adventure it was decided we should go native, and we rented this little hog for about $5. It was a little under powered for two people, but she did the trick

The roads where basic and dusty, but there weren’t hardly any other vehicles around, save other Westerners on scooters going to the same place. We passed the ruins of civilizations, with their contemporaries living about the base.

Sunset at the Monkey Temple was reputed to be the best, because it sets on a high boulder mountain. Not mentioned was the fact that the way to the top of that mountain was a flight of over 600 stairs. We bought a bottle of water at the base, and started our way up.

The stairs where a lovely piece of engineering, and folks told us “you should have seen the first set” probably no more than a vertical trail

The passed under boulders lodged in the rock

At the top was a small one room temple monolith with a spectacular view. Two men could be heard inside chanting Vedas in a kind of religious song. It was the most peaceful and beautiful scenes I have ever witnesses, enhanced by the heat and exertion of getting there

The monkeys at the temple seemed far more regal than their wild cousins by the river. They carried themselves with more grace, even as they played and tugged at each other

As I sat watching the scene and listening to the chanting resounding from the temple a flock of crows (known as a murder of crows) swooped down out of the sky as if invading. Such a simple act took on more significance in such a setting, and you can see why some places just seem touched by the divine

You surrender your shoes at the door to every temple you enter in the country, and on top of a giant boulder in no exception. Scrambling about rocks in bare feet does help bring a connection to the place. If I have ever felt close to god it was there.

Honeymoon in India. Ch. I – Trial by fire

In March 2016 my wife Meredith and I took our six week honeymoon trip to India and the Philippines.  Both places had been on our list for a lifetime, and no better time to try then with some wedding money.  It was a wonderful time full of thrills, chills, and spills.  Our first major challenge we faced together was before we even left.  New regulations made our visas unavailable and we had to go from Boston to the Indian embassy in Manhattan for two days, and then back to Boston to fly out.  We where understandably upset, and didn’t even have much for winter cloths with us and very little money for spending on hotels and food in NYC. Still we never took it out on each other, and being together made everything that much brighter.

When we finally did leave the States, our first destination was Goa, a sun drenched stretch of tourist beaches along the West coast of the country and bathed in the Arabian Sea.  Only 24 hours after taking off from Boston we where there.  There wasn’t one thing I saw on the entire trip that wasn’t photo worthy for one reason or another, so I have tried my best to find the most expressive ones.  I only wish I could have made a documentary

Before leaving Boston I walked around the strip mall parking lot next to our hotel, the only attraction around. This pile of mangled shopping carts and plowed snow seamed as strange as anything we’d find abroad

And suddenly there we where. New Your City, Time Square, looking around for a Walgreens to get a passport photo to attach to our Visa paperwork. We took the last two uncomfortable seats in a Mega Bus and booked at no frills hotel room, with a shared bathroom down the hall.

Folks back then where all feeling the burn. It burns different now, but I remember when optimism was still possible politics

When you’re unexpectedly in NY on a tight budget it’s all about the street carts

Lamb gyro on a little coal hibachi grill. I’m impressed, and I wish I could run everything in the truck like that

We figured it would certainly be our last chance to get a pizza, and any corner shop in NYC will usually beat the best in most towns

The modern airport in Mumbai is an interesting welcome. I have to and it to them, they don’t spare on employees, and the folks we asked led us right along in plain enough english

We arrived in the dark, so the first thing I saw out the window when I woke up at 5 AM was this small canoe fishing. It was very relaxing to see

Out rigged fishing boats, built the same way for untold hundreds of years. A central dugout canoe body with planks lashed to that with plant fibers. Why change a classic

Our little cottage, via AirB&B, was big enough for a whole Indian family, grandmothers, children and all.

A typical kitchen for India, even a nice one. Lovely tile sink and a gas hot plate, while many neighbors still use wood. Drinking water is out of the jug, not the tap

I didn’t know what to expect of India’s beach, but it was like the Jersey Shore, possibly cleaner. Luckly our streatch of beach was less crowded, and it was th off season anyhow. The air was hot, and the water bath warm. Like many beaches, you can sit at the loungers set out if you keep buying drinks, so no problem there

Our go to cabana for drinks and food during the day. Sand floors, good prices, nice view, and friendly service.

Goa Beer. The label indicates they surly have us tourists figured out

Around sundown the lounge chairs come up and the dinner tables are set out. Little restaurants line the beach with tourist friendly names like Sunset Grill, and Casa Del Sol. Names from a tourist magazine left in a room.

Tubs of fresh fish are set out in front of restaurant stalls and wood grills are lit beside them. Beautiful fish, but I wish I could have cooked it myself, as my shrimp where overdone

The food in India is amazing, and especial if you can get fresh fish. Getting food poisoning in India is par for the course, and I liken it to throwing up after eating peyote. In the end it’s worth it for the tip. Honestly, the only time people have a problem is when they eat the “Western” or “International” menu. Indian cooks take on dishes like hamburgers and pizza that they have probably had once in their life. We got it from some shady ice on anther part of the trip. In general there is nothing to fear, and you are far better off eating then not

Crab curry with a whole crab in it. I devoured this with both hands, and went swimming after to clean off

Cows are know to be everywhere in India, and this level of free range is appalling to Westerners, even Texans. To me, cows look pretty regal on the beach, like they where enjoying a vacation too.

The cows are big scamps, like a huge dog, and they’ll pick through tourist bags looking for goodies. This family, who we deduced where Israeli, fended off a lazy low speed cow attack with a bottle of water

India’s stray dog populations was a cause for concern in our research, and I was ready to fend off packs of rabid dogs with a sharp stick. What we found was like a dream, a landscape of friendly mutts living their own parallel life to the people there. They play and wrastle, and bark at passing cows, or just lay in the shade under your beach chair. One night we woke up around 3 AM to the sound of no less than 30 dogs howling and barking into the night. We just lay there and laughed.

A friendly old boy with a tail of dreadlocks. We named him Grover. He quietly begs for something good, but won’t touch the rice and naan you toss over. He’s holding out for a lobster tail too

This dog swam out to a distant rock for some thinking time. “Who is a good boy?”

It’s easy to make friends for sure.

A short walk away from our cove is Palolem Beach, a more touristy strip of cabanas and shops. In this photo I like the two children on the right, sitting on top of a bolder. I’m pretty sure the rock is their baby sitter, can get down, can’t wander off. I know what folks think, and yes it would be irresponsible to leave American children like that, they would die for sure

India’s Seaside Heights New Jersey

Rescue Squad

A phenomena of traveling in India that we had heard of are the requests by locals to take a picture with you. It’s true, and families will line you in their photos like they payed 10 Rupees to see you behind a curtain. Imagine what racist thoughts would abound if someone saw a black guy on the streets in the States and wanted a picture. Didn’t bother me, people are too uptight

Little shops outlining the beach

My favorite place was a bar and kitchen next door to our house and under a thatched roof gazebo. Great for relaxing breakfasts and evening drinks

My morning coffee in the proper mug. How did they know? I suppose it’s because the same staff from the night before sleeps in the restaurant all night and serves you in the morning. It makes me feel bad to yawn, like I pansy

Matrimony

It’s an interesting state of affairs when someone that spends most every weekend preparing food for weddings gets married themselves, but that was just the situation I found myself in this year. It made the entire summer feel like a romantic comedy, and luckily it feels like a happy ending. Being part of the massive wedding industrial complex you worry that your own wedding might feel less special, and that all of it might just feel like another day at the office. Quite the contrary, it was a rare insight into what couples must be going through as they plan their festivities and deal with family, while still enjoying the time from now till then. In our case everything worked out fine, whit abundant sunshine, good friends, and a great start to our lives together. I hope it is the same for everyone, and we will always try the best we can to make weddings special for our clientele. Here is a little of what went on that week

The first part of the wedding was a meet and greet at North Beach, and I made ribs among other things.

It was great to see some of my old roommates, and since I usualy miss the reunion in summers, weddings are the only way we get together in mass. It was a very windy day, but it was still a great day at the beach

Kingsland Bay Sate Park is an unbelievable place for a wedding. Like a post card

I had a cigarette with my best man Jerry, just like I did with him before his wedding.

Our friend Joe played us in.

Cute little table markers

Tables where each assigned a tree, and guests names where on cards with matching arbors. Our good friend Amy drew them for us, and saved my having to spend my busiest season drawing trees

We where able to buy all of our Chine, silverware, and linens for the wedding as part of the business, and now we rent them. Everyone who came got a little personalized BBQ sauce that I canned that week

My love set some very tasteful tables, with a collection of antiques vases and nicknacks that we found at little shops around Vermont that summer. It was nice to see them all come together

My roommates and I have been toting around this gnome for years. Don’t remember where we got him, but he was always working while we where partying, with is condescending gaze.

People all said it was madness to prepare food for my own wedding, but thanks to my wonderful staff I didn’t have to serve it. That would have been ridiculous

Baked brie

Meredith thought stuffed chicken would be nice, but of course I couldn’t just stuff a breast like everyone else. Instead I made a galentine type stuffed chicken, and it turned out pretty good if I say so myself

For a galentine you take all the skin of of the chicken in one whole piece. Then you take all the meat off the bones and arange it on the skin, keeping some to make a stuffing for the center

You have to roll them just right or they will be too loose. Then you poach them in stock and finaly fry them to crisp the skin before slicing them. No one would do this for a wedding, or at least it would cost a forture

Wedding lobsters. Thank you for your sacrifice

My new family

My old family

In the end it is all about love, and I wouldn’t change a thing. Now we can get on with our lives, and the honeymoon to India

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Fun

I try to make it a point to play as hard as I work, which is plenty of incentive to work.  We got out to a few nice locations this year, and luck enough you don’t have to travel far in this region.  Down to Jersey early on, out to Ogunquit Maine in July, then down the interstate to Saratoga Springs in August.  I went back to Jersey for the fifth year of Chowder Fest in October, only to see it canceled by a hurricane.  All in all the weather was beautiful all summer, and some of the best time I spent was simple driving through this magnificent state, Vermont.

Most trips around start with a ride through the Adirondacks, past Eagle Lake on route 74, on the way to the Interstate

An eaerly trip to Jersey for some fishing and beers with my best man Jerry

We got skunked but luckly he’s a fish monger at Whole Foods and had this seabass

We always stop in The Fisherman’s Catch in Wells. It seems like the regular tourist trap on the shore, but we love what they do with a lober, and so do the locals in the area. Great lobster bisque too, with big chunks of lobster.

They do lobter right

Bread soaked in butter and lobster tamale is a treat worth the trip in itself

I only got the boat out a few time this year, one. It was still a great day of sailing, and I am so glad to have the boat I hardly even care if I use it. Next year I will get a coat of bottom paint for her and leave her in the water all season

I bult this mounting for the hatch and attached a teak hand rail to it. It’s not pro, but not bad ffor the firt time out

The old tiller was rotting away so I replaced it with the one I built from a solid peice of Jersey spruce that I cut out of the woods while I was home

In August we always head down to Saratoga Springs for horse racing, and we like to stay at Pop’s Lake Campground for at leat one night. We stumbled on the place the year before, and it was the first place I told my wife Meredith I loved her

We stayed at this charming little cabin in the woods, ate cheese and had a fire

This bar/snack shack was there for all our needs. The crew was all straight Spanish, just like most of the horse tenderes and jokeys. Prices stay low for there for them and the locals. I only wish they would let them make tacos and enchiladas instead of the fries and dogs they had.

One thing about the back of the track is that pretty much all the races started from there. It’s a whole other prospective

It was raining later that night but we found a little bar keeping it real on a Tuesday night. We heard this band playing old school hip hop covers and hitting it spot on. Good times

We took a long loop home through the Adironks on the way home. It’s great to be so close to this amazing wilderness, but I confess I haven’t made it there as often as I would like, and it will take a lifetime to fully explor the region

We stipped in a small town called Indian Lake, and got lunch at this tiny locals deli. We heard all about the local gossip while we waited for our food

A little picnic lake shore. Sandwich and a slice of pie. Great for a while until a guy with a weed wacker came by and ruined the mood

Long lakeshore flats allow a view of distant mountains

Lower Cascade Lake off of route 73. I great place for a picnic or something

High cliff walls flank the South side of the Lake

Ferry ride across the lake on the way back home

Fishing out on the Shark River Inlet during the highest tide of the year, three days before a huricane was to come pusing through. We managed to dredge up some sealife like some blue crabs, but no keeper fish

Strolling in the rain through my favorite patch of woods from childhood. My hundred acer woods, Shark River Park.

A few days later the wind and surf picked up. Worlds away from a few days prior

No mater where we go, it is hard to find anyplace as nice as old Lake Champlain

Bird houses line a stretch of woods in the Champlain Islands

The Von Trapp Brewery on a mini beer tour of Vermont

Shadow on a jet stream creating an interesting optical effect

Weddings

I love doing weddings, and that put to the test this season for sure.  We did 14 weddings this year, including my own, but that’s a different story.  We met all kinds of folks and saw some great new parts of Vermont along the way.  Our business is more than 30% weddings now, and with more to come in the next year.  Here are some of the pictures we got this year

Every wedding is different, and I always like to see what people do with the space.

Some of the nicest weddings we did where on the families propperty, and we got to see some amazing places on the back roads of the Vermont.

Early in the Summer we did a pig roast for a rehearsal dinner and they raised thier own pig for the day. We made a handoff in a Lowes parking lot and I was left to process the beast and smoke it. I had to dress it into peaces to fit in the smoker and oven but it was a great chalenge and worked out fine

They also brought these amazing local cheeses that where the real deal for sure. The best part was the leftovers and I was in cheese heaven half the summer

The fuzzy rind on this cheese was a revelation and it was soft and distinct inside

Most weddings start with appetizers, like this cheese board. It’s always a good thing to get people grazing on something while the wedding party is off getting photos

The two shades of hummus is our most popular offering, with duel flavors that mix or stand on their own. This was roasted red pepper and green garlic & herb. I use my special touch to get a ying yang thing going in the bowl

Little bites like these satays are also common. Here I just bust out the old webber grill. I like it when I can use low tech equipment, especialy when it was free to me. In South East Asia they make grills out of mufflers and things, so this is almost authentic

Everything comes down to the buffet. The key is timing, and being flexable enough to get things out on time while working with their constantly moving schedule and even what the weathr does

One of our favorite spots for a wedding is the Champlain Valley Alpaca Farm. We did two weddings there and we highly recommend it

A great farm setting with a huge barn for tables, bar, dancing. Even when it rains it is still a great spot

Smoking and grilling on site is great

Another venue we loved was this town hall in Windsor, which was used to shoot the town meeting scene in the movie Funny Farm, my families favorite quotable movies.

It also had this great kitchen which has seen countless pot lucks dinners I’m sure. The souls of a hundred plus grandmas hung think in the air.

Gardening

I have aspired to garden forever.  I was lucky enough in Colorado to have a huge garden for the kitchen, as well as Alma, the macrobiotic gardener to work it.  I used to love just sitting among the plants, grazing as I pleased, following insects as they went about their day.  It was very biblical, garden of Eden type thing.  Moving around for years I had little time or access to a garden space.  Even apartments I had provided little room or had to much shade.  Our new place has a huge garden plot, almost farm worthy, with plenty of sunshine all day.  There was lots of overgrowth that needed cutting out and such, but it was a joy to work the land in the spring sun.  The whole thing is a learning experience, and I never expected to be an expert right off the bat, or even successful, but I was pleasantly surprised by the triumphs and failures that occurred.  Next year will be even better for sure

Areas by the fence where overgrown with sticker bushes and vines. I got a truckload of compost was worked into to existing soil, which seemed pretty good to start with in spite of a few random pieces of broken glass and procelain

A whole bunch of fiddle head ferns came up, which must have been planted there and where a pleasant surprise. It was nice to have something come up and inspire while I was planting in bare soil

All told we probably harvested 50 plus heads

Meredith had built a fence with pallets at her old apartment and I had been envious of it all winter. We took the old fence down when we left that apartment and put it up around the garden. I can’t imagine a white picked fence being any better and the price is right. All the panels are screwed together and the whole fence can be taken down if necessary

I’ve been waiting to make a shoe planter since I saw one in Domonica. I knew there was a reason I didn’t get rid of those old cross country ski shoes I found in the trash

There were also hops that came up along the fence and house that where planted by the previous tenants. You can let them grow up into big bushy vines, or clip them this size and sautee them like asparagus. It has a herby taste that is amazing and different

The first friends to come up where the radishes and beets. The arugula came up but was the same size as the grass that came up around it so you could only get to a leaf at a time

Lovely breakfast radishes

I mostly planted radishes to make kimchi with. The first batch was a little to salty but it didn’t stop me from eating it all

As time went on the veggies started to come in. It’s a joy to walk in among the vines and leave and find beautiful jewels of produce.

Tomatoes and beans came along come July

carrots up in August

My pride of the garden was this heirloom tomato that grew into a circle with a tunnel straight through it. It made a great soup

One by one I was able to put of preserves for the long winter. Most everthing is pickled so I didn’t have to worry as much about acidity and microbs. It’s not like we could live off the grid, but it makes a pretty pantry and will liven the winter weather

Lots of tamatillos came up ferile from years past and I was able to picle them and make sofrito. I will have to fight myself from opening them early

I preserved the beans with the leather britches method of drying them on a string. They make a great dish for the winter when reconstituted

Bourbon Country

Passing through Kentucky I had some time to stop at a distillery in Bardstown, in the heart of bourbon country.  Bourbon is America’s liquor, born of corn, made at home for centuries, and used as medicine, currency, or just a pastime.  The popularity of Bourbon has increased exponentially over the past decade, and international demand has made it hard for some producers to keep up.  Nothing sounds better than a bourbon boom for certain.  I asked my friend Sean Brock where to go with only a few hours in the area and he led me to Willett distillery, a small batch producer with old world recipes and a nice new plant.  I recommend it to anyone traveling through the area.

An interesting sight, even in the bible belt, is this Trucker’s Chapel. I was more surprised to find it closed then to see it there at this truck stop parking lot. It begs the question; do they pray more for protection and safe travel, or forgiveness for cutting me off and speeding with highly flammable loads in tow?

Amish folk had posted up at this Kantucky truck stop to sell wares and preserves to us sinners. The peach jam I picked up made me feel beter than a church ever could

Kantucky is some pretty country, with the creeks and forest interspered among the lager warehouses

Everywhere you go in the area of Bardstown you find the large, white, barrel warehouses used for aging the Bourbon for years at a time. They are a definitive feature of the landscape and a harbinger of great things to come

The Bourbon Heritage Center is an interesting tourist trap, with a nice mix of education and

Old school pot still

An interesting smell station. Get a whiff of the bourbon mash at different stages of development. Push the button and the smell is farted out the trumpet under the barrel.

Willett Distillery is a great small batch producer, and the perfect stop with only a day to enjoy yourself. Not only do these smaller family run facilities have smaller tour sizes and a more personal feel, they produce the best product in the valley

It all starts with water, and the countryside still harbors the best

Corn is the grain of choice, making bourbon America’s true indigenous spirit.

The open vats sit bubbling with life and the fresh, yeasty smell of fermentation. To my surprise, the tour guild invites you to run a finger into the mash and taste the tart liquid. No worries about contamination when making a disinfectant I suppose. The open windows and wood frame construction of the distillery is quite charming, It makes for a space you wish you had attached to your own home

The Willett plant boasts one of the most photogenic pot stills in the region. It’s the only one of its kind and as much a piece of modern industrial art as the bringer of bourbon

These little know devises are important keys to the whole process. Before and after the mash reaches the right temperature it produces harmful alcohols that can cause the characteristic blindness that folks think of with moonshining. Here the process is controlled until the good liquor comes off the still and brings smiles

Charred oak brings on the flavor of the bourbon over its stay in the aging process. These barrel slats show a cross section where you can see the line where bourbon has soaked in and stained the wood

Inside the barrel warehouses the bourbon sits for no less that a few years. They are not hiding here in a climate controlled environment, but rather embrace the seasons. In the winter the temperature sits around freezing, and in the summer well above 100 degrees. The wood expands and contracts, deepening flavors and mellowing its character

Here a few contry hams hang in the aging rafters with the barrels. The room has an amazing aroma and they are hoping the hams will benifit from it. I do too

It all comes down the this. Sweet nectar

Time of one last gut busting meal in the South

A final image for the journey. A tuck with busted up windows, loaded with crap, and a for sale sign.

Nashville

Every time I get a chance to go to Nashville I do.  Say what you will about it, It’s a tourist town that doesn’t annoy or disappoint like a Los Vegas or Orlando might.  My good friend Jamie from Muchacho Taco had recently moved there with his pregnant wife in straight Grapes of Wrath style, only she had a high end job waiting.  It was great to see them again, and have someplace friendly to crash in town, but I always feel at home in music city.  I only spent a cloudy day there but it is always worth a trip, even a fast one

Downtown Nashville. Get you some boots and a beer and you are sitting pretty my friend. Bit of a tip, all the best honki tonks I’ve found are on the North side of the street

Nashville is so rampantly hokey as it panders to tourists, that if it wasn’t for the music I can’t believe I would like it here. Open air limos whisk a bacheloret party through the streets, dancing adorned with falic necklaces and effigies like they where last girls out of Sodom. There is no shortage of ways to be a public spectacle here, and everyone can live like they’ve blown a country start in their lifetime.

Hot Chicken is a Nashville staple, and has been brought to the national spotlight by my friend Sean Brock in his segment of the show Mind of a Chef. A spicy and densely flavored mix of peppers and dried herbs compose the chicken’s crust. Some fried okra and mac & cheese round it out, and of course your slice of white bread underneath to soak up the red flavorful grease

Robert’s is my favorite. It was the first one my brother and I wondered into over a decade ago on my first trip into town and it hasn’t changed a bit.

Not everything is country, and these guys where covering Jimi Hendrix just fine

The strings never stop moving in Nashville. I remember this guy, playing his heart out on the sidewalk every day, while a stead stream of tourists pass by, about one percent of them taking more than a passing glance. Good living or not, he’s out there, plucking what god gave him. Have to admire the dedication

Their new little baby is a treasure for sure, and he is a proud papa. I felt no need to press for a head shot of the youth, since this generation of child will be plastered on the internet from fetus pictures from ultra sounds till facebook requiem, and everything in between

After all the food I’d been enjoying on the road, it is great to get a nice, juicy, house burger.

Spring Break, New Orleans

I love New Orleans, and I don’t know that I’ll be able to make the pilgrimage every year but I’ve been luck enough to get there twice in the past few years.  Eat, drink, listen to great music, see some drunks staggering around and then salute the one in the mirror and then repeat the process until you have to leave, either by design or for self preservation.  I’ve managed to find a few gems in the city of flashing lights and distractions that will leave you broke and on the toilet a week if you don’t watch out.  I don’t think I could ever live there more than a few months, but I will always try to visit.

 

First thing I recomend in town is to decompress with a cocktail after navigating the crazy highways into town and the twisted maze of streets within. I stopped at August to see my friends at work and had a sazerac.

They certainly didn’t have to send out any food, because I was stuffed from the fish fry on the Gulf, but when they did I couldn’t refuse and I’m glad I didn’t. Fried oysters need no introduction and the crayfish wantons in etouffee was a great Asian twist on the classic

Later that night we even go fried chicken. It’s only an convenience in the down town but this place has the best fried chicken in town and everyone agrees.

The first think one might notice in New Orleans is that you feel free. That might not seem like something out of the ordinary in a “free country” but you realy smell the irony of that saying here. Just walking down the streets with a cold beverage is something a free man should be able to do on any street, but New Orleans is one of the few.

If you do need a walking cup, this little beer stall stuffed in an alley has the right beer at the best price on Bourbon street.

The French Quarter has all kinds of amazing shops off the tourist track of Bourbon Street. This antique weapons store is one.

There is no shortage of places to eat and narrowing it down on a hot day when you’re hungry can be an ordeal. Some of the quickest and best priced food is at the French Market near the river. There are tons of food stalls with everything you might be looking for

Alligator sausage might be a bit touristy, but it is so good.

This little stall had a great Muffaletta

Great stuff with an Abita to wash it down

There are geat bands down in the street as one might expect. It’s one of the last strong holds of the brass section and I hope that it can grow again from here, like a last sprout hiding from the frost of mediocre electronic music that has chilled the American soul

The Mardigras Indians have been a proud sight in town for near 100 years, and thanks to the show Treme they are back in vogue which will hopefully keep the tradition living on. Lord knows it can’t be easy to wear a heavy costume of beads and feathers in 90 degree heat

This is either the most interesting man I’ve ever met or the biggest nut bar, but entertaining as hell. He’s an art professor at Tulane Univerity and was fixing this bar on the side for free drinks. He went on at length about Katrina, fighting in Vietnam, art, life, death. I could have listened to him forever

Folks where going to scratch their names in the bar before he clear coated it and he let me scratch mine in, right next to the owner’s. I can’t wait to go back and see it’s here

I’m not sad you can’t smoke in other bars in the country, but something deep inside makes me hope you can always smoke indoors here

You have to take a chance on food here. At a gas station out of town I got the best crayfish boudine sausage I ever had, just out of a warmer like a shitty hotdog or dead pizza might be in a lesser place. Parkinglot picnic

If you want a good po boy you hve to go where the locals do. Just a little convenience store will have an amazing catfish po boy for a few bucks. Wash it down with a 40 ouncer in a park

Something unique to the river is the steam organs that they play on top of the old paddle wheel boats. The tooting melodies can be heard for miles and back in the day must have been a treat for those lining the banks. Classic old world music, like a carnival. Just makes you smile

Everyone comes to Cafe Du Monde in the French Market area for the beignets, and the line stretches around the building. Most folks don’t know they are open 24 hours so you can go at 2AM and walk right up to the window

The dive bar the Three Legged Dog has a crayfish bowl every Wednesday night during the season, and is the best place to pick some up. I helped out a bit beforehand to get some tips

You have to wash them really well and sort the living from the passed before you can add them to the pot

Three minutes will do to cook them, then you cut the heat and let them soak in the flavors for 20 minute or so.

I ate my body wait that day for sure. Crack them in half, suck on the head and peel the tail like a shrimp. Nothing better

Spring Break – Charleston to the Gulf Coast

The next leg of the trip was from Charleston to New Orleans to see my friends Stacy and Andy, who recently got engaged.  I try to mix it up on routs but I often end up on the same trail through Georgia and down the Florida pan handle to Apalachicola and beyond to Alabama and Louisiana.  It’s a haul through the countryside choked with kudzu vines and draped in Spanish moss, with sleepy and creepy towns dotting the roads.  I always end up taking it in one or two days but I’d love to take it slow some day, maybe hitchhike or by golf cart.  Not this trip but there was some great food

Little BBQ shacks are the way to go in the South, hit a chain and you’re bound to be disappointed. This little dive by a gas station had a great sandwich that was welcome on a hot day

For the second time I stopped at a chicken shack in Quite Man GA, and it won’t be the last. This time it was all livers and gizzards with some hot sauce.

Very chainsaw massacre

After a days driving your reward upon hitting the Gulf Coast is the amazing Apalachicola oyster. I love this sleepy fishing town and I pass through whenever I can. When the last oysters I had there where rain soaked and hardly salty at all they begged me to come back and get some more. I was glad I did and these where some of the best oysters I’ve ever had the pleasure of.

I always stop at the Owl Cafe and Oyster City Brewery when I’m in town and I suggest you do the same

You can see they love their oysters here

A great nautical shop had it all

An old oyster boat enjoying the South’s brand of preservation by neglect. It sits in town as a sad yet majestic bastion of the past

Rusty fisheries on a foggy morning

The fishing fleat

Later in the day the fog burned off and it was sunny beach weather again. I didn’t want to deal with the crowds at Panama City Beach that time of year so I stopped in Mexico Beach few miles outside. Great white sands and a more layed back scene

Mexico beach also had this little trailer BBQ shack that I got a pretty good brisket sandwich

As I got deep into the gulf in Alabama I know it was time for some seafood. It’s one of the only places I know that a fish fry will actually fry fish that was caught in the area. Just find a tourist trap on the highest stilts you can and you can’t loose

Fresh and fried to perfection. When in Rome, hit that shit with some pepper sauce

Spring Break – Burlington, Asheville, Charleston

It was that time of year again.  Winter was almost gone and it’s great to get a jump on Spring someplace it is already in swing, so I point the truck South to catch up on some old friends and flavors.  The weather was fare for traveling most of the trip and the only problem was that Meredith couldn’t join me, as she was going to Nicaragua a few weeks later.  Here is a short photo journal and a full magazine spread wouldn’t have captured the trip for sure

After a few warm days it was fitting that it snowed the night before I left

As you leave you catch a glimpse of your own home’s beauty

I took a route through the Catskills that was quite scenic and I’ll have to stop again in some of the quaint towns I saw. Pictures will always due injustice to this areas beauty

Rest stops can be an inexpensive way to stop for the night, that is if they let you. Virginia is a state that will let you sleep out, and I wasn’t the only one. It might not be glamorous but it has a clean and spacious bathroom and they are built to be a safe place to stop and relax. 4 stars here at the Virginia border

I thought I recognized the town of Bristol and then I saw it, Bristol Speed Way. I’m not a huge NASCAR fan but I do love Days of Thunder

In Virginia the terrain becomes more textured and it is quite nice in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.

The winding byway into Asheville is a great drive and I wish I had more time to stop and cruise the back roads

Down town Asheville has a great mix of shops and bars, with a lot of restaurants and breweries on every corner. A paradise straight from an Old Crow Medicine Show song

I ate all over and the brisket tacos at the Thirsty Monk where great. My friends recently moved there and Chris is working here now, so I can’t wait to return

Down town at night.

A friend of mine, Jeremia Jackson, moved to Asheville and started a food truck around the same time I did up North. We finaly caught up again and he’s doing fine. A new father and just moving into a solid restaurant space, I look forwards to seeing him again. If you’re in Asheville look up Farm to Fender food truck

After a long but sunny drive I made it the Charleston and Folly Beach on St Patrick’s day. The worst part of the trip was and infamous traffic jam that lasted an hour in the heat. Morons and road work caused a jam up to the island that was reported on in all the papers and caused heads to roll on an already over budget bridge project. Wouldn’t know know it was right as I’m trying to get to town for the first time in a year. Once I got a beer at Woodies all was forgiven

It was a little cool on the beach but amazing after a long cold winter.

I’m so happy the family loved Charleston as much as I that my parents wanted to return there once they retired. It will be some time before they live there full on, so for now it is open for rental and the occasional transient family member. Right on the river

When I’m down there I always have to stop at my favorite Asian food store in North Charleston. A huge Food Lion that became a bonaza of far East goodies. They also have a small restaruant space and this roast duck ramen is my favorite thing

I met my old frient Jason at Coast brewery for some pints. There are more breweries that ever in the Charleston area but it is slower going than other cities. Beer is hard to brew with the amount of natural yeast in the air, and the laws only recently changed to allow it at all. It was great brew and I’d love to be back

There was a BBQ guy on the lot on that rainy day, and we talked a while. He carved me some great brisket that he just finished. He ran the BBQ circuit and served at stadiums like Green Bay. Good stuff and It’s always great to meet a contemporary

My old friend and boss Sean Brock was out of town that week, and as usual I managed to be a day behind him on every leg of the trip, but I did get to see his new place Minero. The cavernous space is indicative of the names origin. Minero means “mine” and the miners of Mexico would use dynamite wrapped in paper that they referred to as “tacos”.

Dynamite tacos at Minero, you betcha. Catfish on the right and carnitas on the left

No trip to Charleston would be complete without some low country oysters. They are a twisted, knotty, barnacle crusted bunch, but the briny flavor is world class

Winter 15

You can fight it, curse at it, sit on the couch and binge on movies or get out and hit the slopes; but however you choose to spend the winter you just can’t avoid it, so best to embrace the chilling grasp and make the best of it.  Even with temperatures below 10 degrees for all of February it was a fine season.  Here are the highlights.

First steps to the holiday is picking out that perfect tree and murdering it. We had a great time out at the old farm with hot chocolate and everything

Nothing like the smell of pine and the sight of twinkling lights, with adorable hand made ornaments and a star cut out of a Pabst Blue Ribbon can.

I love making the year’s Christmas card

My love made me these wonderful gifts wrapped so well I couldn’t crumple them up and toss them. I still have them

Other than holiday merriment it was a world of frozen tundra that we spent every day surviving, mostly with Netfix and cheese plates

Levi loves the snow and you never had to beg him to go out.

I love snowy witer landscapes

It was lucky for us that the good people of Burlington took us in during the winter months. I served food every Friday night at Queen City brewery and Saturdays at Switch back or Four Quarters

Posole, gumbo, jambalaya, all the hardy goodies that I can’t serve in the summer heat

Hiking in the fresh snow is a joy, and even better when you come accoss something like this. Mouse tracks leeding up to a place where a hawk sooped it up. You hardly ever see tracks so perfect, telling such a story. Worth every hour of cold this winter

Winter fun

Thanksgiving in St John

I’ve spent as much time as I could in St John over the years, living, working, and playing as hard has one can. Any time I’m in the region I feel compelled to try and make it. This year I found some time to spend a few days, but with Thanksgiving tying up the airways that time of year I ended up spending a week. I saw some folks I had hoped would still be there, and some folks I hoped had left for their own good. I also met some more of the interesting personalities that the island attracts, like my camp neighbor Tammy who was a recent widow and adopted me as her son for a week. It was sunny for the first part of the week and just a little rainy on the back end. It was great to get back on a scooter to cruise the island, dive some reefs, drink some more rum, and live that life a moment longer. It is nice, don’t get me wrong, but after a week of constant damp, sandy, buggy conditions I was glad to be getting home.

Cinnamon Bay is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and for $42 a night the campsite there is easy on the wallet and the eyes. When you wake there in the mornings you get the added amenity of having the beach to yourself for a private swim, with rainbows on the horizon and pelican flybys, as they fish for breakfast

There are cabins and platform tents at the campsite but I opted for something more rustic (cheap). A hammock slung between two trees with a tarp roof to keep the rain off and a bug net to keep the winged bastard blood suckers out (mosquitoes) is just as nice. You could hear the ocean all night

There are probably more hermit crabs than people on the island. You think of them as slow, lumbering creatures with that heavy shell, but quite the contrary. This little guy climed up five feet to the roof of my shelter

The best way to see the island is to rent a scooter. They’re about $35 a day if you get one for a week, and about $5 in gas for a weeks worth of riding

It’s recomended you ware closed toe shoes when riding your scooter. Before you know it you knock the tip of your toe off

Trunk bay

Cruz bay

Coral bay is where everyone who has been on the island more than a year goes to live. A yachty destination and a floating shanty town in one.

It was quite a spread of food to be sure. There wasn’t a ton of turkey but someone roasted a whole pig, and it was the first time I had ribs for Thanksgiving. I only wish I had a kitchen to make something for everyone. Donations where accepted

Being a bar I thought I could buy some beer but they where intent on giving it away.

It was a diverse crowd for sure. It’s one of the only places I know where Fortune 500 CEOs shake hands with toothless longshoremen, and famous beatnik poets eat deviled eggs made by the wife of a retired Republican senator. Coral bay is a bosom to all the world

Plenty of hot, rusty sheet metal for the kids to play on

One of the reasons I came back to St John was to make like Jacques Cousteau for a while and see as many fish as possible in natures own aquarium. This spot is unknow to anyone but the locals and I’ve seen everything from reef sharks to cuttlefish here.

This spot is called Lamesure Bay. The attraction here is the single point of rock sitting out of the water. Swim out to it and you find and underwater castle of rock, with fish swirling around every crack and cravern. It is a very nice palce to behold

Poz

There are many points of interest on Dominica but Poz gets his own post. Located in the Calabishie Gardens lodges in the Calabishie area of the island, it is my firm recommendation that anyone who visits the island go directly to Poz for libations, information, and general decompression therapy. Poz, short for Positive, is the monicker of a stout Canadian cherub who is the own/operator of this fine establishment. A bastion of light to locals and travelers alike, you just can’t miss the place since there are signs everywhere, which in some cases are the only way you can navigate an island devoid of road signage. On our trip it was the first and the last place we went and if you go to Dominica and you don’t take a visit to Poz you only have yourself to blame. You can see more at https://www.facebook.com/calibishiegardens?fref=ts or type poz into trip advisory

A small bar built of sheet metal is all you need

The Poz brand is represented by this caricature, which looks like a a cross between J Leno and Quinton Tarantino. It graces signage across the entire island, some probably 50 miles worth or roadway from the place.

The man himself

There are an amazing array of locals and weirdos that call the place home. Tex, as they call him, is a manic bushman with an insane laugh and an indecipherable dialect all his own. As far as I could gather he was keen to sell me some natural island Viagra he call “the good bush” but I’m no need of help in that department

Honestly a ridiculous laugh. He had a simple life philosophy which he articulated as “live you life and die you die!” It seemed to help if shouted and repeated it

Poz has a plethora of infused island rums. Fruits, berries, herbs, and bois bande (the natural Viagra)

You can guess what this one is infused with

There was good food to be had as well, including some of the only pizza on the island. We had some fig pie the first night, which is made of salt fish, potato, egg, cheese, and not a single fig (it’s a local thing) I had to have some island cray fish, which where more like huge freshwater shrimp. Simmered in coconut milk and garlic, it was very nice

One thing I learned for sure. When bartenders whom are eager to get you into trouble pour you 151 and light it on fire, make sure that your camera is already out and ready. This way you won’t accidentally bump into the one holding said flaming shot, spilling the contents and covering the victim’s hand in burning alcohol and create a scene reminiscent of a napalmed village (only with far more laughter)

Something to remember the islands, and I bid you goodnight

Dominica

I’ve wanted to go to Dominica since I first heard of the place when I lived on St Thomas. Remote and beautiful, there are as many rivers on the island as days in the year, and twice as many waterfalls. Volcanically active with the world’s second largest boiling lake crowning its rugged interior, there are six active volcanoes on the island and only nine in the whole Caribbean. It’s also one of the poorest places in the region with little infrastructure, but still it is home to some of the Caribbeans finest people. We finally had and opportunity to travel there and we took it quick. We stayed in three different guest rooms that we found on airbnb.com and got around as much of the island as we could and still barely scratched the surface. It’s no worry though. The island hasn’t changed much in fifty years and I’ll be back before then.

We managed to fly on a bright clear day, which greatly aids in the enjoyment of the flight. We passed St Thomas and the Virgin islands seen here. Flying freaks me out but it sure is beautiful

We didn’t get into Dominica till dark and we hadn’t eaten much of anything all day. This box of ribs, rice, potatoes and salad was amazing

This painting hung in the first house and it sums up the island perfectly

We realy didn’t get to see the island until the next morning and we woke to this site from our little aparment’s balcony.

Down the hill from our house was a small rustic strip of beach that we hung out on all day, drinking and eating coconuts.

Coctails of fruit juice and rum with some fresh limes squeezed in. The house had a mini machete for cracking coconuts. It was a well used amenity

The beach was gtreat but the waters were choaked up with seaweed. We could see massive islands of the stuff floating around from the air flying in, and now we knew where it was headed. Every year the seaweed comes and then washes back out to sea like it was never there a few months later. It’s just the way

I don’t know what you’d ever see if you don’t rent a car on the island. We rented this little hoopty to get around and it worked just fine. I was a little apprehensive about driving on the wrong side of the road from the wrong side of the car, but it’s a breaze once you get the hang of it

There are plenty of loanly banana plantain roads to practice on anyhow

The roads are tight for sure, and the locals know every curve so they don’t evey break anymore. Most of the roads are rough with hairpin turns everywhere but somehow we call manage to miss each other by the few inches we need to get by

Here one side of a bridge is washed out while the other side is flush with the river. It’s an adventure just driving

One unexpected asspect of the trip was the upcoming elections, and the signs where literally everywhere. Red and blue flags hung on every street for the two paries, the incumbent and favored Labour party and the younger upstart Worker’s party. Rallies where all over the island and most seemed to be just another good chance to throw a party.

The views from the road alone are worth the trip

These little roadside shacks are bars on the weekends. People wheren’t living in places much bigger

Probably the hottest spot around

The second place we stayed at was on the windward, Eastern side of the island. The water was rough and waves pound the black sand beaches. The island is far from crowded but the East side of the island is desserted.

We found a cove at the end of the beach we called Cartwheel Bay, where we could be alone and silly

We where flanked by mountains and sea on all sides so you could look anywhere and smile

The second spot was call The Tree House. It was on a hill looking out over the sea and the citrus plantation the guest houses where on. Amenities here included this hammok, a fire pit, and all the fresh fruit you could ask for. You could hear the ocean, river, and the constant hum of the wild life from bed.

Hammok view

And this outdoor shower which was built into the side of a jungle tree

The fire pit

The kitchen was outside as well. We where lucky that most of the places we stayed had a kitchen so we could buy groceries and make our own food. There the roadside options for dinning where sparten at best

I made some pig’s feet and chicken curry that lasted a few days. Meredith is vegetarian so she did not partake, but she was happy for me

In the captial Roseau we got to an open air fish market and I bought this rainbow runner tuna from a woman covered in fish scales. It was beautiful and fresh

I grilled it whole in the fire pit

We ate it with an amazing avocado we had. It was the biggest one I had ever seen. The pit was a big as a store avocado

Most everyone on the island grows their own food and the restaurants and inns are no different.

Citrus grows like mad and it’s a great addition to anything you can think of

The best planter I’ve ever seen. Re purposing is a way of life in a place where you can’t aford to throw things away as in the states, and they’re better for it

This hermit crab agrees, re purposing this piece of PVC piping as a shell

One of the islands many beautiful lizards

A few freindly pups as well

Where the river meets the sea

All over the island you find waterfalls. Big and small, raging or just trickling down, they can be heard everywhere. This is the Emerald Pool, one of the more touristy spots, meaning it actually had a trail

Follow hand painted signs and you’ll find plenty of willing guilds to take you there. Trust me, it’s worth it have a local even if it’s just for laughs. The trip will be better for it

The White River

Trafalgar falls can be seen down a valley for miles but it’s much nicer close up

Next to the falls at Trafalgar runs a natural hot spring that collects in latte like pools. You can soak here with the waterfalls pounding all around you

Land crab where once all over the island until folks realized how tasty they where. This guy was in the protected park and safe, although he keeps his guard up

The last few days saw the rains come, and all over the Caribbean it was monsoon season for 48 hours

We traveled to the little seaside hamlet of Mero Beach. The rain came in waves so we got a little sun, but the wash from the drainage ditches made the water too dirty to swim

At a little spot called Connie’s we had lunch of fried king fish with rice and beans with a few beers.

Mero is a beach they bring the few cruise ship tourists to when on the island. This day there where hardly any so we found chairs quick. They rent them and when we told our host we weren’t with the cruise ship he gave us the half price locals rate

Our host was Augustus, and he owned a little round bar that he built with is own hand tools. It started raining pretty hard and we drank rum punches and sheltered in the top story of his little bit of heaven. He told us all about putting his kids through school and the things he had been through on the island having never finished school himself.

The people of the island are the friendliest in the Caribbean. You don’t feel isolated and pandered to like other touristy islands. I think the best thing they do for travelers they encounter is to just be themselves.

That’s a mighty fine pineapple for sure

The third place we stayed was a deep in the jungle, yet still managed a water view through the valley. The Crescent Moon was a 60’s hangout for expats and artists before being abandoned during the turbulent independane movement. The current owners are Americans who keep the place in fine order.

There are three charming rooms nestled into the hillside

The most notable aspect of the Crescent Moon was their extensive garden, which provides almost everything they serve to guests. The soil and climate on the island is great for growing jungle plants like bananas and papayas, but things like carrots and lettuce have been a chalange. Through dedication and hard work they have found the rythum that lets them sustain

Carombola, or star fruit, are one of my favorite things. Not the sour ones you might find in a store, but the sweet and tangy treats that you can only find hanging

The dinning pavilion had a great view and was quite nice

confesses she still fantasies about the pumpkin pancakes with fresh fruit and honey from the grounds

The first night there we had goat. None of these

The place was very well built, with lilly ponds and little surprises around every corner there built into the place.

Friendly kitties are always welcome

Being so rainy we decided to visit the local hot springs. Pools where built into the hillside and the water warmed by with the Earth’s fires where channeled into them. It was a great bath, exacerbated by the fact we where the only ones there all day

The place had a very Roman feel. It was well built and all over the island I was delighted with their ingenuity.

As soon as the rain had dispersed we got a swin on this small beach near Portsmouth. You could see that the rest of the island was still covered in rain clouds but it was sunny over us

Some local kids where playing cricket

Rasta wisdom on the walls, there was no lack of good sayings to keep you up

Puerto Rico in Passage

In November my sweetheart Meredith and I took a long awaited trip to Dominica in the lower Caribbean. Puerto Rico is the gateway to Caribbean ports and you can hardly get anywhere worth going without boarding a puddle hopper and shaking your way down the island chain. We stopped for several nights in the Condado area of San Juan and it felt like a vacation all its own. It’s a great place to get a base tan working, soak in the sea on that first or last time, and get eased into the culture shock that will be your world until you submit to the sublime rhythms the locals guild by. I’ve been to Puerto Rico many times before, and it’s been in this blog as well, but no mater how many times you go there I can’t believe you could ever become mundane. We’ll be back again, and longer next time

Condado beach was probably the more touristy place we stayed the whole trip. The water is rough, which makes it almost un Caribbean like, but it was splendid in November

Down in the Caribbean beer is a luxury item and rum is what’s going down most days. We didn’t mean to drink this whole bottle the first night but at least we didn’t have to declare it later at the airport

The several nights we stayed in Puerto Rico were spent in a smaller neigborhood in Condado where the highrise hotels backed off a bit and there where a lot of smaller restaurant around. I loved this house across the street from our hotel, which was roughly the same size. It’s abandoned and crumbling but I wouldn’t change a thing

Our hotel had a lot of sitting areas and patios that are typical of the style there, which I love.

The place had nice little pool area too if you just needed a soak

We had some great fish tacos at a crowded locals spot called La Cueva Del Mar (the sea cave) and I recomend the place for sure.

We also stopped at a hip little cafe for breakfast the last day. I forget the name of this crazy french toast sandwich but it was bomber for sure

We also ate at some spendyer places in Old San Juan. I liked their ceviche selection and I would love to have a ceviche bar as part of restaurant one day

I have so many pictures of the old forts and streets of San Juan from past trips that I didn’t take many this go around, but sometimes the light is right and I can’t help myself

On my last trip to San Juan after Meredith had left I walked the 4 miles into Old San Juan from Condado. On the way I say these two small pups just sauntering down the street. Best buds. It was like a Disney movie and I swear I could hear their dialog.

I wanted something authentic for my last meal in the Caribbean for a while, so I kept away from the tourist spots. I came to a door with a long hallway that led to this small restaurant which was just what I needed

Fried pork bits with a spicy sauce is what I need for sure

I also had this sable fish in Creole sauce, meaning simmered with tomatoes, garlic, and spices. It was nice and buttery and the plantains that flank it are great for dipping in the sauce and scooping up the fish. Just wat I was looking for

They had this painting I like in the dinning room. Great place. Spanish music, family arguing about this and that, and dollar Medalla beers. I highly recomend the spot

Montreal

For Meredith’s birthday in August, the whole family as well as new potential family packed up and headed North to Montreal for a few days of Canadian fun. Montreal is the closes major city to Burlington at roughly and hour and a half away, and it feels so much further than that culturally and linguistically. I used to tool around that city with my friends in high school, back before we could drink in our own fare country. I hadn’t been back in over a decade and the trip was long overdue. The weather was perfect as well as the company and it was a fine time. We ate well but I took very few pictures of the food as shoveling it down was on my mind foremost. After such an amazing couple of days where coming to an end the most amazing and fantastic thing I have probably every seen just came out of nowhere in a rusted waterfront warehouse. You never know what you may find in Old Montreal

St Laurance skape

Meredith’s folks set us up with a nice hotel room in the Old Town section. For a little more we upgraded to a suit with a nice tub and big shower

There was also an electric fireplace that was more comical than funtional, but we liked it. A classical music station was playing on the radio when we first entered and we

One of the city’s greatest attractions are the Botanical Gardens, which host an array of different specialized habitats and exhibits. One of the most intriguing is the Insectarium, a museum and zoo for all things bugs. Here an amazing collection of beetles looks more like a showing of jewels.

There are also those specimens that are very much alive, like this funky Mexican Camel Spider. Beter to see them here behind glass without question

The gardens are much more regal and display some of the great garden cultures and exotic plant species found on Earth. The Chinese and Japanese gardens are favorites and worth the trip

The Japanese gardens host a wonderful collection of bonsai trees of all shapes and plumage, the youngest of trees being 50 years old.

This tree is over 100 years old.

Like my family, Meredith’s family enjoys a good museum on a vacation. The Museum of Architecture and History had many exhibits and a crazy movie about the history of the region. My favorite piece was this tiny Christ figure that was once nail to a cross in the early 17th century. One can only image the how many native faces it was thrust in front of, or who might have died of an arrow wound clutching it tightly. It may have bore witness to course of human history throughout the whole region. And check out the abs on Jesus would ya

Montreal has some amazing murals that have gussied up plenty of bleak city scape. American cities tend to have a lot of foofy murals of sea scapes and flowers, anything else being illegal graffiti, but Montreal had some pretty nice pieces, some on the fringe of real, controversial, art that happens to be on a building

I rememeber China Town Montreal from my first visits to the city in high school. There are innumerable restaurants with hanging ducks and piggy parts all about. I need to come back and eat there again. All I got this round was some bubble tea

It was in this craptastic building that we stumbled on the real thriller of the trip. In this plain Jane, relatively unguarded warehouse was set on display the entire cache of King Tuts treasure. Every toothpick and mummified mouse they found in the tomb was there, right down to the boy king himself. For most of my life I’ve wanted nothing more than to dig for treasure in Egypt and there they where for a $15 ticket

At first I thought they all be reproductions based on how close there where to the with now security to be seen. The place was pretty much empty. Gold and ancient objects piled on top of one another like trinkets in a bizarre

It wasn’t until I saw the iconic thrown that I knew it was real and all there to soak in. We where leaving that day in a few hours and I could have stayed there days, pawing over everything and drawing sketches. I was as a child

This figure on the back of his war chariot intrigued me. Some demon spirit of mythology, or perhaps the representation of a conquered enemy that was recognizable to anyone then and no one now. There where so many of these obscure details that you can pass over if your now looking. The very way the chariot was constructed was amazing as well. As if it had been built yesterday

These canes where downright chilling. They depict the tortured bodies of bound prisoners of conquered kingdoms. You have to think they are the representations of once living people and in that world of superstition in which they lived, they had to believe they held the still tortured souls of men for eternity. Imagine the king standing there in front of you holding a cane with your brother’s tortured likeness on it

One golden sarcophagus after another, each one representing countless hours or even years of work. It was all in marvelous scale. Tut’s own body was just a withered, desiccated, shell wearing golden sandals and rings but we retained a quiet dignity. Out of respect of the dead (and curses) I didn’t take a picture of him. All in all I realy think I walked out of that crappy warehouse a different person

Summer Fun

It was a busy summer for sure, but not so busy that there wasn’t time to see some more of our beautiful region and it’s wonders. My sweetheart Meredith is a willing companion and we spent many wonderful days out and about in the warm months. Here are a few excerpts from those days

The first trip Meredith and I ever took together was to Ogunquit Maine in the early Summer. It was fine weather and a beautiful place, but I was sick as a dog. Graceful as always she played a very understanding nurse the rest of the weekend, but at least we had the beach

Our cute little sunstroke shelter

I did manage to get my lobster while I was there. Best to get off the beach and find a shack in the bays where you get the best local hangouts, because they eat lobster too you know

After regaining my constitution I also got some great steamer clams. Worth the trip alone

On the way back through New Hampshire we found this picturesque river scene by which we splashed a moment and shared some adult beverages. We still talk about it today

In late July and August the Saratoga Springs Race Track opens with near a month of continuous horse racing. It’s only a short jaunt down the highway from Burlington and a good weekend trip (especially on a Monday and Tuesday) It’s BYO in a huge picnic atmosphere and whether you win your rent or loose your boots it’s always a good afternoon

We stayed the night at Pop’s Lake, which is a short ways from the track

The place was empty on a Monday and Pop informed us that we could get a cabin for the night at the same price as a site. It was a cozy little place I could have lived in all year.

A nice view of the pond through the abundant trees

While looking for fire wood I found a bevy of chanterelle mushrooms that I cooked later with some butter.

On the way home we followed the Hudson up stream into the mountains. It is a fine drive on a warm day and we where in no hurry

We stopped for a lunch of cheese, fruit, baguette and beer on a sunny stretch

We also happened on this brewery in Schroon Lake, and adhering to our brake for breweries policy we here inclined to stop. Paradox Brewery has some wonderful beers produced by a former pilot and his wife and it is well worth hitting the fat left peddle if you happen to pass by

Our good friend Amy’s family has a camp on the Champlain and we visited whenever we could. A nice place to relax and heat the grill

There are beautiful sunsets on teh lake that one does not expect in a land locked state. Vermont is the West Coast of New England for sure

With all that water flanking our fare city it is all the more imporant to get out on it. Late in the summer I realized a dream and bought a 21 foot sailboat. I only got it out once this year but what a day. Next year it will be a constant

One of the few trips my sweetheart did not accompany we was on my annual crabbing trip to New Jersey. Most of the world is Jersey ignorant if not outright bigots, but those who know can come find bald eagles roosting and snatching up fish just 45 minutes from NYC

Jersey blue claws are so abundant on a sunny August day at high tide that you can fill a bucket with only the largest crabs and feel fine chucking back the scrawny ones.

We had traps and hand lines, but the most fun was simply scooping them up with nets right off the mud flats with mud squishing between your toes

My grandfather used to say that Jersey crab meat was a sweet as a nut. It’s true. I’ve been eating them all my life and have no other retirement plans but crabbing and fishing every day. Target date 2048

In the Shark River Inlet, our home team waterway, we landed about 15 or more snapper blues in under 30 minutes as we hooked into a school. They are boney little fish but are great with a spicy rub and some beer

Back in Vermont in late summer finds me most afternoons walking in the knee high lake waters pondering the beauty of its natural phenomenon

And enjoying the site of my lady and her friendly beast out doing the same

Weddings

I love to do weddings.  It’s one of the few time you can  through a party for yourself and invite practically everyone you know.  Food should be a big part of that experience but often that is not the case.  With all the expense involved, and the countless caterers looking to Costco’s freezer section for answers, weddings aren’t necessarily the culinary destination it could be.  Humbly we do what we can to provide good food to folks, most of which are on a tight budget and paying their own way.  This year was the first time I’ve done weddings as my own company, and we did six weddings this year, all different in scope and budgets.  The most rewarding thing about the process has been the heart felt thanks of the guests and family, and they are what makes preparing a feast a joy.  Like normal I have managed to take very few pictures, but here are a few

In our first season we had a wonderful sampling of the barns in Vermont that have been refit to host weddings. Each ones has it’s own charms and all are sure to feature fine old wood work and plenty of room.

A spread of local cease and differnt salume, pickled things, as well as dried and fresh fruit.

The crown of many appetizer displays is a often a dip dispay like this trio of hummus. The flavors are compelmentary so it doesn’t matter if they mix

Part of adventure catering is cooking the best you can with the equipment you have at hand. For weddings at mountain top lakes, past the point I would be able to lug the trailer, we bring out the tailgating unit. The grill is good for heating pans or roasting some corn. The fryer was fine for producing the fried chicken we set for this wedding lunch. I’d love to bring this settup to a football game fore suer

It’s also about thinking on your feet sometimes. When you don’t bring the racks to hold your pans you can either fold into a ball and start crying, or make a plan. Here some bricks are used to highten the pans and hot bricks inside to weigh the pans down and heat the pan on top. It worked fine and no one noticed the difference. I think it even looked nicer

Weddings are also a chance for us to do something different than the foods we normaly do, like this country pate wrapped in bacon before being cooked, cooled, and sliced for a display

It’s also a time to for big batch cooking like the hundreds of rolls needed for BBQ sandwiches.

I like to bring the smoker to through a little smoke in the air the day of a wedding.

At night when the mountains turn red in the setting sun you remember why you love this countryside

South End Truck Stop

In May 2014 I got together with Arts Riot at their old gallery on Pine Street for what we where referring to as the South End Truck Stop. It was in the 40s that night and raining to boot, and only one other truck (Burger Barn) showed up.  Folks did come out though and it wasn’t a bad nights business.  From there Truck Stop has grown and thrived, and is now one of the summers premier attractions.  In a parking lot on Pine Street, behind the current Art Riot gallery space, we put on an impromptu food court.  Blocking the alley entrances to the lot we can monitor age and serve beer within.  It gets very busy Fridays and it has been a learning process in making things efficient and just preparing enough for everyone has been a challenge.  With a year under our belts this summer was a little more ideal, but you never know what you might see a the night unfolds.  Maybe an employee comes impossibly ill and has to leave? Perhaps your fryer gets water in it and overflows everywhere? Maybe a stiff wind takes a vendors beach umbrella aloft and slams it down point first, nearly impaling a child?  This is a very short list of happenings over the two years and counting, and I can’t wait to see what happens next

 

A sea of bodies looking at you in hungry desparation can sum up truck stop for sure. I managed to take these few pictures before we had a line, otherwise it’s all business

Adam was pork man this summer. One job. Make pork sandwiches as many times as possible. It is harder than it looks but once you get a system down your good to go. Being a chemistry major at UVM I figured he could handle it

With truck stop doing well in Burlington we decided to take it to the capital. Truck stop Montpelier was smaller in scale but certainly an adorable comunity get together

Like sesame street

 

Spring Survival

Spring is one of the finest camping months one can ask for. The weather is warm days and cool enough nights to keep the bugs away.  New leaves and shoots sprout from every tree and shrub but the forest floor is still visible until the thick summer foliage cloaks the forest in undergrowth.  It’s this time of year that I try and get out for a few days off the grid in the wilds of Vermont’s, or anyone’s wilderness.  I spent a few days off the Long Trail near Camel’s Hump mountain. The weather was perfect and it was a good couple of days (some nude) to slow down and get back to basics before the Summer rush.  I didn’t bring much food aside from a few potatoes in hopes I could find some tendrils and such to sustain me.  Here is what I managed to capture of the trip

Spring swells streams up and makes for some wondrous water features to camp by. After hiking miles up the river and finding no pollutants to speak of I deduced it was safe for drinking, and not only was it delicious but I suffered no ill effects as many are afraid of

This is a spring mushroom called druid or wizard’s saddle. It has a cucumber like taste and is quite pleasant with some potatoes. They don’t keep long or dry well so you have to get them from the source

Slowing down you notice and appreciate the forest life more. It’s every bit as colorful and amazing as a day in New York City, if get close up. This attractive blue bug was just going about its day taking no notice of me. In that way it’s a lot like a New Yorker

Nature’s work in chaotic beauty

Deep in the bush I found this GPS marker set by the Green Mountain Adventure Association. They are set all over the state and in others so people can mark down in their logs that they found it. Maybe a prize? Sounds like a good enough excuse to get out anyway I guess.

Fiddle heads are a great spring green raw or cooked. So attractive too. Food is a miracle

Slowing down you find any number of marvelous things. This optical illusion for one. A reflection in water the give the appearance of a whole through to the other side. Stopped my in my tracks at least

PA Memory Lane

Pennsylvania will always hold a place in my……well I’m not sure exactly what body part or organ, but I like to go back now and then to see what gas drilling has done to the place, and to catch up with the friends and mutants who still call the place home. A particularly thrilling group of roommates from State College where planning to meet at a cabin in the heart of PA’s most spectacular natural splendor, and I had little choice. Pine Creek is also a short saunter away from Williamsport where I learned the five mother sauces and how to flip an egg. It was a beautiful weekend in weather, but under any conceivable circumstances I can’t imagine having a bad time with the people I saw. Interacting with them, in the simplest of terms, is like picking up your favorite book again, or finding that old pair of pants you swore you’d be buried in. Trying on the past in the present, and still feeling that same spirit as if nothing had changed, and really hasn’t. Here is what I remembered to photograph along the way

Billy Bate’s stabbin cabin sits in the Pine Creek river valley in the Tiadaghten State Forest. A fine piece of remote wilderness that is still so close to the mundane world. We used to come here weekends at Penn State, and before that I used to pass the place on kayaking trips in the valley before I knew any of my current friends. That’s how things work sometime.

The stream behind the cabin runs out of the valley primaeval, and is a audible and visual delight that is the hardest part of walking way from the site at the end of a trip

Random beauty

Should be live to 90 I would be ashamed to do so if we still didn’t play beer pong when we got together. On a pro table none the less. There was talk of who was champ but I put that to rest when I arrived

I can and do cook all manner of outdoors, wood fired foods, but in these circumstances it is all about the hotdog. Hotdogs till you can’t stand to look at on, and then you have one more. Classic white trash style with yellow #5 and a folded slice of white bread for a bun

One thing about PA is there is no shortage of Penn State branded goods to be had, and you’ll usually find it a random households and backwoods layers. Wasn’t bad yeller mustard

My favorite hotdog innovation is the peanut butter and hot sauce dog. Smokey, salty, fatty, nutty, spicy, tangy, crispy, fabulous

My favorite fireside snack is the roast onion, left whole in the embers of a fire to char in their own fire proof cooking case. When you peel back charred outer layer you have a marvelous pearl

A better baked potato. Fill it with peperoni and onions and you have it. Add cheese later on or it’ll scorch

Being Easter weekend peeps where in abundance. Not bad toated but so chemical it can be unnerving

Let one burn like a marshmallow and you get a freaky mass that looks like and alien’s egg sack

A new one for me is the Mountain Pie, as Robin called it. A white bread sandwich packed in a type of cast iron waffle press and backed in the coals until it becomes a self contained calzone of sorts. It’s far from a new things, and with endless possibilities for fillings and the general bomb proof cooking process I think it’s bound for a comeback

Pizza pocket mountain pies

The Pine Creek running along the valley walls. It’s not the dramatic and savage beauty of Yellow Stone, but these valleys are older and every bit as majestic

Howard and his new girlfriend Brooklin (squirl dog). No means no boy

A short ways away in a different valley is the Little Pine State Park. After everyone else left I stayed the day there in the sun to enjoy the spring day

The waters are very clear and have a turquoise hue from mineral deposits washed in from mining a hundred years prior. It was about 40 degrees but I had to swim it on a warm day like that. Across the valley was a bald eagle nest, and the eagles flew overhead on the warm thermals

The fire department, always playing with their hose

The mighty Susquahana river as it flows past the on and off prosperouse city of Williamsport. I spent a lot of time fishing and kayaking here.

Williamsport was the lumber capital of the East Coast circa 1890. Things got dicy after they cut all the trees down. Lesson learned?

My old kennel of a house on Camble street. A study of what 8 horny and motivated youths who lived a block from a liquor store could do with their time. Obviously it wasn’t paint the trim. When I hear the word college my mind drifts back there

On a trip to see some nearby waterfall with my friends Zack we stopped at the fine PA institution, the dive bar. PA has some of the best dive bars in the country. Cigarette burnt carpets, 2.50 cheese burgers, very little natural light on even the sunniest of days. Generations of family members can be kicked from the same bar like a right of passage. Always welcome here, no tie necessary

After a fine trip it I was finaly able to visit my favorite dairy in the world, The Milky Way. Standing on route 14 for fifty years their dinner and store has survived both a fire and the death of a master farmer, and is still doing fine. Thank god. Still the best milk I’ve ever had

There own grass fed beef cheeseburger is the mily way. To spite my recomendations it is still offered at the 70s pricing of two and quater.

Spring Break

To anyone who might be able to swing it I highly recommend stealing away at the end of the complaining season, rather than let winter and spring blend together. With two good weeks you leave in blustery winter weather and return to the moist muds of Spring. I thought this late March a fine time to go see my brother in Salt Lake City, and maybe even see my good friend Stefan in Portland Oregon.  I wanted to know what it was like to take a bus across this mighty and dauntingly large country so I did. Something about the antiquated means of travel which once was the pride of the country, like the train system or stagecoach. It was a three day odyssey through some of the country’s saddest and most beautiful country. I met a all sorts of wonderful weirdos, and if I had a video camera I would have had a documentary that would have won Sun Dance festival for sure. Long story short, I saw my brother and good friend and all was bless. Then it was back across the country in hours on a rocket, and sure enough it was a warm and sunny Spring day. Here are the only pictures I managed to take on a bus with no way to charge my phone on most of the trip.

My new pack as I have it laid out. A Burton AK pack, which is water proof and ample to hold the wardrobe. My guitar case lashes to that, which has seen all the countries I have over the years. From there I had my laundry sack which I used to hold a few books and a pillow for the bus. I can’t wait to take it to further destinations

The mountain veiws from my brother’s apartment where quite nice and I was glad to know he wakes up to it every morning

Say what you will about Salt Lake, they do have some nice mountain views. I suspect folks there hardly look up at them anymore, like folks in airplanes who read or sleep during takeoff. Who can be bothered

The switchbacks take you over the mountains to the long plains of Oregon

The velvety hills of Washington that overlook the Columbia river.

So many waterfalls off the highways in Oregon. I’ve often tried to take a picture of it whilst driving but it’s certainly not recomended. So much easier from a bus

While in Portland you have to stop at one of the hundreds or more food trucks. Now days they circle the wagons in constant truck stops food courts. They had a tent for seating indoors, even a TV. A different game then in Burlington

I got a few things like tacos and some Thai.

Even though you get some crossover of ingredients I was still surprised at the depth of menu the taco truck and many others where able to carry. My hat’s off you crazy bastards because I can’t keep that much food around. Folks must be buying I suppose, but there wheren’t many folks around on that rainy Saturday afternoon

Chorizo and a braised pork tacos and a Mexi Coke, the only real Coke. To top off the list of reason I liked the taco truck, real flatware. Somehow they also feel the need to do advanced dishes in their tiny sink. God bless them

I also got a lemongrass pork Thai bon mi sandwich wich was pretty sweet

Flying is as amazing as ancient peoples thought it would be. Leave it to the man to make it suck. Still, there are most amazing views to be had if you care to look. This is Detroit

The Kitchen Collective

No one worth talking to would say that starting a business is easy.  Due to the general flexibility I still manage to command I refer to my own as Fisher Price – My First Business, and it somethings feels more like a high stakes Lego set than an asset.  Still it is certainly not child’s play, and often times you can use a helping hand ( or even a finger ).  In all the fortunes I have found in friends, I have been especial lucky to have some who have made helping business their business. 

Felix and PJ first started Arts Riot in hopes of fostering creative outlets in the community, which otherwise might have remained fallow and undefined.  When they told me a year ago that they would have a full production kitchen, restaurant and bar in their new gallery space on Pine Street I was overwhelmed with the joys of possibility and simultaneously terrified for them, knowing how hard it is to run a restaurant, let alone a gallery and concert venue on top of that.  To their credit they knew better than to try, but only time will tell if the current venture will be harder, costlier, or bring on better success then having a restaurant proper.

The Kitchen Collective, as it has come to be termed, is essentially a restaurant incubator.  A place for the young malformed ideas to become fully fledged, and possibly even leave the nest as birds all their own.  In plain English – we get to use their space and stuff to try and make enough profit or get a big enough following that we don’t have to keep begging for loans or contemplate holding up a gas station.  Each member of this collective gets one night a week to prepare food as if they where a restaurant.  Menu, bar, seating and soon table service, the works.  The mother hen (Arts Riot) keeps a very modest portions of sales to keep themselves in feed, and we retain the rest to fund our dreams – or at least the beer that keeps us going.  My night to shine is Thursday, and we are ready to burn white hot this summer with the outside weather right around the corner.  As far as we can tell, this sort of business structure has seldom if ever been attempted, and it will surly be a study unto itself.  Spirits are high and talk of the future is positive, as I’m sure the banter on the decks of the Titanic was whilst she was still floating tall on the waves.  Still, there is a good energy to the place, and to the people who find themselves associated with it, and that will make all the difference in the future.

So what’s in store for the Collective?  Will they find success?  Will anyone ever stop blaming the weather or economy for failure?  Will they all kill each other over a spatula some day?  No one can say, but the community is intimately tied to the success or unsucess (never say failure) or the venture, so come play your part any day of the week ( especially Thursday) at the Arts Riot Gallery, 400 Pine Street, Burlington Vermont

See more info and menus here

The space itself is part of the great Re-purposing of American, which is most likely the brightest spark in the nations dimming forge. The spot started its life as a factory space in the lumberyards of the old Burlington waterfront. One of the greatest aspects to its revival is that all of us have had a hand in it.

The place had a nice homely feel this Winter when we had some vintage furniture on loan from a dealer next door. Old couch, French workman’s cart as a coffee table, and an expensive Italian lamp from the 60s.

There is a pretty wide range of arts which have been on display at the space. Here a French string quartet played melodious chamber music

Zydeco band on Fat Tuesday brought New Orleans to our door on a freezing eve

There is also plenty of room for innovation, or resurrecting old school ones. Here a high school

The space is also a great way showcase for others in the community who might not otherwise have their food showcased. Here a charming group of Ethiopian women made food from their native home. It was a crash course for them in cooking in a restaurant setting. In either case a good time was had by all

A meat fabrication class being taught in the space

Tying a pork porchetta for a dinner event with my friends at Hen of the Woods. Served with shrimp and grits, it is great to help them put on these dinners for the price of a plate

A big advantage of having the kitchen was that I could stay alive making box lunches for business like 7days, Burton, and others this winter. These where beef short ribs with veggies and potato tarrine

There is also plenty of catering opportunities, and we’re always out to impress and make a few friends. Here is an 11 foot roast beef po boy I made for a New Orleans themed birthday party in February

I like having my Thursday night to play around with dishes and see what folks thing of things. Here are cornmeal crepes rolled and baked like enchiladas

It is also a chance to bring old technology to new use. I got this centry old corn pone pan in Charleston and it has been fun to play with

Fried chicken and biscuits with red sausage gravy

Half roast chicken with gravy, spicy pinapple condiment and sweet potato hash. Simple enough, but I wanted to see how it was recieved, how it eat, and how it picked up on the line

Experimenting with different types of corn based breads, these knots are made of bread with a base of leftover grits. The richness of the grits makes the bread pull apart like string cheese and are pretty special. Can’t wait to see what else is possible

You can make on thing at home and be pretty happy, but our kitchens are all about finding the fastest way to make the best product the most amount of times. Making bluecheese and bacon beignets one at a time would be a full time job if you cant find a way to make around 50 at once

And all would be lost if each one didn’t puff up right and sill its encapsulated cheese every time

Thankfully there has also been plenty of time to practice all those old standards which will make this next summer season the best ever. Curse my sole if I ever present you a dry brisket

Winter Wonderland

It is surly a controversial statement, but I like the snow.  It wasn’t for the way it constantly impedes our travel I’m sure others would feel the same way.  It is a glittering phenomena of nature that for all we know may be found on only an handful of planets in this or any galaxy.  It casts fresh white sheet over the dirty streets, covering our constant attempts to pollute them.  As amazing as snow is the ice, which forms in thick sheets over the lake, as clear as crystal and not valued a tenth as much.  There is no obligation to walk whistling through the streets all winter long, but constant griping also makes you too boring to note.  If someone like myself (who often flees the winter months and has an outdoor business and doesn’t snowboard or ski well enough to try) can find the bright side of the hinter months, perhaps everyone could take anther look.  Still, there will be no tears when spring has sprung

The lake freezes over by February, creating a ten mile land bridge for any brave enough to trek across it. In the past vehicles have ventured out, bringing supplies to build cabins on far flung islands. It takes testicular fortitude for sure, since you insurance policy is void the minute you set a tire on the ice

The town at play on a Saturday

The Queen city from the lake

The murderous beauty of icicles averaging three feet long and five pounds. Particularly dodgy on a day that crests the freezing mark, sending them down like a booby trap meant to impale Indian Jones.

The peculiar phenomena of snow plowed up against the side of a car, leaving a perfect impression when the car moves on.

I had gotten a pare of old cross country skies way back when, but I didn’t have boots for them in my size. Thanks to duck tape was able to fashion a pare that worked in the same. Two broom handles worked fine as ski poles

I only made a few short odysseys, but you don’t have to go far to feel like you have. Whole wildernesses where conquered on similar contraptions, and it makes for a trip in time, not just space

Mardi Gras prompts a winter occasion to get out of our respective caverns to feel the crisp air and crush a pint or ten. There is a parade and much merriment, or at least as much as one can muster in the 20F cold. These two are my pick for king and queen, not just because it’s hard to walk on stilts – but because they have the least amount of layers on, and it’s hard to walk on stilts

New Orleans

While part of my Southern trip, New Orleans is a destination all its own.  I hadn’t been there in a long time, and there was a laundry list of things I wanted to do, and I got to most of it I suppose.  My old friends Andy and Stacy had moved there from Puerto Rico and I was just as exited to see them as I was the crescent city.  We ate, we drank, we woke up late and stayed up early, and a good time was had by all.  While I don’t expect to live there anytime soon, I am looking forwards to a return trip as soon as possible.

Andy and Staci had a nice crib in the seventh ward, close to down town and Bourbon Street. Super high ceilings and amazingly a fireplace in every room in the house, although boarded up. A rough looking neighborhood to suburbanites, but I was waved to by every neighbor I saw

lovely live oaks lined the neighborhood streests

The house next door was boarded up and abandond, which is still a sad reality of New Orleans. It has started a rebuilding boom as well, and you can get one of these fixeruppres for $100 on a good day. For the entrepid few, like my friends, there are amazing things for the urben picker to find. In the yard and under this house they found a nice vase, old oil lamp, and Mardi Gras tokens from the 70’s and 80’s

There wasn’t much inside except a few lawn chairs for the porch. It was in a house like this one that Staci and a friend found a box of old photos from the 70’s of a traveling church group that was preaching in impoverished neighborhoods in New Orleans. Each one was so expressive and captured a tiny portion of life and times. It is a treasure of New Orleans history that could have easily been lost forever

Young men in their Sunday best saying prayers from a folding pulpit, in a inauspicious project housing neighborhood near the French Quarter. There are about one hundred of these pictures, each on individually mounted on poster board at some point and then forgotten. To look at them you really find a human connection. My friends have plans to exhibit them at an art gallery some time, but have had legal issues over displaying them. I’m putting them on the net regardless. They are to precious to turn away from

This one might be my favorite. The minute you see her warm smile it speaks to you through time and across culture. It is just pure human beauty

Just fellas chilling on a porch. What are they thinking about?

Playing hoops on a court with a tattered net. We’ll never know if he made that shot. I like to think….

Andy and Staci worked at Restaurant August, John Besh’s flagship downtown. I was luckily able to stage in for the day, and even though Besh was out on a hunting trip, I could see his place was in good hands while “daddy” was away. I cut a few things and helped out where I could. During service I fried the oysters for the menu, a job that saw a lot of shrink that night due to taste testing.

Here Andy is rolling sausage in cabage leaves for a charming, old worls type resentation

They made a lot of their own charcuterie like headcheese, bacon, and this andouilli sausage.

Right from the start they passed me all kinds of good eats from the menu. This is a tiny egg custard with brown butter, wich is an amuse type starting bite

A plate of cold foie gras presentations which where all rich and decedent. I’m willing to send a lifetime as a overstuffed goose if karma says it’s wrong to eat the stuff.

Amazing warm head cheese with little pieces of batter fried pigs tail. So good

Something I saw on the menu that I would have bought for sure was this dish of rabbit and raviolis stuffed with huitlacoche and black garlic. Such a unique flavor, I highly recommend it to any who make it down there.

This sweet potato ravioli was good as well, but it’s hard to beat that rabbit dish

Blackened beets in a great vegetarian dish. Something similar might appear truckside this year

Tiny banana pudding thing.

They even included me in the family meal that night, which was a baked potato bar. I needed all this food to counterbalance all the drinking we did later that night until about 5AM

On my New Orleans bucket list was to get a propper muffaletta sandwich. This butcher shop had the goods for sure

The key is making the bread, which would have been good on its own. They also make their own deli meats for it, like the ham, bologna, and head cheese. Put that all together with a olive and pickled veg salad and you have a mighty sandwich for sure. Checked of the list in pen

Getting a po boy was another lister that couldn’t be missed. Parkway Bakery lays claim to having the first and coining the fraze after feeding all the “poor boys” in the factory work lines.

The original poor boy (right) was fried potatoes with gravy, set here next to a modern catfish po boy. In any case the true secret to sucess is in a fine, fresh, French bread. Double check

The reemergence of King Cake means it’s almost time for Mardi Gras. Baked into every cake is a tiny plastic baby figure. If you get the piece with the baby in it you have good luck for the coming year, and next year you have to buy the cake. A nice bakers scam. It’s a fine cake which is essential a large, gaudy, circular, cinnamon bun

Gumbo was on my list for sure and I got it a few places, but it is surly tourist buzz word and your never sure if your going to get the real deal. It takes an hour of stirring to make the proper brick roux, and your can’t skip the step. In a fast paced word you’ll surly find short cuts. I’m pretty sure this one got slurried (corn starched). Not a bad tasting soup though

The daiquiri is a New Orleans institution. I had hear tails of the drive-through daiquiri shop and damned if it ain’t true. Lordi what a day that was. I can die happy now, but preferably not behind the wheel holding a daiquiri

The French Quarter is the New Orleans people come to see. It is tourist hot bed for sure, and I was worried that after Katrina all of New Orleans would be rebuilt in a “Disney Presents New Orleans” fashion (PG and lame). Luckily the old city would be harder to change then rebuild and it’s all there.

Music is a New Orleans constant. It begs the ponderous question of why it’s not the case everywhere else in the world. Why in New Orleans do young people define themselves by taking up these passions while just about 99% of the country is satisfied to choke down recordings of Katie Perry’s caterwauling ? Even the homeless of city are richer than that. Brass bands roam the streets. Acoustic Ween covers on the corner. Violin, washboards, and the haunting sound of distant saxophone permeate the air, like peep toads in a swamp.

The classic second story balcony, with its rod iron railings. This particular house was home to Madam La Laurie who got her jollies torturing folks in her attic in the 1800’s. It’s a hell of a town

Bourbon Street is an institution. I was glad to find a dirty street instead of a Vegas strip of crap. Bars, topless shows, juke joints, and music coming from every pore, as god intended. Part of New Orleans’s charm is the liquor to go laws that allow you to drink like a man, on the street and to your own liking. If you dig a little you can still find a place to get one for under $5. Think alleyway. As you can see it is not the madhouse of Mardi Gras, but I like it this way. I’ll come back some day for the shit show

Something I wanted to do was visit the cemetery in the move Easy Rider, where they ate acid with some prostitutes. Classic. The place probably hasn’t changed much since then, but it got deeper that than. In the movie, during the scene there is a constant pounding sound of a pylon driver in a building site next door, which is artfully used in the scene. They were building the project housing from the photo my friends found. That same housing is now condemned and being torn down and rebuilt, which means driving pylons. The whole time you could here the exact same sound as was in the movie. I don’t think any movie set I’ve seen delivered like this

The famous tombs in the old cemeteries are something apart for sure. As I understand it whole families are buried in these tiny brick mortuaries. How do they fit? In a miracle of green energy each tomb gets so hot in the summer that it acts like and oven and over two years the body is turned to dust. Dust moves to the back and new body goes in. Ghastly to most people I’m sure, but the whole family is together and that is what it’s all about. Don’t save one for me.

You can see inside the cracked ones, but it is an all consuming darkness that even the light on your phone (the height of technology) can’t penetrate. I figured a flash photo would have gotten a shot, but that would have been rude. What if in the future people when poking through the dumpster I was buried in?

The project houseing was fenced off to keep people like us from picking around in them, which we surely would have. Fences are one thing, but a sign like this is another. We didn’t see any dogs, in fact lots of cats, but you don’t call the bluff of a sign like that

There is so much art in New Orleans it is staggering. The city itself is just a master work of many human lives. You can find lots of great pieces like this one in my friends house. The medium is spray paint on newsprint.

I help where I can in this world, so if you want that chair we passed I’ll go get the pickup and it’s yours

My last night with my friends we decided to dine in, so we got a mess of shrimp and crabs and boiled them up with sausage and corn. Clean out hte sink real good and just toss it all in to drain

Staci got some oysters and made her families oyster stew. Very simple and rich. I don’t believe I realy understood oyster crackers util now as well. In a soup like this they become like dumplings. I’ve never been a soup cracker man, but I get it now

The last few hours in town I headed back to the French Quarter while my friends had to work. The music always plays, and may go on forever.

One last food I had to find was a good beignet (little fried doughs like a doughnut). Cafe Du Monde was supposed to have the best and I can’t dispute it. Covered in a comical amount of powdered sugar I wasn’t sure, but they where nice and yeasty, and the powdered sugar steams on the hot beignet and becomes like an icing. A fine morning it was

The mighty Mississip. Not a bad water feature but useless other than eye candy and comercial highway. A brain-eating amoeba has been reported killing those who manage to get water up their nose; like that ever happens swimming. It’s supposedly in the tap water as well, but the city is able to make an uneasy piece with that. That wasn’t in Huck Finn to my knowledge but times change I suppose. And with that New Orleans I will bid thee adieu

Southern Sabbadical

The winter slow season is a fine time to get out and see something new, or reconnect with old friends.  In two weeks I was able to run a pretty good loop of the South.  Down the Charleston for a few days, then across Georgia and the Florida panhandle to Mobile and New Orleans.  I stayed in New Orleans a few days with friends before making my way back North through Nashville. It was a fine trip and it always rejuvenates my creativity and sends memories flooding back.  Here are the pictures I managed to take of the fine food I managed to get my hands on.  I will give New Orleans its own chapter so as not to crowd this one.

One things for sure, it was not a total escape from the winter chill, but South Carolina was no Vermont either. Icicles and palmeto trees together says it all

Aside from the shrimp and oysters, the low country was some wonderful BBQ. JB’s is fine country stop on the highway south of Charleston and they’ve been at it for years

$10 will get you an all you can eat lunch buffet pork, ribs, and all types of sides. I stopped just shy of too stuffed to move

Carolina is know for vinegar based sauce preparations, but hardly anything is know of the mustard based BBQ of South Carolina. Light and tangy and often a little sweet, I highly recomend when in Rome.

One thing you are sure to find at most every BBQ place on Earth are the artful renderings of pigs. Some where between homage to the noble animal and a morbid joke, you are sure to be surrounded by playful and smiling swine while you stuff your face with the real thing. Sure are cute

Charleston has made some fine steps in brewing since I lived there last. It was good to see. My old friend from the McCrady’s days Jason and I tasted some at Westbrook brewery. The dark beer is aged with on doughnuts, as in they throw doughnuts in the vat as it ferments. Tasty, but I wish I could have had the doughnut too

My old friend Travis Grimes is now the head chef at Husk Charleston, and has been since it opened. A spare room in his house doubles as a larder for Husks impressive array of pickled odds and ends. What I wouldn’t give to have a room like that. Some day

One good thing about driving the biways of Georgia is that when you’re hungry you can pull off anywhere on the road and you’re sure to find something good. When you walk in someplace and your the palest one there you realy hit the jackpot. In Georgia it was roadside fried chicken

Three thighs is too much to even handle, and at $1.5 each they friendly to the culinary savvy traveler on a budget

I stopped in Apalachacola Florida, down on the Gulf Coast. It’s a tiny town that is nearly deserted out of the tourist season. I had never been but I knew the name by the oysters which are a regional specialty and chief export. I good people I met begged me not the judge this batch too harshly, since fresh water rain had dulled their wonderful brininess. Until that moment I never realy understood baking oysters with cheese, bacon, and all maner of things, but I guess it can rebuild the flavors that may have been lost, if anything can. Still a wonderful stop for the night

I spent an afternoon in Panama City, on what was surly the warmest and sunniest day of the trip. I kidnapped my brother and took him here for spring break on time, and it hasn’t changed much. A lot quieter right now

I got some fish tacos at a little roadside stand, pretty similar to my world. If only I could put a roof over head and have a fire pit like them, but some day

Sunset over the bay in Mobile Alabama

The highway into Mobile is flanked on either side by massive fish fry restaurants sitting atop pylons. Here touristy merges with the authentic and you can actually trust what your getting. Seafood all pulled from the bay sitting right behind the place

Three soups I was told they were noted for. Crab chowder (white) gumbo (right) and turtle soup (left). They where all good, although the garlic in the crab soup made it taste like pasta sauce. The bits of turtle in the soup are quite beefy in flavor. Differnt from the sea turtle I’ve had in the Caribbean

They basicaly fried every creature of the gulf and sent it out to me. The turnip greens I got for a side where also wonderful.

I had been told that while in Alabama I had to get hold of some white BBQ, a thin mayonnaise and vinegar based sauce with pepper. I was running out of options on the highway so I pulled into Jim ‘n Nicks BBQ, which I know was a chain. That usually spells death to good food, but I was pleasantly surprised. They make all their own products in store and I thought the did a fine job. I only stayed to get a taste of the white stuff and a few deviled eggs, but I was worth the stop. All chains, and really all restaurants should follow their example, but I don’t suspect many will

Some smoked chicken and turkey with some white BBQ. They didn’t even charge me for the taste

In Nashville I stayed at a new hostel in town. Most people can’t imagine staying someplace where they have to share the room with strangers. Honestly you are only ever strangers for the first hour you’re there, and then you’ve met everyone and your staying with friends. Not to mention you get a room in the middle of town with a river view for $30 a night. For that price I would have stayed with everyone in the same bed

I always take the top.

They had a fine kitchen facility there as well, so you can save some cash in town

Hostels often have facilities you won’t find at even the nicest hotels. Pool table, fuzzball, guitars to play, books to read. I borrowed a book and I promise to mail it back when I’m done

I had hoped to finally catch up with my old friend Sean Brock at his newest restaurant Husk Nashville, but fate intervened. A week prior he took a spill on some ice and hurt himself pretty bad and was indisposed. I would have liked to see him, but I did get to see the new place and it is everything you would expect of a man on top of his game these days. It’ll take more that some ice to stop him

If I opened a restaurant tomorrow on my budget it would be folding chairs and snack tables

He always manages to get the best in wood fired technology. This is a grill with some wood burning behind the grill as well as underneath. I can figure it works on a principal I had heard him talk about before, where as you have slow coals under to heat things through and a hot fire along side to act as a broiler. The whole thing sure was shiny

Good placement of Willie’s likeness, right in the open kitchen. Would inspire me all day.

Hams curing in thier wine cellar

The pride and joy of Nashville is the honky tonk. Good old classic country played live any time of day or night seven days a week. Everyone works for tips, and hard too, so when they pass the bucket around it takes a special kind of A hole to look the other way.

On a Friday night there are countless joints to stop in, making competition for that dollar pretty stiff. The crowd was lukewarm at best while this guy is wounding on the piano like crazy. Short of lighting himself on fire I don’t think there was much else left to try. It’s a tough business and a town of as many broken dreams as big breaks, maybe more.

Tourist friendly prices are a fine feature of Nashville and make a good destination on trip. The recession special was all the food I needed. Fried bologna sandwich with chips and a PBR for $5. I had two while in town

I ate at Jack’s BBQ last time I was in town and I like it for sure. I thought their original place as a quaint little slice of heaven and I wouldn’t mind having a little shack like this some day

When your eating on the road and your going from bent to broke pretty quick, you can always save a buck at meal time with the ramen special. I got the good ramen from the Asian market in Charleston, along with some canned eel and fine hot sauces. 10 cents for a cup of hot water in a gas station and your off

The last stop on the road was in York PA to see my good friends Jerry and Megan Peffer, with whom I had gone to culinary school. It was playoff day and I had to get off the road to see the game anyway. Jerry set out this spread of lamb shoulder he grilled whole with some naan bread he made and grilled. More that I expected or deserved but well appreciated and delicious

And where did I find this charming cafe with it’s vintage license plates and an entire room of antiques as well as food? Virginia, Louisiana, PA? In my home town in New Jersey of course, and your racist if you think we don’t have fun and kitschy places there. The General Store has been open for 50 plus years and I had to get the age old porkroll egg and cheese sandwich to top off my trip

Christmas

I haven’t been home for the holidays in four years.  It’s not that I didn’t want to be there, which makes it all the much harder.  I love the Christmas holiday.  Lots of eating, gift giving, and everyone is that much more tolerant of each others bullshit – if only for a little while.  Whenever I’m home for the feasting season I try and cook as much as I can for as many people as possible, so having a party is always a good way to feed a mass at once.  When you invite the church choir you have charming singalongs as well.  It was a Dickens of a party, straight from it’s a wonderful life.  On top of that you have my families usual holiday traditions which I remember as a lad, like the dusting off of the VHS tape of Christmas specials we pulled from TV in the 80s.  A time warp of Christmas cheer.  Here are a few pictures, and I hope everyone’s holiday was a warm and glorious, with many more to come.  God bless us ever….you get the picture

The cornerstone to my families holiday festivities is the cheese ball. It appears Christmas eve and slowly shrinks until you find the last golf ball sized chunk in the fridge some time in January. It’s a vintage recipe for sure, but one worth diging up year after year

I’m the only one in my family who likes eggnog, so killing a jug on my own takes some doing. A little brandy really makes it something.

For the party I wanted some finger type foods, and with the advancing age of most of our guest list, I figured it was best to keep things simple. Chicken parm on a stick. Why not?

The hummus trio. Practice for the weddings I’ve been promising it’s appearance at this summer.

My dad gets out fishing in the summers now he’s riding the retirment train. Fresh flounder freezes nice and makes for a good fry in oil and butter

The fish with a little lime aoili and some tomato mac and cheese and broccoli slaw

The roast beast. I don’t get to cook a lot of prime rib these days, and it’s aways a site when you cut into it and find a nice medium rare center

My birthday in January is the final holiday of the season. My mother was keen to prepare something for me, so I requested my grandmothers old recipe for chicken paprikosh. A Hungarian classic of stewed chicken, onions, potatoes, and paprika. Simple and delicious. It smelled the same as it did when my grandmother used to prepare it in her harvest gold colored kitchen.

Smoked Pork

In the three years I have been embarked on the journey of self discover and financial disconcert I refer to as Southern Smoke, it has assuredly been the Smoked Pork Sandwich that has been the driving force. In all this time I have tried to figure the exact numbers, but we’ve surly sold several thousand pounds of the stuff by now. BBQ folks I’ve talked to, young and old, refer to something called the BBQ curse, where you become sick of the smell, taste, and just sight of the stuff. It might be true after a lifetime, but there has never been a batch I have finished cooking that I didn’t immediately pull a warm chuck off to get a bite of that wonderful stuff. I have spent the last three years working on the methods I use and the general recipes for rubs and sauces, and although I’m happy with the general product I am still changing it and trying new things all the time. Now that we are getting more and more local pork things are only getting better and I look forward to a many breakfasts of BBQ (being as it is always ready in the early morning). Bellow are some illustrations of the process as it unfolds today.

My home spun spoker is testament that it doesn’t matter what you use, the results will make the determination. Pretty low tech, it is a halved 50 gallon drum (new) that was mounted on the frame of a Coleman grill that was found on the side of the road. I we built the whole thing for the price of a six pack, for use of my friend tools, and it has more that paid for itself. I call it a “Slack Jaw” smoker, because the only way to control the fire within is to crack open the lid, giving it a crooked mouthed appearance. I don’t know that it has an street value, but this piece of ghetto technology is priceless to me

Fire is surely important in the process. I’ve been using some divine Vermont ash wood in conjunction with some smaller clippings of fruit woods. I’ve recently come upon a cache of cherry wood that has made for some great results

I always use whole spices for the rub, and grind them just beforehand. It’s not much of a secret: coriander, allspice, cinnamon, and black pepper, along with a healthy coating of salt. I’m pretty sure it is unique among rubs, (aka, “Pitmasters” would scoff) but you can’t mess with the results

I always bath the meat in cider vinegar first. This helps the spices to stick to the meat, but also acts like a marinade that works on the meat at low temperatures over the next few hours

Spice crust

Smoking and the subsequent cooking is a time consuming process for sure. It takes about four hours of exposure to the fire to develope a smoky flavor, and a further six to eight hours covered to cook the meat fully. The meat will go from raw, to a fully cooke yet tough as nails state, to a more slacked and tender state an hour or so later.

A chunk like this makes for a fine cross sections, and illustrates the desired effect. the red staining the smoke penetrating the meat, while the black above that is the spice encrusted “bark” which is loaded with flavor. Everything pulled apart and mixed together vinegar and apple juice or cider make for a fine meal, with or without sauce

Domestication

When I grow up I want to be an explorer, or live as a nomadic hunter with ancient sea peoples, but neither of those recruiters where present at college job fairs. National Geographic stated that they had located a gene (N9) which is believed to cause wanderlust, so it’s at least science and not a childish fantasy to want to see over the next rise. I’ve always loved my chosen career of cooking and its enabling me to travel, which is like a toned down, Lego version of exploration. For longer than this blog has been in existence I have worked, studies, lived and traveled in some amazing places. This time of year I would often be on my way to a new location, but this year I am attempting to stay put. I don’t expect people to understand, but it is not easy. Not only will it get cold as hell in a while, but my core business is literally frozen up for the season – but aside of that, I often feel a general uneasiness and need to move.  I have plenty to do of course and a good home here in Burlington, but will that be enough to pacify the constant and nagging urge to stow the gear and make way?  Like my Hungarian Hussar ancestors, who roamed the mountain steps on horseback slaughtering Romans, there may come a time when a sedentary life of farming becomes preferable to an unpredictable life of adventure. I don’t’ think I’m quite there yet, but who knows?

These are the pictures of things I enjoy about my house in Burlington, which is one of the first places I’ve lived for longer that a few months in 10 years.

I’ve lived on Ipod and Pandora for years, but now I can get back to basics. I found a record collection on the side of the road once, so I have one, but my me roommates have a wealth of material. Old soul and motown music, 60s rockers, and 80s neon synth, it’s all there. I will spend some time this winter pawing over it for sure

My roommates vinyl

I can also display some of my fine art collection…this is most of it. I acquired this piece in the Caribbean

I like maps. They let you know where you stand

My guitar tree hasn’t been fully together, with all three instruments, since college. The ability to play more music is a grounding factor in a place to live

No cable, but I got this old TV with DVD player from my late grandmother. The library has a wealth of DVDs of all kinds, from Monty Python to 12 hour documentaries from Japan about the Silk Road. I should at least be entertained

My literature collection is around 200lbs, so I don’t often take it with me. Mostly cookbooks, but there are also some fine works of literature, philosophy, poetry, or just books on how to build stuff. Combined with the library I will have plenty to squint at

Every so often we have a family dinner with my roommates and friends. It’s an adorable get together, and I make any excuse to cook anyway, so why not.

In the background is our piano, which I am slowly becoming less inept at

Stuffed local pork loin

Chowder Fest, Long Beach Island NJ

I’ve been participating in the Chowder Fest for as long as the business has been in existence, and I hope to keep doing it as long as I can. Nowadays it’s a fine excuse to see my family and friends in New Jersey for a week, but it has always been a thrilling challenge of logistics, finance, and culinary execution that first intrigued me years back. How do you make 160 gallons of chowder and haul it an hour down the Parkway without loosing your shirt or your mind in the process? I suppose we haven’t lost either yet, and every year it gets a little easier and even fun, dare I say. As things go, this year was the smoothest yet, and next year should be slicker yet. I’m just glad there is still a Long Beach Island to have chowder fest on after Sandy last year

40, 4 gallon buckets getting ready to execpt chowder. Just a visual representation of how much chowder 160 gallons really is

Smoky grilled lobster bodies make a great base for anything, especially chowder. I’m not sure if that is cheating in a chowder fest. but there are certainly no complaints. Thank you Klein’s seafood in Belmar NJ for providing the shells every year

The three pot system has worked quite well. One to knock the chill off at first, one to get the heat up, and one to blend and season it right before service

After three years I’ve finally worked out the best way to keep the chowder hot as my people serve it as well. Chafing dish protected from the wind and heat isolated at the same time

The organizers have found me some bright faced volunteers from the local high school for the past few years. They are a great bunch of kids and I enjoyed talking to them about their future plans, and just to confirm that things are generally the same as they where when I was in school

I thought the setup looked pretty good this year too. Purple table cloths with our classic banner.

A proper centerpiece

I appriecate all the things that the organizers do to put the event on, but celebrity leave porto crappers with flowers and everything…you shouldn’t have

Aftermath

Summer of Smoke 2013

So it’s hard to believe I’ve managed to pay the bills with this business for the past three years, but what started out as Fisher Price – My First Business (ages 10 and up) in now resembling a professional undertaking. Don’t get me wrong, the food has always been a serious matter, but hard knocks and dues necessary to learn the business world has been a heavy load. I am far less naive, trusting, innocent, and no less cynical than I was years ago, but no less hope and determined either. As with most other years I hadn’t thought to take pictures until far to late, so here are a few I managed to take.

The first innovation of the year was this menu board that I painted on the side of the cart. I had dreamed about it all winter and I was amazed how well it actually worked out

On a good day the writing almost looks neon in the sun

Smoked pork’s best buddy is the sauce. Many are ketchup based, but I make a creole sauce like base with onions, garlic, peppers, celery, dried chilies, and a bunch of aromatics. Some people might like that other guys sauce more, but this is just the way I do it, and it certainly isn’t the wrong way

I’m one of the only “BBQ guys” who even touches vegetarian fare, but it’s my pleasure to do so. After all, everyone deserves some smoke and sauce, here it’s just tofu instead of porky goodness. I smoke the tofu for an hour or so and vacuum seal it with sauce to marinade. Veggie folks are always very appreciative of the effort so I will keep it up

Local smoked turkey for burritos

Heavy rains in June nearly drown my smoker, but not this time. I was able to kayak around it though

I had brisket on the menu for thew first time this year. I spent all winter perfecting it in the islands at Fatty Crab. The key is bringing it up to 150F as slowly as possible. That makes for tender meat that retails that fine red color

Charred leeks for a kind of ranch dressing

Smoked cheddar mac & cheese

Crab cake po boy wrap. Creole salsa and remoulade

Fried organic chicken with smoked chili and Vermont maple dressing. No complaints as of yet

Grand Point North was a fine music festival on the waterfront in August. Grace Potter, Government Mule, Trombone Shorty, all kinds of bands

Nice view from our spot. No time to turn and look shortly after this when the gates opened

Tons of slaw to prep for the show

Sousvide pork belly is as high tech as we can get these days, but you make it happen as you can

We kept doing the Sunday South Burlington Farm Market as last year, even though it is hard to rise early enough on a Sunday. It is more that worth it however when my friends like Mr Harvest give me bushels of organic produce or a sandwich

There where so many events this year it is hard to name them all. The Friday Truck Stop, August West Festival at Jay Peak, the Art Hop…it goes on. Here on Pine Street Sunday nights we served at a bike up movie night with the Arts Riot kids. A nice end to the work week for me

Ramps, the green goddess of the wood

Spring is a time of rejoicing for most everyone, save plow drivers. One of the verdant harbingers of this new season of growth is the ramp, or wild leek. I remember my old chef Sean Brock was obsessed with this magical plant a few years back (I’m pretty sure he has a tattoo of them) and I remember hours of trimming them in the kitchen for use in future menus.  My love has remained, strong, but I have often been out of the ramp belt and unable to take part in the harvest until this year. New England is prime real estate for this green gold, and I took a trip to Connecticut to see my old segregate sister Robin and her husband Jay for a ramp romp through the budding forests. Pickings where good/great, and it is no wounder why these plants hold such high esteem

May is a fine month to be in the forest, and Connecticut is as lush in some places as when the native tribes alone knew her

Ramps normally grow in moist soil, and form patches which greatly aids in their collection. They would be indistinguishable to most passers by who where not looking for their leafy shape among the ferns and wild cow parsnip, but after treading through a patch the oniony aroma is unmistakable and alluring

Bright and vibrant, with shiny leaves, crimson stalks, and bright white bulbs, they are prettier than most any vegetable you can find on a food store shelf or even farm market. Unaltered by human’s genetic wants, they are nature’s perfection.

I’m sure there is no machine or harvesting method that could have yielded better results that day. We where like amimals, crazed with the scent of the things. One more, and then another, “just one more”, it was a frenzy. The area was literally covered with them. Here Robin and Jay toil merrily on the forest floor filling crate after crate with our prize

Washing off the muddy bulbs is the first step for processing, and we found a quick and natural way in a clear stream bed

Processing is a long process, so first we eat. Being so close to the seaside there we got some clams to steam. Perfect with a oniony ramp leaf and some citrus

Here we used bacon as a sort of grilling surface to wilt the leafy greens. The eat like spinach only much beter

We had collected so many that every so often we got one with a flower bud. They are also tasty with an herb like flavor similar to asparagus. We sauteed them on some foil

My friends have been at this so long they have made a variety of different things with ramps. Here we blended the leaves and dehydrated them to make blend into ramp powder. They have no formal training, and where unaware that this process they stumbled upon is the same one we used to use in the restaurant years ago

Pickled ramps to remind us of the spring throughout the year, and if it may come again, I will be back with my friends for more

Off The Grid

Whenever I’m back in New Jersey in springtime I try to go camping for a few days in Allaire State Park. The park doesn’t really know about this and that is for the better. The park is basically an iron bog with the muddy Manasquan river running through it, but that is an accurate yet misleading description. Several miles of the park are home to a great diversity of wildlife, and harbors a huge population of white tail deer and wild turkeys all hiding from hunters. The river and its surrounding streams have several fine species to catch, including the trout they stock in the spring. I often go alone, but this year my best friend Jerry was on loan form his wife to come along. In general it is a good time getting back to nature, at a time when the bugs haven’t come back yet. You slow down the pace of things and wonder to yourself what it would be like to live this way forever. A few days later you emerge from the forest dirty but happy

The park has its own unique beauty to it which escapes most everybody. It’s not Yellowstone, but it is every bit a majestic if you look at it right.

Camp site in the swamp. Such a great spot

We fished with nothing but hand lines and where still able to catch some sizable fish like this sucker carp I landed the first day. As you sit with your line on the banks of the river you feel a connection to the people who had been living this way for centuries before Ipads. If I had stayed longer I would have attempted to make my own hooks out of the needle like fish bones left from dinner.

Grilling over an open fire. We stuffed the fish with wild onions which where growing all around the site

Garlic mustard is a zesty spring green that tastes like its name sake. It’s an invasive species from Asia. but I forgive

Wild violets spruce up the bland forest floor, and they are also edible

Puerto Rico

Like the last time I came to the islands I departed from San Juan, Puerto Rico so I could see my friends Andy and Stacy before taking off.  After a white knuckled prop plane ride from Tommy to Rico, I spent a few glorious days chilling with them at their place in Old San Juan.  The one day I staged in with them at the restaurant they work at Marmalade.  We went to the beaches, ate some food, saw a cockfight, the usual itinerary for a trip to America Jr.  I spent just enough time to realize my Spanish is awful, and that it’s time to leave this piece of the world for another day and return to the main land on a 5AM redeye to JFK

Most of the streets in Old San Juan are made from brick, most of it original. The bricks with a blue tint to them where all brought over special from Denmark during the hight of the Spanish wealth and power in the region.

They had been telling me about a guard tower which clung to the cliffs at the bottom of a fort, where tourists couldn’t get to. Not only that, but it is the only tower which was reconstructed in the style of the original bastions. It’s also notoriously haunted by several soldiers who reportedly when missing there over the past few centuries. It is a sketchy hike along jagged rocks, and passing San Juan’s most notoriously dangerous neighborhoods La Pearla, but it was worth it to see this spot with the howling wind and tossing surf all around us

La Pearla, the ocean side jewel of Old San Juan

The kitchen was small, tiny even, and there where cooks and interns everywhere. I’ve pretty good about folding to shapes so people can get by with hot pans

On the line at Marmalade

Pialla bites are one of the restaurant’s shticks, and I made about a million of them while I was there.

These pork cheeks where spot on as well. Here again is an example I felt where the day to day drive of the staff was what made the real difference, and not head chef who everyone confessed to me was a tool.

There is a great little waffle shop in the downtown which made a fine breakfast stop at 2 in the afternoon. This guava and farm cheese waffle was what I was looking for

There are several rows of food stands on the beach, where you can get the best snack foods on the island. They all still run on wood fires, heating oil to fry or just cooking over direct heat for pinchos on a stick

There are hundreds of empanada shops all over town. Like a meat pie in England or New Zealand they are the snack/drunk food of choice for the man on the street

I’m not sure the cock fights are the must do dating tip of Puerto Rico travel, but I do think any open minded soul should go. I was expecting back alley chicken wire arenas with plumes of cigar smoke, but they have their own organized stadium for the purpose right in town. At it’s heart it is a cruel and barbaric practice from another time, which is why it can be take as education. It is a big part of the islands culture, and to this day disputes between farmers can be settled by good fare cock fight, as apposed to shotguns at dawn. Still, it’s a pretty grizzly scene. What’s on the stadium menu?, fried chicken and plantain. They assured me it wasn’t the losers to which I sighed.

A little sparing before the match with a stuffed chicken

Menacing looking barbs attached to the leg turn a chicken from poultry to gladiator

St John VI

It was time to leave St John, beautiful rock of the Caribbean sea. I had some good times along with the work, and here are a few pictures to support that claim. I’m sure I’ll be back some day, after all, it gets cold every year.

My entire experience on St John was greatly enhanced by my mobility which was enabled by my motor scooter. The high hills make it hard to walk from place to place on the island, and gas is murder on Jeep owners. Besides the economy of riding two wheels, it is a thrill to go even the most menial of places. The wind in your hair, the way you feel the curves in the road as you lean into them. Even with the few spills I took on it, I’m a huge advocate of it, and I’ll miss it back home. It’s back to peddle power for me, but I feel a motorcycle is in the works.

It took me a few wekks to get plates for the bike, but I still had to get around. A piece of a FIJI water bottle case made a good standin. Not a bad look alike from a distance, or flying by

There are many ruins on St John from the old sugar planting days. A romantic look into a turbulent past

My favorite stand of bay rum trees growns in the ruins of an old sugar mill. I manage to bring some bayrum leaves back every trip and I hope you have a chance to try some someday

One of St John’s resident donkeys. They worked to plantations for years and now roam the island roads as they please

My friends from La Plancha and I took a trip to Jost Van Dyke on fine day aboard the Kaykoa, the large catamaran crewed by hot island women.

Jost Van Dyke is where the rich come to show off for each other and drink at bars made form sheet metal and drift wood

There are innumerably many great places to swim coral reefs on the island. Fish come and go from bay to bay many times, so what you see will always be different depending on when your there. Besides a great pastime, it’s also a great way to stay fit and feel good doing it.

Post 100

So I apparently been keeping this blog for 5 years and have finally posted 100 times.  I milestone of some sort I’m sure, which I’m sure I would have reached long ago if I had posted more that once every month or so.  I try and look back on all that has happened in the last half decade and it is a myriad of memory and emotion, loving hugs and flash burns, mountain tops and rain soaked spider holes…ups and downs is what I think I’m getting at.  My tattered yet resilient memory will get me though most days, but it’s times like this that I’m glad I’ve kept this blog for so long.  I find myself on lonely nights scanning through the posts, which brings back to mind all  sorts memories.  Friends, places, dishes, life.  I have no intentions of stopping anytime soon, so if you ever wonder what I’m doing or where I’ve been, there is always fireandknives.  Maybe I’ll make it to 1000 one day

The Fatty Crab

This winter I had the fortune of working at one of Manhattan’s finest ethnic fusion concepts, only about 5000 miles from Time Square. The Fatty Crab is a sort of Malaysian tapas restaurant which started in New York almost a decade ago, and in a flight of fancy or divine calling, they decided to set up shop in the oft sleepy tourist rock of St John. No one is really sure what a group of Manhattan chefs and restaurateurs expected to find here, but I know it is a vastly different world then Midtown for sure. After three years I entered the scene just as business was really getting hot, and we where doing 3 to 4 times the business of the previous years every night. The concept lends itself well to the islands, with fish and fresh fruit available from the source, just like in Southern Asia. Most every dish had some heat to it, and I learned a lot about using chilies, and the specific heat profile of each. It was a fun way to spend the Winter months, and it ended to soon for my taste, but it’s time to head North again to forfil my destiny in the Green Mountains.

A strange aspect of my time at the Crab, was that we never had a head chef. As it stood in the kitchen, we all worked stations and looked out for each other and what needed to be done. If someone had and idea for a dish, we mulled it over between us and came to consensus, usually with fine results. I do love being in charge sometimes, but you can’t beat teamwork. Eric and Bow keeping up the line

I’ve talked in volumes about how much I love the fresh seafood in the Caribbean. Spiny lobsters like this one have a pretty imposing and frankly dangerous exterior, but there is a sweet prize under that shell. A tip if you ever get them live, is to let the “sleep” in the cooler for a day before using. You don’t have to keep them live like Maine lobsters and the time they are left to rest softens the meat and improves the flavor and texture.

Working someplace that is financed from above you get to work with some great gadgets which are far out of my current price range, like this Cvap oven. The humidity is controlled as part of the cooking process and it makes for some remarkably tender product

Immersion circulatory are another fine gadget I had the pleasure of working with back in my McCradys days. Took a minute to remember what all the buttons where for

The wok station is something you rarely get to experience in a kitchen unless you specialize in some form of Asian cuisine. They have their own special high heat burners which keeps the pan rocket hot. You have to keep an eye on what your doing and act pretty quick sometimes or the heat will get away from you and you’ll start to burn the goods

Fried rice out of the wok. Chicken, pork fat, shrimp, and a whole over easy egg

If you do anything Asian these days you HAVE to have some sort of kim chi on the menu. We smoke the peppers in ours and did these huge batches at least once a month. You have to make sure and keep up with the demand because it has to sit and ferment for at least four weeks to come close to right

Most nights came to a close with a “recession special”. A shot of whiskey with a backer of pickle juice, and a Schafer to wash the whole mess down. The perfect end to a perfect day

Big Fish

One of the main reasons I come to the Caribbean is to have access to the amazing variety of big game fish which come to our door.  Mahi, Wahoo, Rainbow Runner, Skip Jack, Black and Yellow Fin Tuna; you never know what might be slung over a fisherman’s shoulder any given afternoon.  Some fisherman weren’t able to make it to the restaurant until service had already started and the dining room was full, and they would ask to bring the fish through the back door.  The response is always the same, “bring that sucker right through the dining room”.  A whole fresh 40lb Wahoo is far from a dirty secret.  The fish we get in is fresher than you can get anywhere, and that is a source of pride and joy for us.  Last time we had a Mahi walked through the dining room it got a standing ovation from the guests, and you can believe we sold plenty of fish that night.  Cutting up big fish is one of my favorite things (a passion if you will) and I’m glad I get a chance down here.

Straight from the water most fish have this amazing iridescent shine with colors like mother of pearl. It fades after a day, and I only wish that people could see it.

This 45lb Wahoo is a two cutting board job for sure. It’s important to have sharp knives and penty of clean side toweles before you start so you can be as clean and efficient as possible

I like to start by feeling around the front fins to find the collar bone, then cut down behind the collar and down the head until you reach the spine. Then I cut along the sine form the head all the way to the tail, only deep enough to break the skin

Next you do something that seams counter intuitive to most fish butchery. Following the backbone from the tail you cut down the middle of the fish. This is because the backbone of round fish like tuna or Mahi have a very bulbous spine, and it is almost impossible to cut around it without loosing meat or bending the fillets. You can feel the knife bouncing along the spine and that is the guild to help you make the right cut.

Once you have the back bone cut you can work your knife down the ribs and meet join the two cuts to liberate the whole loin form the fish. The less you touch the meat, and the fewer cuts you make will make for better fillets

You can see the round muscle structure of the fish when you start to cut steaks. When you sear the fillets each line becomes clearly visible and makes for a beautiful plate

La Plancha

The day mankind (+ women) learned that hot metal cooked meat to its pinnacle of succulence the plancha was born. By definition it is a flat piece of iron which is heated to around 500 degrees or more, and used to put the most righteous of seers and golden brown colors on any and all foods it comes in contact with. Plancha is the Spanish word for this, but the method of cooking has many names and is far older than Spain itself. My good friend Andy Allen now commands a restaurant in St John with the most amazing plancha the I have ever seen or heard tails of. They built it our of a half inch thick slab of iron that was raised from a tern of the century shipwreck down here, hence the name of the restaurant Plancha Del Mar, or Plancha of the sea. The super heated metal of the plancha creates the most amazing surface seers and chars, and allows Andy to do some amazing dishes. I have spent some time learning what I can about this machine, and shortly thereafter this post you can expect me to unveil my own plancha creation.

The iron slab was mounted on this two burner wok element which provides the right heat to the surface. To look at it you would think it was built that way in the factory, and maybe some day the big dogs will catch up to our shop class rigs and understand what cooks realy want

These are old school cast iron….irons. They heat up like the plancha and once placed on top of a product you get a two level effect. It’s perfect for items that need a quick seer while not over cooking. In ancient times they used hot rocks or bricks for the same purpose.

One of the best aspects of the plancha is that you can cook a variety of differnt things at the same time. It does take a good cleaning to make sure that everything doesn’t taste the same, but it’s not hard to keep it tight

Beautiful NY strip steak I had the at the restaurant on my birthday. A perfect crunchy char on the outside and sexy mid rare within

Crispy braised pork belly needs to have good high heat to seer properly and the plancha makes that a sience. The chicharone pork skin cracker on top is a revolation as well, but that is another story

 

St Vincent

Before I left the Grenadines I managed to get the motor bike over to St Vincent to spend some time riding the island.  In the end I covered about 200 miles of roads along the coast and into the mountainous interior.  There is an amazingly diverse spectrum of landscapes, from jungles to arid cactus covered desert slopes.  St Vincent is a poor country for sure.  Even the poorest people in America have access to aid programs and public education.  Many people survive financially by selling what produce they can grow or pick from their home.  The streets are lined on all sides with tables and makeshift covered stands selling produce, fish, household goods, or just beer.  Some people sell food, and that is what gets my breaks to squeak.  With uncertain futures and a life of indefinite geographic isolation on their home rock, you really can’t begrudge the people of St Vincent any sort of anti white, or simply anti outsider sentiments.  Aside from the very few “hey white boy” comments I heard in the wind as I sped by, or the surprisingly loud sucking of womens teeth (the universal Caribbean signal of disdain)  I found the people to be quite inviting and friendly, or at least not openly hostile.  In all they welcome visitors to their island, as long as said visitors remember that they are visitors and show the proper respect to the island and its peoples.  I will miss St Vincent and the Grenadines, and it would be sad to leave if I thought for a moment that I would not be back soon.

This is a classical depiction of the national character. The rebelious slave with his cutlas and pipe. Quite an apt representation

Most of the windward (Atlantic) coast of the island looks like route 1 in Southern California

Black sand beaches on the windward side

This women in Kingstown was selling food out of the back of her van. She had a menu board up and five or six pans of different types of things. The line was massive to get her cooking so I got on, and it was worth it

Mutton curry, rice, mac and cheese, beans, $4

Young coconuts have a lot of water and a great taste. They make a natural glass, and a little rum and a splash of lime from a nearby tree and you have a coctail

The Mesopotamian valley is the garden state of St Vincent. It’s a huge volcanic crater with wonderfully fertile soil and abundant rain. I road all through the valley and it was an amazing place

The cliffs of the valley walls shrouded in mist

Small farms dot the valley like this one which is growing bananas and dashine roots. It reminds me very much of the hillside farms I saw in Bali

I stopped for beer now and then at one of hundreds of roadside bars. This one had an amazing view of the valley and the ocean beyond

Hairoun is the local beer of choice. It is similar to Heineken, with German brewers at the plant in St Vincent. Hairoun means “the blessed people” in the old Carib language.

La Soufrier, (sulphere in French) is an active volcano in the North of the island. It las blew in the 70s. I hope it never goes off again, because there are a lot of people living in its shadow

There are waterfalls all over St Vincent from the mountain rains. Dark View falls is on a high ciff and falls into dark pools. You have to believe that this place had a spiritual meaning to the people of the island. If nother else just for the natural air conditioning that blew cool air at the botom of the falls

This amazing, rickety bamboo bridge was on the trail to the waterfall. Always an adventure

New Fruit

One of the main reasons I travel around in to find new things to eat.  Not whole dishes necessarily, but just simply the natural joys of a one place that are unique to that region, and for one reason or another haven’t made it far from their geographic isolation.  New fruits are a special ecstasy, because sweets always bring on a natural high.  I have found myself licking sticky fingers a lot on this island, and here are a few of the fruits that can’t be found on the store shelves back home, even at that fancy grocery store with ostrich eggs.  When you travel someplace new, make sure to keep an eye out for fruit oddities.  Chances are they will be the least expensive part of your holiday, and can bring on a lifetime memory.

The Sour Sop is a crazy lizard skinned fruit which is absolutely amazing, but they don’t travel well even from the fruit stand home, so it is no surprise you can’t find them in the states

The flesh is soft and honey sweet with a banana, melon like thing going on, but it also has a great balancing acidity to it which makes it perfect. It is a juicy mess, so indulge thoroughly, but close to a sink

Jamaican Sorrel is not a fruit, but a flower similar to hibiscus which is used to make an fruity, acidic drink for the holidays. I had seen it on St Thomas and toyed around with it a while, but I had never had the drink as it is traditionally prepared, with ginger and bay rum leaf. It is nicely tart and full of flavor, and even better with a shot of rum.

On the island they call Breadfruit a gift from captain Bligh, and they know their history. Captain Bligh brought breadfruit from Tahiti on his second mission there, after the first one ended in mutiny due to his poor management skills. In the Windward island chain it is one of the dietary staples to this day. It is a little sweet, but treated more like a starch than a fruit. The flesh is unique in that it is one of the only vegetable or fruits I know that goes form being a soft, doughy consistency to a harder one as it cooks. Most everything else is reversed, softening as it cooks. It is truly like bread dough until it is boiled or baked.

Pineapples here are what I believe the original fruits used to look like back when they where first cultivated in Brazil. The crowns are smaller and have sharp, jagged teeth on them, and the entire fruit has an oblong shape. It looks like a pine cone to me. We often squeeze pineapples to see if they are ripe, but that is completely pointless with these guys. The inside has a very complex sweetness that is more like cooked pineapple, and much different than the large, acidic, factory pineapples you see in Cost Co

I freaking love coconuts. The cool, sweet water within, and the crunchy, nutty white flesh; not to mention that they are free, and everywhere. I took a broken knife from the kitchen and take it with me on the bike to crack into them at will. When you cut away the top, opposite the stem side, you get to the shell of the nut, and from there you can cut a small opening without distroying the whole thing. When you finaly cut into the while flesh, you can hear the air seal of the coconut interior breaking. Just like a can of soda, but nothing at all like a can fo soda.

I gathered these up in a washed up fishing net. I didn’t have to look hard, and when I went back later in the day, there where more on the ground

Something to look for in the tropics is a coconut with a small shoot of growth coming out of it, and a few roots on the bottom. This is how the coconut plant propagates itself, but it also makes for a different way of eating it

When you crack it open, you can see that the interior has become a soft white mass. This is a type of root system inside.

The white roots are like a natural coconut sponge cake, and are pretty interesting to taste. Wash them off in the ocean for a little seasoning. This is something that you will never find in a food store, and if you look around your hotel beach you might find one, or if you ask the guy cracking into coconuts on the beach he will most likely know what you are talking about

Island Honey

There are a few ways to truly taste a place.  Drink the water and taste the honey.  Every time a bee produces honey it is different, based on the pollen available, and a microcosm of other factors.  Honey in Colorado is different from Vermont, South Carolina, Europe, Asia….anywhere, and it is true of wherever you go.  Bees have been a major contributer to our agrarian lifestyle for thousands of years, and we would not be at the smug precipices we are, where we can properly thumb our nose at nature, without their help; unless you want to hand pollinate millions of pants yourself.   Even though most humans murder bees on sight, it is not what has caused a serious decline in their numbers, but is still bad form.  Cellphone towers, factory pollutants, and all manner of disease have diminished the number of bees.  Who cares?  Bequia lost it’s bee population for 15 years after their bee hives where ravaged by a type of disease that deformed the bee’s wings.  In that time, gardens wouldn’t grow, and the island lost almost all the flower species that thrived there.  Not to mention the islands locally famous honey business was in ruins.  Finally they where able to solve the problem and import more bees, and gladly their honey is better than ever.  I know some people are allergic, and no one likes an unexpected sting, but bees are more important than you know; and have asked very little in the past 100 centuries.  Just think of that next time you are rolling the newspaper as a murder weapon.

The honey here tastes like coconuts and mangos, and at 30 dolllars SVD, or $12 USD for a rum bottle full it is a crime. You can aford to shower with it. Each honey has it’s own unique profile. I am saving a little of this one as I have saved several others in hopes of having and international tasting of honeys someday

I got honey on Beqia from a guy named John..not much else was offered up. Just a guy named John with honey. The bees in these hives came from Hawaii, and are friendly enough he tells me, that most days they can do what they want without glove or anything. Before that they used St Vincent bees, and they where so wild and agressive that you could come anywhere near them. Like people, I never said some bees wheren’t jerks

Bequia

If you look on a map just left of Barbados you will find St Vincent.  From there you will need a much smaller map to find Bequia, one of 20 or so islands that make up the Grenadine islands.  The entirety of the island is smaller that my home home town, with only 7 square miles, most of it rocky hill sides and old volcanic lava flows.  I found my self here at the behest of a villa owner who wanted to spruce up his menu offerings.  All I knew of Bequia was that spell check didn’t know it existed.  What I found here is one of the last real outposts of Caribbean life.  The type of thing that cruise ships destroy as they try to present it to tourists on an itinerary.  The people here have a proud West Indian heritage that saw the island go from sugar cane sweat shop, to the whaling hub of the Caribbean, to a yacht owners best kept secret.  The warm and friendly nature of the people is something that is almost startling in the Caribbean, where a greeting on the street is usually followed by a pitch for a para sail, or a bag of gonja.  I’m glad I could see this place before the inevitable hand of commerce and progress takes it under the knife.  I wonder how many more places may be out there in the Caribbean, untouched by the grimy hands of Parrot Heads and Senior Frog franchisees?

From St Vincent, Bequia is an hour long cruise over open seas on a rusty car ferry. It could be a real cookie tosser for some, with constant wind and swells, but the local beer takes the edge off, and you can delight at flying fish soaring up and away from the boats wash

Port Elizabeth is the main/only town in Bequia, feturing the only gas station

It is surprising how many children go to school in St VIncent and commute on the ferry. You do what you must in all places

The Spring House Villa is a ridiculous property that hangs on a hillside far overlooking the Atlantic. It reminds me of an MC Usher (not a rapper) painting, with rooms and stares going everywhere, and something hidden around every corner

Many times I’ve worked in great restaurants that didn’t have any windows in the kitchen. The view form our kitchen window is extraordinary. It might be a distraction, but is great for employee mural.

Rain comes on in sheets from out in the Atlantic. It can blow in on a sunny day, and then out again.

I don’t know what I did before I had my motor scooter. Well it’s not mine, but I’m surely putting the miles on, even on a 7 mile island. I’ve been down every road I can find, but I always seem to spot another. Most people don’t have any means of transport, and walk the hillsides to get around. I am unbelievably thankful for this baby.

Riding one day I came to an overlook in a place called Mt Pleasant. I was greeted by a group of yolcals who offered me soup. I’ve never passed up free soup so why start? They were a great bunch of, well…Hill Billies. Island Hill Billies. They reminded me of my friends in Arkansas or Colorado. They even listened to country music. They sing it in thick accents. They where a joy for sure and after some food and rum we where fast friends. I go back every few days to see what is cooking

A thick stew of beef bits, green banana, dumplings, and whatever else they had around. The little splash of hot sauce was more that enough for sure. They promise me sea turtle soup on my birthday

Bread fruit roasting in a grill made form a tire rim. I told them it looks like a dinosaur egg.

Skipjack tuna, head to tail

After dinner they gamble on the bones. Like Island poker with dominos

Mt Pleasant overlook

Christmas in the islands is a welcome oddity. Everything is the same, but different. They light up the trees around the harbor in a display that must have cost hundreds to light with the price of power on the island

There was music every night for weeks. Calipso country music, and regea Christmas songs. I’ve never liked Christmas music more

There is a strong maritime culture on the island, much more that other islands I think. Everywhere there are boats built and rebuilt in the traditions of the past. The island was once a place where whales where hunted exensivly, and can still be hunted three times a year legaly. I love the can do island inginuity of the boats, like the sole of a shoe used here in the oar lock.

A water spout tornado off one of the other islands. Not as nasty as one of the mosters from the Mid West, but it could surely ruin your day in a boat. I want to ride one..just saying

Two unihabited islands where I will retire to a shack, circa 2050 AD

Barbados

Some people hear about my traveling and here and there and think I haven’t a care in the world. Gallivant, as it where. While I can’t deny I’ve been lucky enough to grace some pretty amazing third world countries (and some places in the states that where worse) I never travel without being in transit between work. Barbados is an example of that. On my way to what is shaping up to be a Head Chef/Consulting gig in Bequia, St Vincent (more posts to come) I was fortunate enough to spend two nights and a day in Barbados. It was just enough time to soak in some sea and eat at some local food stalls, and maybe chat with some rastas and the Swedish girls staying at the same place. I had plenty of time for all of that and nothing would have changed had I spent a week. I had a great time readjusting to life in the islands, and it was good to beat the cold, although now in the bug infested tropics I could use a quick snow storm. On the final night the most amazing thing happens when at practically the stroke of midnight on a full moon night, dozens of baby sea turtles made their bid for life and crawled across the beach towards the sea. It was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen, and I cried like a man I assure you. After my day it was back to the airport in a sweaty bus, with only my memories and these pictures, but that is enough

 

Rasta surfing. There are great waves on that side of the island.

The beach essentials

Little beach from food stalls selling better than the crappy tourist stuff. I was sold when I saw BBQ pig tails and fried bread fruit

Work that brush brother, and make my pig tail crispy

Pig tail and plantain in paradise

Fried breadfruit and beer. Nice and crispy and even better with some West Indian hot sauce. Better and certainly more crispy than fries

I could not believe I was there to see these little guys hatch. No mater how many nature shows you see, it is still a miracle. I am a huge proponent of natural selection, but I would have certianly beat away anything that tried to eat these little guys that night.

Sandy

By now there can’t be many, if anyone who hasn’t heard about the “super storm” which came ripping across my beloved home state of New Jersey. I missed the show, up in Burlington VT the weather was actually unseasonably warm. I did make it back a day later for the aftermath and long cleanup. Everyone I knew back home had made it through unhurt, but many of the icons and attractions I had known growing up on the NJ Shore where devastated. Life in post Sandy New Jersey was an oddity for sure. There was no power for two weeks, long enough to become used to it. It is strange how you adapt like that. It was certainly a time for the best and worst in people to show through. I am glad to say that for every story of dastardly bastardtry, there where equally as many heart warming shows of our shared struggle and humanity. My own brother had to chase to morons away from the house with a samurai sword when they tried to siphon gas from our cars on night, but aside from that, most kept their civility. I was just glad I could help clean up where I could. Although the coast is not looking it’s best right now, they will rebuild. The New Jersey coast is a great place, and it would take far more for us to forsake somewhere so deeply imbedded in our hearts.

Gas lines where an amazing phenomenon of post storm NJ. Who would think you wouldn’t be able to get gas in America? I suppose I did, because I made damn sure I gassed up before I got into the state

Road closed

Down power lines are a particularly spooky sight. Any time you see the shattered remains of something that brings society and modern life as you know it. It is a more fragile system then most people appreciate, and unless you can fix it yourself, you are completely dependant on people you don’t know.

My best friend’s family has a home on the banks of the Shark River Inlet. The basement flooded out, the porch was found 300 yards away, and the yard was covered in docks, debris, and who knows what. We spent a few days removing everything. It was grim work, but spirits where high, and I was glad I was there to help

A large piece of dock washed against the house. There was also a ton of beach grass and reeds piled a foot thick which we had to shovel to the curb like snow.

A piece of someone’s roof washed up as well. There where to many nails to use the chainsaw, so we had to hack it up with an axe. Good stress relief for sure

A triage of family belongings that had to be cleaned or discarded. There where antiques and family things stored in the house, and unfortunately not all made it through. Many did however, and that is just the game you play on the waters edge

Cut up dock and such ready to be hauled away. The mailbox is in the picture to the left, which give a scale of how much is there, but it was a far more daunting pile in person

FEMA was giving out cases of water and ice from a strip mall parking lot in town every day the power was out. It was a big help and we where thankful to the businesses and people who donated things. I’m glad that people come through in these situations, and I was equally glad we weren’t in need of more help

It was certainly inconvenient to be without power for two weeks, but it was a close time for the family and we enjoyed each other’s company. I cooked for them out of our thawing freezers while dad cracked wine from private reserve. We laughed, drank wine, listened to music and football on the radio, and did crossword puzzles by candle light. Everything that was cool in 1930 I suppose.

The flat and placid waters of the Atlantic are in contrast to the furry of waves that stripped the boardwalk off the cements pylons here. I’ve always know that we live on the shores of a great and wild wilderness, which can thrill you in cool waters on a summers day, or take you and everyone you care about in a blink. I don’t think a lot of people believed that, but they do now. Beautiful and majestic the ocean, but it is like petting a sleeping bear

On of the people I was worried about the most was my friend BJ, who had a restaurant called Bistro by the Beach, in a B&Ba block from the beach in Spring Lake. The Dunes there did their job, and there was only a foot of water in which ruined carpets and, but spared the structure. Once we had electric to clean up we where able to open that weekend

Cleaning out the fridges a week after was a little hairy, but wasn’t nearly as bad as stories I have heard from Katrina in New Orleans. There was this Chia Pet/ mac and cheese I found

BJ was thankful to the line workers for restoring the electric so he could open, so we cooked them dinner. Steak and lobster. Also chicken parm and roasted potatoes.

The line men where all from Washington state, and came down to help. We weren’t the only ones who where thankful to them, and a table that night ran out to the store to buy four cases of beer for them. They where a good group of fellows and we had a some good laughs

A North Easter blew through a week after Sandy, and I was amazed it equaled snow. All the weather people said rain and than this happened. I think just as many trees came down from heavy, wet snow as blew down in the storm. So many trees that made it all the way through Sandy couldn’t take the pressure. Sure was pretty though

Thank you to everyone who has given money, time, food, or just good will to the people effected by Sandy, and damn any who would take the good name of New Jersey in vein. Long live the Garden State

Burlington VT, the Queen City

I moved myself and the business to Burlington VT in June. It wasn’t hard, everything is on wheels. I didn’t know much about Burlington. I did plenty of research and visited a few times before I came up, but I had never lived there before, and that is the only way to know a place. What I have found is a unique for sure. A small city outpost surrounded by natural beauty and rural communities hundreds of years old. It’s a center of learning and free expression in the far North country. The type of place that drum circles spontaneously appear and a bike will get you anywhere. I have spent all summer trying to get a bead on these folks, and I’m still not exactly sure what to make of things sometimes, but that is only natural. Some things are for sure. I have never been anywhere so quaint and old fashioned, with such good natured people and an overwhelming sense of community. At the same time there is a great feeling of connection to the greater world with art, music, fashion, and social issues on everyone’s radar. It’s like a Norman Rockwell painting with a mohawk. The old and new worlds playing a stage on the banks of lake Champlain. I’m not sure what will come of my time there, but I think it’s a fine place and worth the finding out.

We got beaches. Not as much surfing however

The lakeshore view is view is amazing enough, but when you throw in the Adirondack mountains as a backdrop it is just ridiculous. I swear the sun does shine there quite often

The best part about mountain views are the moods that they go through in the course of day, or a week. Every weather pattern changes the perspective and reveals a peak you could see before, or shrouds the peaks making them appear as high as they really are. Every time I look at them they are different and something is new

A train car of windmill blades speaks to the optimistic green futures of the region. I wasn’t the only one who took a picture, so you can tell others thought it note worthy as well

You have to enjoy a place where bike parking at the food store outnumbers the car parking

A city that promotes bikes enough to have a completer tune-up rack on the bike path is my kind of town

This guy on Church Street climbs a stack of chairs and juggles fire ten times ever day. I’m sure he makes some money, but there are plenty of easier ways to make a buck

Madam Hong makes great Chinese dumplings on Church street. There are lots of food carts on the walking thoroughfare, to many for me to get in right now. Of all the carts on the street, she has the best by a mile. This was a rare shot without a line

Madam Hong

Spontaneous bands for all around in good weather. Tuba, trumpet, conga, you never know. Always a strange pleasure

Summer of Smoke, 2012

Well, as usual, I took a bunch of pictures but not as many as I should have. And as usual I have posted nothing until the end of the season. I suppose better late than never. This was a tough year, and the death of my friend Shon really took the wind out of my sails in the middle of the season. To spite all that I managed to move the business to Burlington, and feed and house myself in fact. I’m still getting my feet wet in town, and it took all this time to get the lay of the land and meet a few friends. I met farmers to get the best produce from next year, and I’ve been talking to the place with the best location for my cart. As we close out the season this year, there is no reason in the world to doubt that next year will be the best year ever. I’m sticking to that story

The season started inauspiciously when my tent was thrashed overnight by high winds at a music fest in PA

What does and entreponeur with no money do about it? Hack poles out of the woods and duck tape everything back together, and work the rest of the weekend like nothing ever happend. Not my normal, proud, polished setup, but it worked well enough

My neighbor at that first fest was a lovable wookiee who sold amazing root beer that he made on his Massachusetts farm. It has a number of medicinal roots in it and had a great earthy taste. Good for you, and good with whiskey

If I wasn’t smoking meat and such I would have a wood oven at these things. I see them now and then. These folks built this one after the last one collapsed on the road a year earlier. It’s a lot of stress on the structure when on the road. They made a good pie, but they handicapped themselves and only make Veggie pies.

That’s more like it

Smoked meatloaf is something I have been happy to mess with. I usualy include the holly trinity with the pope, and king bacon completes that congrigation. (it has peppers, onion, celery, garlic, and bacon if you don’t know WTF I mean)

You can see the light red smoke ring on the cut meatloaf. I know meatloaf, or any loaf, doesn’t really make most people scream. It’s that common thing that everyone has had at one point. So when people shake your hand and rave about your loaf until you blush, you have to assume they are coinsures and telling the truth

I love picking wild anything, and especially wild fruit. I managed to find some great spots in some of the places I pass. At a friends field in PA, there where more blueberries than you could imagine. You couldn’t walk without stepping on them. Later in that day a momma and baby bear came though the field while I was watching and snacking on berries

Moth or butterfly? Racist! Just as beautiful in a blueberry field

Wild strawberries are also a joy. You can keep your crappy, water downed, apple sized, Wall Mart strawberries. These are real strawberries

One last festival before I left for Burlington, this time in Bradley Beach during Memorial day weekend. It was a good crowd and we spent the whole weekend on the boardwalk with the ocean breezes

When I first got to Burlington I stayed at a campsite while I looked for a good apartment. The weather was fine, and this one was right on the lake.

I scored this grill in the craigslist free section. You never know what you’ll find

I bought this hotdog cart from a friend of mine, in hopes I could use it to sell BBQ and such at farm markets without having to take my big trailer or heavy grills and such. He sold it cheap for a friend, and because a tree hit it and dented the top

I cleaned up the cart and mounted this gas grill on it. I love excuses to buy tools and do it myself.

I had to build a ramp to get the cart in and out of the truck bed. It’s too heavy to push it up so I use a ratchet winch to pull the cart up

It’s a tight, very methodical packing job, but I can get the new cart around to Farm Markets just fine.

Out camping at a festival my friends put on in PA, a thunderstorm blew through late that night. I was only sleeping out under the EZup tent which seemed safe enough. A bolt of lightning hit this tree right in the midst of all of us. I saw the whole thing. I bolted into my truck for cover after that. I was sure someone was hit, but luckily for everyone it missed. It did strip this tree pretty good

Then halfway through the summer my second tent was thrashed in heavy rains, so it was a bad year for EZups

I like living in close proximity to lobster country. While I was in Maine for a minute I picked up this guy and enjoyed his company for lunch by a river in the White Mountain National Forest

Grilled pineapple. Now my favorite way to eat pineapple. Still raw, but with a great, caramalized sugar taste

I bottled some hot sauce I made based on the sauces I bought in Puerto Rico. Inside is smoke Jalapeno and habanera, garlic, bay leaf, lemon peel, salt and vinegar as a base. I sell it in an old whiskey flask and I spent all winter emptying and collecting them. Everyone is instructed that it is a buy at your own risk product, but it is more delicious then dangerous.

Making my BBQ sauce. No ketchup and dried spices. Just vegetables, peppers, vinegar, and molasses. The longer it cooks and then rests, the better it is. There are great sauces that are easier to make, but it’s just the way I make MY sauce and I wouldn’t have it any other way. No complaints in two year.

I love wilderness gormet, and prepping all my food open air. Same sanitation as a restaurant kitchen with washing and such, but open sky and fresh air.

Shon Seeley

I’ve written about Shon before on this blog, as I often write about people and places that are outstanding in this world. I’m glad that I did, as I am also glad I was able to visit the farm in Troy PA as many times as I have in the past few years. I watched him and Jess go from a newly wed couple in a crusty rental house, to a new house up on the hill, to proud and happy parents. I saw the care he took in every aspect of the farm, and how well he knew the land. I didn’t understand everything he would tell me about the families herd and the different heritage breads, but I could listen for hours as we mended fences. He worked in cows like an artist works in marble or paint. Some might be able to see that genius at work on a dusty farm, but everyone could taste it. The milk seamed to embrace your tongue with flavors as clover honey; it was, and remains, then best I have ever known. No mater how hard I resisted his generosity, I always left his company with armfuls of grass fed beef and gallons of milk and cream, that was just his way. The sweet hearted, down home country boy who was my roommate and friend at Penn State. The hardest working man in Bradford County, and the staunchest advocate for sustainable agriculture to boot. A man who wanted to be a sports commentator or a dairy farmer, and took the harder, more unrealistic road. It has taken these many months for me to be able to post anything about him, and I suppose that is all I have for now.

If anyone else also believes that a reform towards sustainable practices in agriculture is the only thing that will sustain us, please donate to the Shon Seeley Legacy  Fund at the link below.

https://pasafarming.org/get-involved/legacyfund/fg_base_view_p3

Shon taking the girls out for a date on the hill. Something so common you would never have know it was finite.

Crab Apples

Most people aren’t sure what to make of crab apples, more over, whether or not the name is ment as an insult to the crab or apple family. This is of course do to their generally displeasing taste that is quite often both sour and bitter at the same time. Not many people realize that crab apples are America’s own indigenous apple and all others where brought here from Europe, which where in turn brought from Asia. The only thing that comes close is the green Granny Smith which is a crab apple and domestic hybrid. So anyway, I was out walking in a small VT town when I came upon a crab apple tree with fruit still hanging on it in early winter. I could tell it had turned brown and soft from freezing but was thawed out on that warm day. I am a man who can’t help but taste everything he comes in contact with, I mean in the worst case you spit it out. I grabbed a tiny fruit and squeezed its soft skin which caused the saucy flesh to expose. I tasted it…and it was magnificent! Sweet and tangy in an exquisite balance with a yeasty apple cider flavor. The most surprising thing was the soft textured flesh which was not grainy or mealy at all but was more like a fine apple butter, and even had a pretty golden color.  It was surely the freezing that had brought out these qualities and had enhanced the sweetness in the same way that ice wine is made sweet by freezing grapes, and I’m sure there where a few enzymes involved as in most miraculous biological processes, but you don’t need to understand fully. It was just a beautiful gift of nature on a cool winters day, one that you could serve in a dish at the finest of restaurants. I suppose I’m just trying to say, don’t count out the underdogs and taste taste taste

New England

I’ve spent most of my life on the East Coast but I must confess that I have never lived north of New York.  That territory always seemed ice cold, quick to fists, and always in dire contention with the sports teams I liked.  The one thing that New England has going for it is that my old college roommate Robin lives there, Connecticut specifically.  I finally had a chance to visit her and her husband Jay and we had a wonderful, even magical jaunt through the culinary treasures of the region.  We started in Worchester Mass, or as it is commonly know Woosta, where we delved into delicious pizza and surprising vegetarian.  Then we headed East to Rhode Island where we ate at a small seafood restaurant that farms it’s own oysters.   Normally packed in the summer but a private dinning room in the off season.  Then we bought a few souvenirs at a dockside fish store.  To top it all off, both Robin and Jay are avid mushroom and ramp foragers as well as paranormal investigators.  I’ll be back in spring to help with both.

My lobster with an assortment of flavors for the meat. To die for, and the roe and guts where still in tact as an added flavor bonus

Give me the feisty one. Right from the boats out back, 6 bucks and change per pound

Monkfish. I had to pick some up to bring back home. It was a steel for a fish that I have seen selling for $18 buck a pound.

Whole rock crabs. You can often find the claws in markets but rarely the whole deal

Steamer clams

This small seafood market on the docks in the real deal for sure, and in the off season you find all the best deals. They had it all, even their own soft shell crabs. This is what New England is all about

Cod cakes and the famous clam stuffer

Little necks and fresh oysters for a buck a shuck. Worth every penny

It is rare that a restaurant with a great view has good food. It’s a wicked trade I know. In Rhode Islands charming seaside villages that rule is unfounded

I’m not a vegetarian, but I do get down that way now and then. The best vegetarian dishes make you forget that you are eating anything of the sort, just delicious. This tiny Rastafarian hole in the wall in the part of Wooster that you check twice that the doors are locked, is such a place. Just a few bucks gets you a feast of flavor from the islands. I couldn’t contain myself after a bite and I haven’t a singe picture of what transpired there simply because I was preoccupied eating. This is the place, find it.

Not My Bag Baby

Recently I was asked by the director of food & bev  of the resort  if I would like to run the kitchen of the small Sun Bowl lodge on the opposite side of the mountain.  I respectfully declined for several reasons, including money, stress, and the fact that I already have the best job on the mountain hands down.  I did agree to run the kitchen for a few weeks until a replacement could be found.  The kitchen was small but had a lot of new equipment, and was recently expanded with a new deli section and everything.  The real problem with the place, the fatal flaw, was that just about everything was pre made, packaged up, freeze – thaw, add water, wait for the ding, well done is the only temperature ever allowed ever, cooking.  The group of young kids in the kitchen was a zesty mix of juvenile offenders from rural Vermont, each with a hart of gold in lieu of washed hands.  I directed them as I could and we had a lot of laughs, but I had trouble keeping myself motivated.  The real problem with living in a pre-fab world is probably hormonal.  It’s why true hunters in the jungle like tigers and bears won’t eat you when if you play dead.  What’s the fun!?  Ready meals, although efficient and perfectly suited to bread lines and military camps, just aren’t food.  Although I loved meeting new peoples and seeing a new part of the resort, when my tour was over I was elated to get back to my wood oven pizza paradise.  At least each pizza is formed by my two hands (ungloved thank you) , and that is more than enough for me.

I was asked to make some special deli salads for the new sections with all the normal corporate descriptors (fresh, vibrant, colorful, and at least they didn’t use seasonal) What was produced for me to use was a bag of frozen green beans, negating everything that was said previous

Soup in a bag i worse then no soup at all. I tried to hide it for a while, pouring the bag into a pitcher to refill the soup station, but after a while I just dumped the bag unceremoniously into the pot in full view of guests; who often commented “it comes in a bag?”. What was the us in polishing a terd? This chicken soup was the worst offence. Thick and almost slimy in texture. Progress?

The space itself wasn’t bad at all, and with the facility a lot could have been possible. Just a shame to invest in all that only to sell it short

In Pursuit of Pizza Perfection

Pizza.  As common a food in this country as butter or salt.  A thousand faces of the same dish exist in near every town in the land, each hitting that mark of success or shamefully missing it completely.  Advances in the industry have now brought us back to the roots of this most famous dish.  The wood oven is a throw back to not only pizza’s ancestral home Naples, but to the birth of human gastronomy in general.  A window on a time when the technology of earthen mounds and hot coals changed the world by elevating the way simple hunters and farmers where fed.  So I have come to Stratton Mountain Resort in the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont to spend some time in the presence of one such oven in an attempt to obtain its secrets.  Ok.. so it’s a small wood pizza counter in a bar at a bustling ski slope, don’t deny me my enthusiasm.  And even though this oven is being used for a simpler purpose, it is still an education on a very diverse and multi faceted piece of equipment that will always remain relevant.  My friend Sean Brock, chef badass extraordinaire, has a very similar one at his gangbusters restaurant Husk in Charleston.  Besides the education, history, and the free ski pass that brought me to VT, I just really like making pizza.  Hands on, high action, and a good time for all.  It’s a fine winter pastime

Some nice pizza topping right there. Pizza is great as a flavor vehicle. Basically anything that can be eaten on bread or has cheese in it can be transformed into pizza. From classic spinach and artichokes to pulled pork or a corned beef Ruben, anything is fair game

A nice crust. Good and brown with just a kiss of char to let you know where it came from

Wood pizza is different. Because the heating source of the oven is exposed it causes one side facing the flames to cook faster. Due to this you have to keep turning the pizza to brown the crust right on all sides. This guy spent a minute to long, but still good. Char from wood fire has and inviting taste, different from burning something in your toaster. The pizza is often impotent in flavor without good char on the crust and cheese

Throwing dough is not just a showy bit of dinner theater contrived by Italians to catch the eye of tourist girls, or at least that’s not it’s only application. In reality the best way to maintain the shape of the pie as you stretch the dough is to send it airborne. The spinning dough pulls the edges out into a (hopefully) a fine circle. An art, science, and just a good time. My life is enriched by it.

It’s most important to keep consistant heat in the oven. I find the best results around 600 degrees. There is a play to ajusting the heat. To much wood and the temperature will hit high and burn your goods. If you put wood on to late the temperature will drop while you wait for the wood to catch.

The Mountain and Me

So it took every bit of money I made this summer to keep the business in business next year, which means that I can’t spend my winter in Acapulco or Narnia.  So I got a job running the wood-fired pizza outlet at Stratton Mountain resort in Vermont.  It’s a beautiful mountain area.  A slice out of god’s own playbook.  Our employee housing is a different story.  The Dostle is the Stratton Mountain employee housing.  A burnt out 70s motel at the base of Magic Mountain, a short bit from Stratton.   I have been here since the first days the mountain opened and I have seen our small group of employees from around the country turn into a multinational group of misfits all waiting for white gold.  I haven’t had to live this close to roommates since college housing 10 years ago, and you know, I don’t really mind.   It might be a daily trial in patients, but it feels like a warm blanket on my life.  A large international family that fits.  I think it will be a warm, cold winter.

There is a pool. It used to be indoors. Nuf said. It might be good for frog gigging in the spring

The cooking supplies at hand. I am luck I brought my own, and you better believe I’m selective at sharing

A group of Brazilians formed outside hooting and hollering with excitement, and it made me think back to see if I could recall the first time I ever saw snow fall. It was an experience to relive it through them. All of our South American “internationals” that work with me are an amazing, inquisitive, and genuine bunch. They make me smile every day.

Everyone can try and do their own dishes in a perfect world, but the great grey area is the overnight soak. Before long it is just a cesspool of filth and unclaimed dishes. I just thank god that I didn’t season that cast iron pan to see it soaking in a sink of shame

Festive. It wasn’t looking enough like Christmas around our hole so I came home one day and chopped some pine with my machete and made a wreath. I’ve never made one before but braiding the branches works like I thought it would. My room smells like sexy pine and I love it. I made another ten or more for other Dostle refuges spending their Christmas here. Spread the love

My humble bed. At least it’s a queen size. Someone once told me that a made bed is a happy one, and it’s true. I make it every day and this tiny room seams all the better for it.

My room. What do you expect from college housing? Beds and a place to poop. It smells a lot like my grandparents old basement.

The Dostle. A burnt out Austrian style hotel at the base of Magic Mountain ski area and the prestigious home of the Stratton Mountain staff. Any heyday was circa 1978 and there hasn’t been a broom or sponge taken to the place since

New York New York

I try to make it to New York City every year to take in the sights and eat like a king at a restaurant I can hardly afford.  This year I decided to try out Le Bernadin, a seafood paradise with a strong French upbringing and chef Eric Ripert at the controls.  But the food was only part of the trip.  We also made our way to the village where I finally relocated my favorite music store.  A baffling array of vintage and tribal instruments from around the world stuffed on top of itself in a tiny NYC storefront.  Throw into the mix the amazing, real deal tapas place we ate at for happy hour and you have a uniquely Manhattan experience that is worth the trip any time. 

A very delicate salmon con fit. I suppose that is how it was cooked because none of the wait staff seamed to be able to give me a direct answer as to the method, as if it was a secret ( it’s not) It was loverly and delicate of course. I like to do something similar but I always like to get a good hard sear on at least one surface of the fish. I loooove salmon with that crispy report in a bite. Still, a great dish

East coast fluke with sweet pea broth and chilies. The peppers had the exact amount of heat for how thick they where cut. You can leave it to the French to pioneer a technique of bringing just the right amount of heat spice, when they delve into such a pursuit

Salmon lox with pumpernickel, uni, and a shot of super rich lobster bisque

Tri faced African drum that is probably over 100 years old. If I had a dime I would have bought this as the centerpiece of my home.

A plethora of amazing vintage and just crazy instruments. Armadillo skin ukulele, Nepalese temple bells, and every artisan tribal instrument you can imagine

The best vintage music store in NYC and possibly the world. May I never loose it again.

Shaggy Mane

While I was back visiting my beloved Charleston I stopped by a few of my favorite places.  In one such natural setting I came across a patch of shaggy mane mushrooms.  There tall shape and bright white flesh make them easy to spot and identify.  When I find one edible mushroom all by itself I usually leave it be in hopes it will propagate, but here there was a sizable patch and I was able to take about 10 really nice specimens.  Shaggy mane doesn’t get much attention in the culinary world, none really.  They are better known to survival experts then chefs.  This is due to their very short shelf life.  In fact the ones that I picked where starting to turn black only an hour after doing so.  I have also never heard much hype about their flavor, but I found them to be quite nice.  A little gamey with a soft texture.  Only a quick, hot sauté is necessary, and over cooking will make them mush.  I ate these with a small slice of rib eye from the Piggy Wig down the street.  Any time you find some wild mushrooms you feel like you’ve won.  It was a good day

Sunset at a waterside field where these shaggy mane have taken residence. Not a bad idea for anyone

A beautiful shaggy mane in the sun

The Restaurant Biz

A friend of the family has a daughter who is interested in attending the CIA (not to be a spy stupid) and he ask me if I could give some insight or advise on the restaurant business.  Words seam to flow free after work and a beer or three so I would consider this a good dissertation for anyone that would be interested in joining the restaurant rat pack.

So the restaurant business?  Well congratulations in your interest in such a fascinating and rewarding career choice!  I’ve never sugar coated anything but desserts and this is no time to start so I will give you  the advise I would tell any young culinary enthusiast.

Quite simply; it’s a tough business, and you have heard that before.  It’s also rewarding, with pay that ranges from $7.50 an hour to millions, but the real gold of in this business will not be found financially.  In fact I would strongly advise against the restaurant business if your motivation is money.  If you are the type of person that thrives under pressure and extreme environments  while trying to make other people’s lives more enjoyable, then you will find a life and a feeling that money can’t buy.  Again; it’s not easy, I’ll just keep saying that so no one can say I didn’t warn you.

I would ask yourself these questions:

When was it that I first decided that I wanted to work in restaurants? Not just food but the business of food, which is drastically different then memories with grandma or a favorite dish.

When your friends are going out on the weekend and calling you to come out, do you have the strength to work all that night instead?  It’s not easy and restaurant folk are far from boring, but we normally don’t work the clean cut civilian hours that friends might.

Do you meet with challenges head on?

Do you take criticisms at face value or to heart?  You will constantly be told what is right and wrong by thousands of critics, guests, employers, and even family.  You need to have the strength to pick out what is useful criticism and what is opinion or just personal attack.  You work very hard in this business and everyone has an opinion.  How you field such things will constantly effect your mood.  Just don’t let them in your head.  No mater what, no one can take your soul.

Does the thought of food excite you, even if you are not hungry?

Can you take a joke?  We joke around a lot in the kitchen, and I hate to say it, but as a woman you will be a minority and often a target of jokes.  That being said, the coolest, funniest, hardest working girls I have ever met are in the restaurant business and there is an ethereal draw that the public gravitates to with regards to female chefs.  Someone who can hold their own in one of the most male dominated and crude industries. (they’re harmless dad, I swear)

Are you willing to start at the low paid bottom and work your way to the top?  Restaurants are highly competitive and there is only the head chef and sous chefs make what would be considered real money.  You have to be willing to work hard, very hard, with menial pay for as long as it takes to gain the experience and drive that will let you be successful.  That might even mean working or interning for free.  I worked three jobs in Charleston SC just to keep the one that I knew was giving me the most experience and the best resume and references.  In reality, these experiences will be the ones that best shape your career, and some of the best jobs you ever have may be the ones you hated the most.  If all of that hasn’t stopped you then prepare yourself to hear that the wait staff made four times as much as you did that night for an 1/8 of the work.

Do you mind being a servant, no; slave to what the customer wants?  We are the essence of the service industry and you have to be willing to give better service to others than you ever receive in your personal life.  You can beat yourself up and be beaten up for a slightly undercooked steak but you can’t even get the bank teller or the gas station cashier to give you the time of day.  That’s life anyway.

Some advices I can give:

Work for whomever you can, doing whatever will teach you something knew.  It is a constantly changing business and knowledge is key.  Make sushi.  Make pizza.  If you offer a nights services for free most restaurants will tell more in a few hours that any book could.  Keep your eyes open and learn to ask the right questions.

Stay away from drugs and the trappings of the business.  They have brought down more great and promising professionals than long hours and stress ever could have.

Keep a journal and internalize all the business and life lessons you learn along the way.  They’re worth more than what some one else will write in a book you buy, and you will want to look back some day.

If you decide that cooking is for you, go in with your whole hart and never question yourself.  You get what you put in and the feeling is fine.

At the risk of sounding lame or mellow dramatic, the restaurant business is a calling.

I’ve been working 12 year and my opinions about the business still change daily; but I work in the kitchen all day, I read cook books in the evening, and I dream about cooking at night; and on my days off I eat a restaurants I can’t afford and cook for as many family and friends as I can find on a Monday night (no weekends, remember)  No other business will make your smile wider, cry harder, and question your self worth and life choices more than the restaurant business, but at the end of the day it is up to you whether you meet the day with a smile.

I hope I haven’t dissuaded you from the joining the troops, and if I have, your are very welcome.  I would like to hear how things have gone for you and how you find the life.  Whatever you decide I hope the career you choose is one you love and you find all the success in it that you can.

Best Regards

Brian Stefan

P.S.  Here are some reads:  Letters to a Young Chef,  Kitchen Confidential (it’s not that bad),. Art Culinaire,  Food Lovers Companion,  On Food and Cooking,  and as many cookbooks as you can get your hands on until it all seams to run together into one.  Blogs like: ideasinfood, seanbrock.com,  If you really get bored you can check out my blog fireandknives.wordpress.com

Southern Smoke

It was a long Summer with lots of twists and turns but it still managed to sweep by in a blur.  Southern Smoke is a mobile catering company which vends to music and food festivals in the North East (NJ, PA, NY)  It’s my first business and I hope it is the fledgling steps to a success.  Our scope sometimes feels like Fisher Price – my first restaurant, but the challenge and pressure is no less real then the big dogs in NYC or my beloved Charleston.  You feel the pride and love in every morsels you make, and count twice every penny that passes your threshold.  I have a lot of respect for all of those who have done so well in the past.  Our summer was a rocky field to start a new business in altogether.  Heat waves and hurricanes on top of a financial situation that has puckered the assholes of even the well to do.  There where some  tribulations  as well.  150 gallons of clam chowder hauled down the parkway in the rain.  Hundreds of crab cakes to portion at 2 am before the next day’s crab cake festival.  Its all in a days work and I can’t wait to do it all again.  It was a busy summer but it is nothing compared to what I have in store for next year.  Hope to see you there.  Come see us at Southernsmokefoods.com

When I think of fall I start to smell turkey, but you have to wait till November for that. I started doing Thanksgiving in October at the past few harvest fests and it has been a great success. Smoked turkey, cornbread stuffing, garlic mash, giblet and smoked turkey neck gravy, and a disk of cranberry sauce out the can like momma used to cut

Fall came on so it’s time for apple fritters!

So “Clampires” was the theme of the chowder fest, and I was very proud of the job my team did in producing such a creature. We didn’t win best booth and NO other booth made a full assed attempt at decorating. If you can find a better clampire than this, run! Not bitter, just disapointed

So much chowder but I was still worried about running out the whole time

Part of my job as Chef and team leader is to distribute motivational medicine to the troops. A touch of JackD will keep the chowder flowing

Mobs of hugry chowder festers

I had a three pot system going on to heat the chowder. First pot to nock off the chill, second pot to blend, and the third pot was cranking hot. I could blend and season each one and keep a consistent product the entire time. I had a great view of the thousands of patrons coming for food.

Big props to Fridays restaurant for spending the painstaking time to make the chowder with every detail being ……..what’s that? You just ordered more from your suppliers in sacks that looks like a sick bags? Well I know I’m shocked! I would have jumped at a creative chance if I was the pilot of a corporate mediocrity fair

45, 5 gallon buckets waiting for chowder

The goal was this beautiful, rich, shiny, colorful stock that would form the base of the chowder

A beautiful bubbling brew

Chowder fest was a whole other world. I did a smoked chowder that I wanted to be like a rich gumbo. I had several restaurants like Clines fish mart donate fish and lobster bodies to the cause of chowder. I smoked them to give the chowder broth that ethereal smoky essence

Buggy in a parking spot at the supermarket. I love doing events in PA

Another good cold weather classic is the “Southern Burrito”. Smoked pork, mack and cheese, pickles, and sauce all wrapped in a tortilla. It’s like a bazooka loaded with awesome aimed at your face! Get some!

No picture could capture the glory of 12 hour smoked pork on homemade coleslaw and pickles with a sauce that I would cover grandma with. 6 buck to paradise

Thank you for molding some veggies baby

When it rains and your car gets stuck in the muck, teamwork gets us all home after the show

I first saw fire dancers in New Zealand but I am amazed to how much talent there is in Pennsylvania. It’s a art form which goes relatively unnoticed and can be shunned for safety reasons, but I have been glad to witness every flaming turn I’ve seen. Spin that fire and together we’ll reach Zion

Electricity is a miracle and hard to come by sometimes when vending in large wet fields. A PBR cantern works like a charm

Jam at the Grove

Even in driving rain some bands can not be contained and can light fire to even the wetest stage

Not everyone minded Irene

Hurricane Irene took a real bite out of our ass. I had an event cancel and had to move my rig to higher ground. Luck enough we all made it out ok

Feeling the love. I’ve never had a tip jar of my own before and I have been touched by how many folk have chipped in. Now days it feel like the only way I get paid, so to all of you; Thank You.

Fierce competition at adult musical chairs at Hawk River.

I managed to make it to a BBQ comepition in Sussex County NJ and took home best lamb!

Fried oyster po boy with pickles, lettuce, remoulade, and a thick stewed salsa of tomatoes, onions, garlic, green peppers, and celery. Very similar to sauce creole. The fresh Charleston SC oysters make all the difference

Crab empanada with smoked tomato aoili

Caribbean hot sauce. Every little bar and restaurant in the islands has its own concoction of pepper, garlic, and spices in vinegar. I started making some of my own with smoked and roasted chilies and different spices and such. I hope to make enough to sell next year

Frog leg stew with a whole buttermilk fried frog leg on top. The has greens, rich, and lentils and is flavored with calf’s foot, the richest of white beef stocks known to gastronomy. Just try it.

Grouper fingers with a spicy creole sauce and remoulade with some cornbread hush pups and Carolina cole slaw

Down at Hawk River Fest in Central Florida I did a menu of all seafood. One stop in Charleston on the way and I had everything I could have ever wanted. Oysters, Strimp, Frog legs, and even Grouper cheeks which I fried in buttermilk and sold as “Grouper Fingers”

When events are to far away for the whole kitchen I deploy the mobile attack unit. It is amazing what is still possible from a 10 by 10 ten with grill, fryer, and smoker

Hand made cigar box guitars

Proof that hot chicks agree, grilled peanut butter and bacon sandwiches are the shit. This was their second pass

a working toilet seat guitar. Classic

Concert action

The best way to sleep in warm weather is to string a hammock. If rains is on the way, just string up a tarp.

My mobile kitchen is a humble start in the business world, but I make no compromises in flavor or food. I can still do just about anything out of the space with the equipment I have. Just stop by and let me prove it

Back in Jersey

It has been over 6 year since I spent any substantial time in my home state.  I love Jersey aloud, or else why would I be risking it all on a business here.  For all the trash it gets from just about every state, even the smelly ones, Jersey is an incredible place to spite the occasional fist pump.  I had a lot to do setting up the business and it was many weeks after getting home that is started to relax.  The fun I had with my family and friends made me realize why Jersey has a place in my heart..right next to the plack buildup of countless pizzas

My sweetheart Staci is always a fast reminder of what a Jersey girl can do to a man’s soul. Springstien would agree and that’s good enough for me

Wood sorrel in my back yard. The tangy little green is treated as harshly as a weed most of the time. I left a refuge for them in my garden this year and was rewarded with these amazing seed pods. Crunchy with a citrus burst they are great in salsa or topping seafood. I want to try them fried. It is just another beautiful example that the entire life cycle of plants is often as delicious a mystery as can be pursued

Fishing with my dad and best friend Jeremy on one of Belmar NJ’s charter fishing fleet. About $35 plus BYOB and you can fish all afternoon bobbing off shore pulling in dozens of fish and keeping one. A Jersey tradition for centuries and always on of my favorite things

Begal, the thiny sea bass looking fish that hang under the jetty rocks. You can have a great morning just fishing for these little guys and when you get a few you have lunch ofr sure. The livers, and row/sperm sacks are also delicouse

Trigger fish is another tasty treat found just off the rocks. The skin is like leather but the meat is firm and fine. The liver had an amazing shelfish quality that stems from their diet

protecting my windshield from golfball sized hail.

Early spring sees hail in our area. This is the biggest hail ball I found after a passing afternoon storm rocked our world

Husk

A number of years ago I was fortunate enough to work with a group of chefs at Mc Crady’s in Charleston SC.  The experience of working with innovative food masters like Sean Brock changed my life and career forever.  Even though I chose to go my own way I am still amazed to hear of every new movement and discovery they make as they are writing the culinary hype of tomorrow every day.  There newest venture is Husk; a vision of a restaurant down the street from 82 queen.  In a statement, they took everything that was good and delicious about Southern foodways and put it under one roof with a solid local mantra, old and new world cooking  magic, and the best of everything investors can leverage.  There was hype about Husk months before it opened and they have more than delivered.  I didn’t see Sean that weekend but I found his faithful and talented staff still slugging it out of the park with my old friend Travis Grimes as coach.  In the time I was there I was sure I had seen the glorious future which was comfortably seated in past traditions and in the impending  joy of the coming years harvest.  It is the restaurant that Sean used to talk about at the bar after work in those early years as we all listened intently and its day has finally come.  Well done everyone.

All my great pictures of the night have been lost in my old computer but I did manage to save this pic of the best cornbread with a slab of pork fat butter. I suppose the best will be left unseen and you'll have to experience it yourself.

The Allusive and Alluring Morel

I’m back in sun shiny Portland Oregon with my long time friend Stefan Andrews.  Every time I’ve been back we take a trip to look for mushrooms in the lush and moist North West woods.  Up till now we have met with marginal success.  A few look alike and some nice puffball mushrooms last Fall.  On a rainy day we set out to check Sauvies Island, a game preserve in the Willamette river.  Armed with some more knowledge then before, a can do attitude and a little bourbon we set to looking.  Before long we where in the gold.  Golden morels in a huge patch.  Some as big as your fist!  It was the most incredible mushroom score I’ve seen since Phish 98.  So many that we left some there in hopes they would grow there again and again.  In a pan with some butter they are a dream

The first morel we found was this monster. It had to be as big as a softball. It was calling to us like a beacon. We left this one alone in hopes it would sire crops for years to come

Sitting on the forest floor, they almost look like a gnome’s hat hiding behind a thistle

I have never sean this man so happy

The size compared to a match book. All told we walk away with a solid dozen. Its hard to find better in a market. What a day

Sauteed with a little butter. Delicouse

Morel stuffed with pork, sunflower seeds, and havarti cheese from Oregon. Baked with olive oil and set with warm fingerling and Brussels sprout salad

Puerto Rico Bites

 Before I left the Caribbean I just had to make a stop over in Puerto Rico.  It’s just a shot puddle hop flight over from St Thomas on a white knuckle prop plane ride.  I stayed in Old San Juan at my friend Staci and Andy’s place.  A quaint high echoing ceilings and red tile floors.  It was a picture of a place.  In three days we ate our way across the city and out into the country to the fabled Guevate the home of the Lechon, and out into the mountain rain forests.  It isn’t hard to fall in love with a place like Puerto Rico, at least not as hard as becoming fluent in Spanish.  To spite my linguistic inability the people of the island where all smiles and with the food I ate it is hard to see why.  Not even the occasional cruise ship tourist asking for “American Coffee” (as if bland black water with cream is a style) would be able to dampen their island spirit.  I envy my friends their opportunity to learn Spanish and live in such an interesting and historic place.  I will be back for certain.

A hand rolled cigar and beer sitting on the old walls of San Juan at sunset. The perfect end to my 6 months of Caribbean living. Up, down, and sideways sometimes, it has infected my sole and layed eggs there. I will be back for sure.

Home made pepper sauce bottled set to bake in the sun. This stuff is better that Tobasco. I had to get some home. Better luck next time customs.

Pig liver with rice. Andy asked for a taste but it translated to a ton. It sure was good though

Fresh made sausage, probably from the guts of the same pig it was made from. The crispy knot that tied it sausage up is a badge of honor and quality that brings tears

I asked for the pigs crispy ear and was endulged. Fatty and delicouse

A heaping plate of porky island goodness. $9 dollars with a beer is a freakin steel

Whole fried plantains in front and mashed plantains with garlic on the right known as Mofungo throughout the Caribbean. I will be experimenting with it this summer for sure

Lechon is whole roast suckling pig. Here in Guavate they roast a ton of the stuff each weekend to feed hungry families and curious gringos with rental cars. The pit master here cuts up the piggy goodness with a machete

A pineapple growing at the bar’s garden. Still another 6months to a year left to grow on it

These giant fresh water shrimp live high in the rainforest mountains and practically nowhere else on earth. Puerto Rico is its own world

Rain soaked rivers running out of the jungle. Cool and refreshing. Yes I drank from a small tributary fountain and no I haven’t pooped myself yet

View out to sea from a small bar with a deck on the rainforest’s edge

There is a massive mango tree that hangs out of a courtyard wall in an alley in town. Every day I went by one perfectly ripe specimen had fallen for the taking. They where amazing

Garlic soup and Creole sausage empanadas

Braised octopus Galician style with garlic and potatoes. Soft and delicious

I found a great tapas place in town that was packed with locals for lunch. I couldn’t make out a word so you know its authentic. Here is some chorizo with bread and some chilled octopus salad. A sangria to wash it down and you are gold my friend

One of my favorite bars with scrawling on every wall. I still found room for my mark

La Pearla is a poor neighborhood crumbling into the sea on the outside of Old San Juan’s walls. Looked like a fine fixer upper to me and there was a nice surf break right in front of the village. Your house might be old and crumbling but at least you have beach front property

All of Old San Juan is a fort, with amazing walls on all sides that stretch the length of the city

St Thomas Picture Book

Like always, it takes me forever to post anything ounce I get working.  Here are some randon pictures from my time here  in the VI.  As usual, the best time remain unphotographed and pictures can’t capture the place.  All the same, here they are.

A fire grilled spread at Neltyburgh

The boat from the movey Captain Ron, a personaly guilty pleasure. Now painted blue, you can’t hide from a fan

A huge slipper lobster I grabbed out in teh lagoon while camping at Neltyburgh. The meat was super sweet and amazing.

A stand of Bay Rum trees. The leave are a spicy mix of cinnamon and clove that can be used like bay leaves in stew or fish dishes. I don’t know why this stuff isn’t around the world’s spice rack, but it will stay on mine

A dim looking cartoon chicken eating a bucket of chicken at my favorite fried chicken shack

St John is covered in magnificent ruines of old sugar mills and plantations. The histry of these islands is bloody and ever changing and these old stones are testiment. I’m often amazed the lever of masonry skill that exists. Stone arches the likes of Europe in a remote outpost of the Western world, built at the same time America was stacking logs to live in.

A clue to the date of this particular structure. The most interesting part of this stone is that it is Brain Coral plucked from the reafs. A lot of coral and local stone can be found in ruins giving them a unique quality

Oh the day I baught my kayaks. I got them for a song at an island dump sale, when someone is leaving island and everything must go. I’ll have my own sale in a week

Wild pineapple has little resemblance to the real thing but with its own charm. A leathery skin with a tart, musky inside of seeds and flesh. Great with rum on a beach.

Big hermit crabs are all aroung the islands. This on was on a hill side around 1200 feet above sea. I,m not sure if he climbed the whole way or if it’s a generational strugle but it was an amazing feet given the teraine.

Small beautiful deer on a trail in St John. I can’t believe they are here

Island art

Me and my computer at the pool. Don’t judge me

People Make a Place

I have been around, traveling and living in as many beautiful places as I’ve been fortunate enough to grace.  I have seen more beautiful sunsets and snow capped peaks than the next I suppose, but there isn’t a vista or adrenaline rush on Earth that will make up for the people you come to know when you travel.  When it comes to St Thomas, a melting or boiling pot of the Caribbean depending on who you ask, your find yourself in a whole new world with every turn and cultural encounter its own marvel.  The folks I’ve been working with are the island salt which has made this winter the summer of my life.

Soufrant is Solimice’s cousin. Like her, he is a prep machine with the slow and steady mantra. He recently went home to Haiti to visit his wife and children who he hasn’t seen in 3 year. His smile tells a different tale from his life, but the smile is what sustains him. To see him there on dreaded brunch mornings ready to fire my breakfast potatoes and bacon was a real pleasure.

Solamice is the greatest Haitian Italian cook in history. Her meatballs are the best I’ve ever had and a food group in themselves like bacon or organ meat. She is a definition of “Island Time”, but when you put her to a project it is executed to the T. Some mornings you might come in to find she has detailed the hood vents without having asked her a thing. Always a big smile and laugh. Her English is a third language but I have understood everything she says to spite the words.

Bernadette is our island mother. Every morning when I asked her how she was “why complain? Another day another penny”. She bakes all the bread for the restaurant as well as makes the most amazing Haitian hot sauce you have ever had. From St Lucia, she has been all over the Caribbean and has really open my eyes to so much of culture. Raw and passionate, that 70 year old mouth will make you blush when she starts on a heater. She is a jewel of the Caribbean.

Wilkans (top) and Lundy (right) the dish washing cutups.

Donfit. At first I didn’t know what to think about this cocky little lighting bolt. So enthusiastic with that young energy firing in all direction, he brings a presence to the kitchen. Donfrit was abandoned at a young age an was taken in by a family who found him living in an abandoned building. He is close now to graduating high school and at 17 he is looking forward to the future. Don runs salad and desserts at the restaurant which keeps him in perpetual motion most nights, but he still has time to jump on line to help me plate (when the fan starts to stink). He takes a lot of pride in his work and has mastered recipes that continue to baffle people I’ve worked with twice his age. A kid with his background has an in to be angry and selfish his whole life but instead his boundless spirit sustains his growth. I have met a lot of young people in this business and I have never encountered such potential and spirit. I’m not the only one who feels the same way, and I know for sure that he will always have a place on my kitchen staff and my heart. Stay true Donfrit.

Oh the fish!

It’s not a secret that the Caribbean has some beautiful waters and some the of best sport fishing in the world.  I am only too happy that we are able to get our hands on these beautiful specimens as well.  With the sport fishing docks located right behind the restaurant we are able to get first crack at fish, usually only several hours out of the water.  The fish is almost too fresh, because they are still going through the death process; meaning that the flesh is still tense and rigid as the muscles contract before being broken down by the body’s own enzymes in the aging process.  Regardless, I’ll take them fresh any day.  You can still se the iridescent sheen that the scales have to them, a type of florescent, mirrored look that is lost in a day.  Fish big and small with the largest yet topping at 65lbs.  We are lucky to be able to do this down here in a world where every piece of tuna ever caught was been to Japan and/or Manhattan.  I live for the chance to butcher the next contestant through the door.

One of my favorite scores so far was this 25lb lemon shark. I was lucky enough to do some exploratory butchery on this fine animal. I call it exploratory because I’ve never worked with it before, and even though I know what should work, there are always those unexpected turns. A pocket of cartilage you have to cut around. The thick leathery skin. Each cut reveals a new layer of mystery, keeping in mind that you are working with a $150 fish that needs to be sold at some point. It all comes together so well in the end when you have the portions you need and the waist is minimal. It was a good day.

A 35lb Mahi

Andy Allan demonstrates here the difference in butchering whole “round” fish. With smaller fish, even the mighty Salmon, the filet can cut from the bones directly. With larger fish, the backbone is in the center of the skeleton meaning that you can never get a clean cut from one end to the other without hitting the bone. The best method is to cut down the middle of the fish and sever the fillet into two halves. It is a skilled process and I still get nervous cutting expensive fish and a manner that seams counter intuitive to those looking for big thick portions, however; it works great every time and is one of the skills I came here to sharpen

Beautiful fillets that you can’t find at any store

An assortment of snapper

Tuna Tuna Tuna

Giant queen snapper

Wahoo

What a Wahoo!

First of St Thomas

This winter I have moved to St Thomas to work with my good friend and mentor Anderson Alan.  The island is a stark contrast to Alaska, but with no shortage of natural beauty, and just thirdworld enough to be quaint.  I am still moving in and figuring out how to get around on safari wagons open air taxis on the back of flatbed trucks that whisk you around the island’s pitted roads for  a dollar.  I have been working 60 + hours a week since I’ve landed here which has been great, but I don’t have the real touristy photos yet, or may I ever.  I came here to work and learn from my old friend so any sort of good time island party will take a back beat, but at least there is never one too far away.

I flew over from Puerto Rico on a plane with three other people. The flight alone is worth the trip

Local star fruits and wild mama sapote, an amazing fruit almost the flavor and consistancy of candied yams

Dragon fruit

Bay rum leaves delivered by our local conections. They smell and taste like cloves or allspice. Amazing

The island is full of wild chickens. You can hear their crowing all day in the distance. It’s kind of haunting at night

Dolphin is just one of a variety of fish that comes through our doors all ore on that

Pikes Place

We stopped at Pikes Place market when we passed through Seattle.  It’s one of Seattle’s most famous attractions, but luckily it lives up to the hype.  At the peak of the fall harvest there was beautiful produce and even better, excellent forage mushrooms.  There was also breads and pasta all over.  Pikes is known for its seafood markets and it did not disappoint either.  I even bought a belt there of good thick engraved leather that was made for me right there in the market.  I love open air markets with surprises at every stall.  I wish more cities would follow the model

Beautiful bread

Huge porchini mushrooms from the rainy coast

Nice chanterelles

Live crayfish are a tough find even in the South. These guys are from a mountain lake near Seattle. I got a whole mess of them and they were amazing

The Alcan Highway

It was time to leave Alaska and I didn’t want to fly back, so I found some folks on craigslist.com to ride back with.  We got 3 beautiful days out on the road in the Canadian wilderness.  This time of year a lot of gas stations where closed, we almost ran out of gas several times.  There were hardly any cars on the road at all making for smooth driving on some rough roads.

Frost on my sleeping bag in the early morning

Wild horses grazing on the side of the road

Bison on the road side. We wouldn’t have stopped if it wasn’t for the barrier. If he decided to charge he could destroy the car easy, it stood twice as tall as the car.

Liard hot springs is a must stop on the Alcan. Perfect 110 degree water spilling out of the earth in a natrual pool surounded by tall trees. We were ther only ones there in the early morning hours. It was a great way to melt off the stress of driving.

Reindeer licking salt off the road in the early morning mist. It was pretty dangerouse to get up any speed when they could be right around the corner.

A hood top picnic on the side of the road

A tractor trailer hauling lumber caught fire on the side of the road when the back axel overheated. It had been burning for an hour and there was still no sign of police of fire crews and they probably weren’t coming either.

Most of the drive is through exquisitely desolate. Barren lands with hardly a person for miles

random peak in the distance

Pictures

 Every year I am astounded at how much food I can make how few pictures I have of it.  Most of the time I can only capture the last plate as it gets cold waiting to be whisked out of the kitchen.  This year with the help of my friend Travis Marak, a photographer and dairy farmer from Oklahoma, I finaly have been able to get a few shots.

My picture of a kiwi and strawberry tart

Alaskan Scallops, spagetti squash, pumpkin seed volauvent, low bush cranberry and goose tounge greens

Salmon with skin, chimi chury, summer roots and oyster leaf

Alaskan spotted shrimp with roe on tapioca, wild twisted stalk (a berry like cucumber and watermelon), low bush cranberries, and goose tongue greens (a salty marsh green similar to glasswort/sea bean)

Roasted cauliflower soup, apple, bacon, EVO, and a cheddar chip

Ribeye filet with fresh horse radish, purple and gold braided potato puree, roasted onion and sprouts

Mountains and meat, the oldest flavor combination

Rustico

Semolina bread sticks

The Backyard

 The days are getting shorter, but there is still ample daylight to get out after work and play.  I have been kayaking in the Paterson lagoons almost every day after work, and even though it is the same place, the scenery and mood is constantly changing.  Seals are ever present popping their heads up to see what your about, while sea otters and there pups splash along as a family.  It’s one of the safest places for them, away from the orcas who make them a snack.  Directly behinds us is Peterson Glacier, with its long ice field or bergs that stand quite in the night air.  It is my nightly paddle that I think I will miss the most when I am gone.  Here are a few shots I’ve managed to take.

Spire bay outside of Seward. Close enough

Slightly unrelated, but on one of my last boat trips there was a pod of Orcas that came right up to the boat to play in the jet wash. It was better than Seaworld.

A 20 foot high wall of snow and ice. It looks big enough to be a glacier itself but it’s just an avalanche slide from the winter that never did melt all year

The upper lagoon of Patterson glacier is a gallery of ice sculptures beyond description. I take a picture of every shape would be pointless, so I get one or two and trust the rest to memory

A seal sits on an iceberg. Earlier in the year they gave birth the same way out on the ice.

The ghostly shape of a harbor seal gliding by

Peterson Glacier

Lucky Fish

I was out having a beer on a rock in the lagoon when I heard a splashing behind me.  A silver slamon was whipping around in furry, then it launched itself a clean foot out of the water and onto the shore where I was.  Its the spawning time for the silvers, and this one was just out of energy.  It died right there in my arms.  The fish still looked great, and had sea lice clinging to its which was a sign it was still fresh from the ocean and not sick and beat up.  I figured it was my lucky day to get a fish this nice for free, but then I thought it selfish to take the fish at all.  If I hadn’t been here the bears and birds would have eaten it, and they need it more than me.  Still, we where friends at the end there.  I decided a compromise.  I cut the fish up that night.  I eat the head and belly, my favorite parts.  I cooked half the fish for my friends here, and put the other half on a distant shore for the birds and bears.  So one unlucky fish can be a turn of fortune for all.

Salmon cheeks are an amazing treat. Soft and delicouse. Cheeks, eyeball, collars, and bellys are all I need

A nice sized fish for free

Snow Crab Tails

Everybody knows about Alaskan crab legs.  Crab boats and Prossesing plants work round the clock to stock all you can eat chinese buffets with watery frozen legs.  For years the legs where the only part of the crab utilized by processors, the rest was thrown away or ground into fertilizer.  Hidden in the crabs shell is a thin strip of meat with a sweet craby flavor that is the equal of their long leggy brothers, and half the price.  The meat gets rubbery if you cook it to long so a quick fry in brown butter makes for an amazing bite. 

Mussels

I’ve seen mussels on the beaches in coves around us, but I figure out why I couldn’t find any on our beach.  Then one night there was a super low tide that exposed  the bare rocks of the break.  There I found a trove of mussels all right for picking.  Alaskan mussels are tiny, much smaller than the lower 48 and a whole lot smaller than the green lips I got in New Zealand, but they make up for it in flavor.  I ate a whole mess for sure.

Mussels in a little white wine to preserve the natural flavor. They might be small, but they are great

Clusters of thousands of tiny mussels cling to rocks

Super low tide on a clear night

Alaska Picture Book

Here’s a bunch of random pictures from the Kenia Fjords on Alaskas rocky southern coast.  The best of the place remains unphotagraphed and these pictures can only acount for about 5% of the time I have spent here.  All the same, enjoy

Big ass jelly fish

Batting rocks into the water. One of the greatest passtimes ever.

Fingers of fog over the mountains

Me and my beard over Colman Bay

A tiny bird with egg that fell out of a nest and was found on one of the nature trails. Morbid but beautiful

Everyone gives my shit, but I love camping with just a tarp, a few blankets, and a guitar

Patterson lagoon on my nightly kayak trip

Playing music on the beach by a fire. Looks like a Columbia add

Horned puffin

The mouth of a cave on slate island. You can kayak inside for a little ways before it closes in

Cool pattern in a peace of drift wood

Playing cornhole on the beach at midnight

Overlook at Patterson lagoon

A huge blue ice burg. A second after I took this picture the ten foot tall left half fell into the water. I was next to it a minute before, but i know beter then to hang out too long

Crazy ice on Ialic glacier

Dew on a mushroom

A sunny day on the boat

Baldy flying

Lupine in pearly dew

Company wild man Zack takes the first jump in Abbra cove wearing a white haired skeliton mask. The water is cold and ice chunks float by, but you don’t seam to notice

Cleaning rotten sludge from the grease traps is just one of the many pleasant jobs that await the back country cook

It’s always fine to fry a turkey out in the wilderness

Bears scratch up these trees as a scent marker and sign to stay off their turf. The talest cratches are over head high

Wild Berries

It’s finally berry time.  There are so many brambles that the place feels like a vineyard gone wild.  Several types are prevalent.  Salmon berries, service berries, raspberries, and a few others who’s names escape me.  Most have a tart zing with a subtle flavor that sinks in after the astringent burst.  It’s time for jams and jellies.  Tart berry sauces for halibut and vinaigrettes for beets salad.  My personal favorite is the magical berry wines and meads I want to try.  It’s a great time to be in the woods with a basket for sure.

Big old salmon berries are just starting to turn a bright red color. They are everywhere. Anyone could find them.

Service berries, or wild blue berries. A little more tart then thier domesticated cousins, but not lacking in flavor for sure.

I forget the name of this one, but it’s the tiniest and of the berries. Where raspberries and such have a big cluster of small juicy cells, these little guys only have 4 tart little bursts of juice. Good to keep the vitamin C up while hiking I guess

Da Bears

We are surrounded by bears.  Lets face it, we are intruding on their turf.  We try as hard as we can to keep our perverted food ways away from their natural diet.  The fact is, sugar and fat are inherent in much of our food system, and we bring it with us everywhere we go.  To a bear in the wilds, they are the most foreign and precious substances in the world.  Once they get a taste, who can blame them from wanting the whole thing.  We just have a responsibility to not let that happen, because; if a bear becomes used to human trappings, it will find itself in our path more often than welcome. The saying is “A fed bear is a dead bear” and I hope to never confirm it.

Burning cardboard backing boxes so as not the atract bears with the slightest scent of delicouse people foods

I picture couldn’t capture the pounding this door took. A testiment to Mike Webber’s construction ability.

Still my cudly buddy, I don’t care what anyone says

Salmon

The summer salmon are in and definitely welcome.  I can finally get my hands on fresh wild Alaskan salmon, and as you may assume, there are in fact no substitutes.  The flesh is so shiny and red that it almost seems like neon.  Raw, the taste is pure and delicate, while cooking brings out the flavorful oils in the flesh, and smoking brings on a whole new dimension of scented majesty.  I have always loved salmon, but have been unable to delve head first in the meat due to the nature of the specimens that have pasted my way.  Here in that land of salmon, I could eat it 100 ways any day of the week, and I aspire to.

Smoking salmon after 2 days of curing with salt, brown sugar, and variouse mixes or aromatics and spice. Its only a makeshift smoker using an old gas grill, but I can still impart some of this native Alder wood flavor.

Salmon cured with spruce tips. Good on its own, or smoked for an new, ethereal element. I’ve also tried paprika, miso, nori (fresh and dried), cocoa, coffee, tea, and I am always looking for new and exiting possibilities.

Just a simple bite of salmon tartar on a salmon skin chip with some scalion, and fennel

Salmon skin is the equal of chicken, turkey, and (dare I say it) even the king of meats; Pork. When the scales and inner flesh are removed, you get a translucent strip of salmon skin that crisps up beautifly in the oven. The flavor is of beautiful slamon, and the report to the tooth is like pork rinds.

Neon red salmon.

Impact

This place has a rugged beauty that is the equal of any in the world.  Being only the second year of operation, we are still adapting our practices – and our guests – to the way of life out here.  It makes it even more disturbing to see trash wash up on an empty beach.  As you see this place day to day, you can’t help but feel responsible for it, and seek to maintain its untouched splender.

On my last overnight I slept on a lone shore line not far from the Lodge, yet supremely isolate and beautiful. Walking along the rocky beach I started finding these plastic bottles. From local cruise ship? The lodges? No. All these bottles had Chinese writing on them. Some how, in some way – these bottles made their way on the ocean to this place, countless miles from their origins. Each of these bottles probably told a separate and amazing story, and will again thanks to recycling

The remains of an old fridge washed up on this remote shore. Tearing at the foam insulations on this thing is like countless hours of Xbox to a bear.

Bear Necessities

 I love working places where housing is included.  It’s one less bill, and an interesting experience with some interesting people.  It takes a great deal of understanding to live and work with the same people every day.   I know it has made me incredibly happy and insanely annoyed at the same time.  Out in Alaska it’s even crazier.  With no roads out, we are pretty much trapped together on a thin strip of land.  All told, I don’t think I could find a better random group of people to live with.  We share a sort of stranded comedy, like Gilagans Island.  Just a bunch of different people trying to get the same relative job done, and each in a different way.  You don’t’ really miss not having the little things (like electricity sometimes) and concentrate on what you’ve got.  You could always build what you need, and I have found all sorts of home improvment projects to keep me bussy.  There is no shortage of food to cook for an endless stream of people, so you know I’m happy.

A quiet spot on an empty beach to read. Some people spend a fortune to find this spot

My humbel shack

The staff lounge is our shared living room and kitchen. A place to hit some internet at a snails pace, or play some poker with our tip money.

My PBR cantern. Lights the way back home

My window box built out of a gutter.

My part of a three cabin triplex. I didn’t have a porch, so I built this clap shack addition. I stand by my work

Pasta

I love making pasta, especially the old way.  The Italian grandma way; although they could probably pasta circles around me.  You see all your ingredients right in front of you (albeit a short list) and you combine them by hand to form something so ethereal yet taken for granted as a part of even the simplest diet.  The modern machine has definitely taken the guess work out of “noodles”.  If you ever have to ask yourself why making your own is better than store bought then you are better boiling some Barilla.  ( It’s no insult, that shit is legit )  In a world of factory foods, making pasta is all about the extra time and inevitable setbacks.  The ragged edges and misshapen noodles of several different sizes.  It’s the difference between driving a car and building one.  Smaller scale, but you get me.

A mix of white and semolina flours makes for great texture and taste

Eggs and olive oil for rich body

Slowly mix and beaten into shape. It takes time and patients to work a sticky blob into a ball of smooth rich dough. It’s worth every second.

I don’t often make ribbon pastas, but I’ve been trying a new method. After sheeting you roll both end up and cut the noodles to size.

Continued, then you run a knife under the cut noodles and roll them out. Guarantied 80% of the time to work every time.

Old School

These days a lot is possible in the kitchen.  The first humans to but heat to meat could never imagine 36 hour souvide short ribs.  They did use the best of what they had to make their meat as delicouse as they could.  Traditional braising is one of my favorite methods.  The time and anticipation, not to mention the smells that fill a room with pleasure.  Stripped of many of the “new age” methods I’ve gladly returned to a simpler day.  It was easy since I already don’t have electricity or heat in my cabin.  What I do have is some nice cuts of meat and plenty of time to make it right.

.Ox tail is one of my favorite meats. The amount of pure beef flavor is incredible. I braised it and picked it off the bone to make a filling for ravioli or empanadas. I feel like a lot of it goes to me in tasting pinches.

Lamb shoulder. Boned out and stuffed with aromatics, braised to just the right point to allow soft yet sliceable.

Wild Edible Alaska

Even with the inhospitable weather that pounds this sea coast every year, I am amazed at the amount of wild plants that are edible, and delicious at that.  Greens stretch across the beaches.  Berry bushes flower with the indication of future fruit.  I never thought it possible, but you could definitely make a decent living out here off the land and sea, maybe even start a restaurant if patrons didn’t mind the three hour boat ride to get dinner.  I’ve been trying and experimenting with everything I can get my hands on.

Beach green is called such because it hangs on the beaches, all over the beaches. It tastes like letuce, but it would be better as a cooked green like collards

Goose tongue hangs low in the salt marshes and comes naturaly seasoned by the salt water. It tastes a little like mushrooms to me. The bears live to graze on it, and if you see the little blades are clipped low, it was with bear teath.

Oyster Leaf. The name says it all, but fails to capture the joy of this plant. It litteraly tastes like delicious oysters. It is the most amazing wild green I have discovered in years. I would serve it in a million ways in the finest restaurants in the world.

Devil’s Club. Looks very inviting with all the barbs. The new green growth at the top of the spiny stalk is edible, and tastes like carrot top and hops. Great fried in brown butter. Even better if you can get it off without getting stabbed

Sea beans are just that. Some type of wild bean. I here that the mature bean pods aren’t that great, but the tendrils are sweet and even better sauteed. Again, this stuff is everywhere

Shrimping Alaska

I never new it, but alaska has shrimp.  I thought the water was too cold for them, but the little suckers love it.  I got out in the fjord with our two maintance and care takers at the lodge, brothers Denny and Mike Webber who had shrimp pots out in the ice field near the glacier.  Its a bit of an ordeal to collect the littel guys, but it is totaly worth it.  I brought a lemon with to get some shrimp sashimi on the spot.  You have to be a resident to shrimp in Alaska, so it was a rare opportunity for a out of stater to be able to see these shrimp fresh, let alone eat them while the meat is still twitching.  The surounding mountains and krisp air.  The seals poking their heads up right next to the boat.  The knowledge that falling in the water meant death in 90 seconds.  It might have been one of the best times in my life.

A bucket of speckeled beauties

Alaskan Spotted Prawn.

Every shrimp pot sits at the end of 300 feet of line, so its a real workout to haul pots. I did one, and I was burning. A workout and good eats

A lone buoy in a sea of ice

Alaska

For anyone who didn’t know, I have moved to Alaska.  I now run the kitchen at the Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge outside of Seward Alaska.  There are no roads, and only a three hour boat ride takes guests and supplies into the vast interior of this national park.  The lodge was built 2 years prior, with the permission both the park service and the local native tribes.  The place has a mysterious and wild beauty that is hard to describe, but I will try to convey as I discover it myself over the next few months.  There is still snow on the ground in a few places, but the weather is mild most days, and has been uncharacteristically sunny for this temperate rain forest. 

One of the boats, the Orka Point, brings supplies and new staff. The lagoon in front of the lodge is to shallow to bring in landing craft, so we have to off load in the harbor and run supplies back to the place on ATVs

The area is home to a lot of black bears that lazily make their way across the property in the evening. Here is one in front of the lodge. I’ll get a closer shot later this summer.

It wasn’t long before I say my first sea otter. Freakin adorable

Seward

We had to bring the first few weeks of food and suppies with us on the first boat, so we went to Cost Co and filled up 8 or so cart and filled a company van to the top. 4,200 dollars.

My first view of Alaskan mountains from the airplane window.

Long Horns

While I was passing through Colorado, I stopped to see my old friend Patt and his family.  Patt and I used to take elk hunters out on week long trips into the back country on horseback.  He guilded the hunts and I cooked the kill.  Now he and his wife Steff operate a large ranch of long horned cattle.  I got out early in the chilly morning to help him feed them in their winter pasture.  Long horns are just that, huge.  Like most cows, they are pretty easy gowing.  Most of a cows life involves chewing.  These guys get dangerouse when you get them together in a big pack, like feeding time.  They scuffle with each other over feeding possition, and push in close to one another with horns clacking and swinging wildly all around.  If a cow just turns its head suddenly, then four feet of horn come swinging towards your head like a baseball bat.  I had to duck a couple that day.  Patt got even close as he went to tag a calf born only the night before.  These cows will be taken back into the mountains to pasture during the summer months.  It makes for long days in the saddle for Patt and Steff as they move them deep into the Elk Mountians.  For Patt, who I think was born on a horse, its just another day in the office. 

Colorado is an amazing place. Maybe I’ll live there again some day.

New calves have to be tagged. Here Patt slowly possitions himself close, and when the time is right he snatches the calf up and tags him quick. The mama cows don’t much like this ordeal, and gathered around him, stomping and calling. I was a little nervouse he was going to get horned. To him, it’s just another day.

Cowboy, the hard working dog. Dogs are great for moving cows, as long as some one has trained them proper. Roudy dogs can stir a group of peaceful cows in to a frenzy of horns and hoofs

Its hard to tell how massive these guys are until you stand next to one.

Hungary

 My father’s side of the family is Hungarian. Although I’m proud of my heritage, I must admit that Hunkie cuisine hasn’t really exploded on the American landscape like your Italian, Korean, or Antarctic.  We do have Paprika, that sweet and peppery spice with that perfect red hue, and that is something for sure.  Every Easter, my family goes back to New Brunswick, where my dad lived, to pick up some Kobas at the Hungarian butcher shop.  This area of New Jersey used to be home to hundreds of Hungarian families, and like any ethnic neighborhood, they brought their old world foods with them.  Kobas, is most certainly not to be confused with Kielbasa, that Polish Ron Jeremy stuff.  Kobas is a garlicky sausage with lots of sweet paprika.  I look forward to it every year.  The shop also has a whole host of delicious specialty meats like head cheese and pates.  It is good to see a place like this carrying on, and I can hear a bit of the old world langue being spoken around me.  We Hunkies might not have the culinary hold on the country like the Italians, but what we do have tastes pretty good.

My families favorite is the fried fat. The ends of the bacon are deep fried into a power packed fatty snack. It was one thing to eat this stuff and work a 12 hour shift in the factory, and another to chase it with beer and watch football. Too much of this stuff and you will show it.

Hungaries bacon, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s got paprika on it. This stuff is great, and can be a real fire show if you get the spicy stuff. Hungary is the only spice loving Eastern European country.

Glorouse head cheese, loaded with tougue and bits of heady goodness. Nice and spicey too.

They also had a variety of smoked meats and sausages that looked pretty nice.

The display case is a bonanza of specialty charcuterie

Hungarian Meats and Deli, 311 Somerset street, New Brunswick, NJ

Eel

Conger eel.  Like a big snake wriggling through the water, it was enough to send a bunch of school children running from the waters edge.  When I found it for sale at the local fish mart, I had to try it.  It’s a strange enough cut to hold in your hands; like a two foot long snake’s tail.  I got a tip from a grizzly old-timer (funny as hell) to roast the meat long enough so the meat separates from the pin bones.  The flesh is firm, almost like chicken.  It is pretty boney, but tasted great for a wild fresh water fish.  With a little more knowledge of anatomy and some flavorful experimentation, maybe people won’t run from these guys anymore.

I seasoned the skin well, and set the fish on a bed of onion and wild nasturtiums I found.

Here is a three foot conger eel swimming in the Christ Church botanical gardens. Not the same one I ate

The Wild Foods Festival

If it creeps, crawls, or makes you want to gag, you can find it at the wild foods festival.  Once a year the tiny West Coast  town of Hokitika hosts a festival that celebrates the native foods that first sustained the Maori Indians and later the starving gold miners and settlers of colonial New Zealand

Cracking open logs to find more grubs. Even good raw right out of the log. If I knew I would have been cracking logs open all along

Huhu grubs are the undisputed stars of the show. These guys where cooked after soaking in a brine. They taste a bit like peanut butter.

Some pretty girls, like Emma the German cutie here, had no problem tackling the testis. Really, they aren’t bad at all. Soft on the inside, like bologna. The outside would have been better crispy

Sheep testicals. With all the bugs around and everything, people where more afraid of eating these guys (cooked) then anything else

Punga is the countries famous giant fern tree, and just like heart of palm, the inside of young trees is edible. Raw, they were so slimy you could hardly chew it. It was good pickled and candied. I would love to experiment with it.

Mutton bird. One of the best things I found at the fest, these small sea birds live in the sound, and have a salty, pleasantly gamey taste. I’ve never had anything like it

Fried beatles on rice with a shot of sweet chili

Kava, the Pacific island’s native happy plant. The roots (from Fiji) are mashed up in water to make a drink. This stuff was unsweetened, and makes your tongue numb. It has a root taste that would be good with some beet juice or coconut milk. It gives you a mild, pleasant feeling that is supposed to make you feel more sociable. I bet this stuff would be twice as popular if there was no beer.

Traditional island BBQ involves hot rocks in a banana leaf pit in the ground. Here you have ox tail, pork shoulder, and my favorite; tongue. All soft and delicious, but could use some sauce

Whasp larva on an ice cream cone. Kinda nutty

The Blenhiem Brews, Blues, and BBQs Fest

Only in a business as awesome as mine can something like this be labeled as “market reaserch”.  In all honesty, it was the real reason I went, and I plan to have a food stall here some day.  Come join me.  The BB&BBQ is a great time, and there is a wide range on foods, although some not exactly what I call BBQ back home, and most of the music wasn’t exactly blues, the Kiwis can still party pretty good.  The weather was beautiful and I met a lot of interesting characters that where definitly in there native habitat.  What a day.

Mutton shank. Now it’s a party!

White bait (tiny little whole bait fish) and eggs, kinda like a strange omlet. A little hot sauce would have saved the day, saddly unavailable

I figured that NZ would have there own beer brands, and thankful they do; lots, and there pretty good. Most are named after the countries many birds, like: Tui, Weke, and the extinct Moa

Many people had been to this thing for years, and knew how to come prepared for the sun or rain. There was a fleet of these wheeled table and umbrella combos all around. This one is self propelled on top of a lawn mower. I made a lot of friends using their shade.

Unknown to me, but it is customary to dress up like a morron at these events. There where ninja turtels, drag queens, and these dancing road cones. Had I known I would have packed my kilt

New Seafood

 

Basically a sub tropical island, you can bet that New Zealand has some amazing seafood.  The most well know is the Green Mussel, only found frozen in the states.  Even more amazing creatures can be found around the light blue water.  The real trick of it is that some of the best tasty bits are not even available in most stores, even here.  You have to swim for it, just like the Mori tribes did for hundreds of years.  The way seafood was meant to be had; right out of the water and into the pot. 

Green lip mussels in wine and wild fennel. Even the biggest ones remain soft and tender, unlike clams, which get chewy as they get bigger

The common blue messel can be found on just about ever rock in the sound out here. Common or not, these mussels I collected while camping where some of the best I’ve ever had. Just a tiny bit of water and a dash of green tabassco on a camp stove and it’s as good as it gets

Sea Urchine is all over out here, and at low tide, you can collect the little guys. It takes a minute to crack into them, and what you find is an aquired taste.

Seared Abalone. I found it more tender then its American cousin

I got to try some of NZs local Abalone species that some divers gave me. After liberating it from the shell, and some tenderizing wacks, its just slice an sear on both sides

Mother of pearl. The inside of an abalone shell is one of nature’s true miracles. Vibrant tones and shades in a stunning mosaic, only ever meant for the creature itself to see. Having no way to save a smelly shell in my pack, it was discarded back in the bay as beautiful waste

Blue Cod is a New Zealsnd treat. Along with the skin, the flesh also apears to have a blueish tint when raw, making for pretty sashimi. They are delicouse, but I couldn’t keep this guy I caught, due to fishing regulations in the sound.

The Kiwi

I’ve loved kiwi fruit since I was tiny.  Now that I’m in kiwi land, you better believe I’m living it up.  Now I find that there isn’t just the brown fuzzy kiwi, but the “gold kiwi” a smooth skinned, super sweet kiwi, and the tiny, tart, kiwi berry.  They are all amazing, and new ideas are all around

New Zealand

After a amazing trip through the South Pacific, I finally made it to New Zealand.  The country is as beautiful as I had hoped.  Things are a little different, the language, the ketchup, the wildlife, the sugar in and on everything.  Its good to see that the beer here is as good as ever.  I’m working at the Bay of Many Coves Resort in the Queen Charlotte Sound, a 5 star paridise on the side of a bay cliff.  It’s hard work, and I’m happy to be here for it.

My office on a hill

New Zealand’s giant ferns. The countries symbol, and absolutly amazing

All the kitchens at Bay of Many Coves Resort have the same beautiful view as the guests. Pretty rare in any business

Picton

Sea planes and helicopters are a usual sight

Bali

Bali is an increadible place.  A beautiful place, a religous place, a delicouse place all in one crazy package.  Due to its location so close to India and South Asia, you canfind a mix of cuisines.  From curries from several countries, tandory, satay, and a wide mix of seafood and tropical fruits.  A mango fell off a tree in front of me at my hotel, and I ate it, and it was the best mango ever.  Bali might seam a little ruggeg to the refined Western traveler, but I found the people to be very nice and happy to see travelers.  I hope to come back again.

Sunset in Sunar

Whole grilled snapper

Gitgit waterfall. There where almost no other tourist at this lush jungle spot. It was beautiful, and a nice relief form the heat.

Some locals where selling cut fruit down by the waterfall, collected from the surrounding trees. This Jack fruit was great. Its like a crunchy, melon like bannana. It hit the spot on the long walk back to the car.

Empty coconut shells left to dry in the sun. You can see, they love their coconuts

Everybody in Bali rides a motor bike everywhere. I’ve never seen so many parked in one place. Whole families ride together on one bike.

Semuhara, my buddy. I just called him “Sami” to his laughing distain I guess. We took a ride on this outrigger canoe, which probable hasn’t changed in hundred of years

A lunch of cold stir fried sprouts and curds in hot curry. Served up on a hot beach at a locals tent. Amazing.

This young Indi girl wanted a picture with a big, strong, American man, but I was the only one around.

There is something very satasfying about getting 100,000 dollar bills. Granted 100,000 rupi is about 1 dollar, but beer in ony 40,000 rupi, so the mathe still makes you smile

A farm in the Bali countryside

Americans know what a satee is, but no one has had one until you get one off the street. The flavor was amazing, combined with this crazy soft sticky rice. I came back every day. Price 1 dollar

I’ve said it before, if you don’t leave trash around, people won’t call you a third world country. People can look past the dogs, cats, and cows in the streets, and we can accept bare bones plumbing, but not garbadge

A peace of exotic travel advice. If a bed comes with bug netting, use it

Bali has the most amazing fruit, and these are three of the best.

In Bali, your room comes with a free blessing each morning as part of the amenities. It made me feel better.

My blue bike. I rented it for the day. Cost 5$. I got to see so much of the countryside, and get around like a local. Best 5 I ever spent

I got this fresh tumuric and lime juice cocktail in Ubud. and although it’s not the most refreshing drink in a tropical jungel, I did feel realy good

Bali has the best collection of hideous religeous statues in the world.

The Monkey Forest in Ubud

Bangkok Delicious

What can  I say about Bangkok and Thialand, except; before I had left, I was already planning my trip back.  The people, the kickboxing, the exchange rate, THE FOOD!  I ate everything I could get my hands on, no matter how long it looked like it sat in the sun, and I’m still here.  I ate in a few restaurants, but make no mistake, the true cuisine of Bangkok is in the streets.  There must have been thousands of venders selling all manner of food from all sorts of home made kitchen setups.  Each cart specialized in 1 or 2 dishes or protiens.  Its a trip back to the beginning of restaurants, where cuisine began thousands of years ago.  A small smoldering grill, a few chairs, family and cats circaling about while you eat.  At least in Bangkok, its a still a formula for a good meal.  I took as many pictures as I could, but images alone can’t sum up the place.  Its the noise, the smells, the smiles, the ungodly heat, that make this place so special, yet familar.  I’ll be back for sure.

Flying over the mountains of China. Mist was in the valleys, leaving only the peaks exposed. I didn’t see any roads or habitation for what looked like hundreds of miles, with some huge peaks rising up

Layover in Hong Kong, where you can still get a pretty nice bowl of spicy noodles in the airport, or a plate of tripe. I realy wanted the preserved egg and dried shrimp, but they had sold out. Sounds like a hot seller to me.

Shrimp and fish with noodles in broth. Sprinkle a little chilies and fish sauce. Best breakfast ever.

When I pass someone selling a drink on the streets this shade of green, I can’t help myself. It’s made from a combo of different beet and turnip greens, and goes down smooth. It has to be good for you.

Two girls picking mangos with a saw and basket on a stick.

This beer I bought, or hard cider of sorts, was as close to home make hooch as you can get from a store.

When you buy anything to eat on the streets is served in a plastic bag, with a little bag of sauce. Even drinks are served in a bag with ice

Grilled squid. These guys where so big, they were a little chewy, like calamari flavored gum in chili sauce. Still good though

Not just food is sold on the street. Street tailors and coblers mended garments on old, foot cranck machines. I finaly got the hole in my good pants fixed

Huge blue prawns, about the size of a small lobster. They were so beautiful to see, and I would have bought them if I had a way to cook them myself

Roast duck over ramin. This was a fine meal down a dark alley. I don’t thing many westerners at all ever make it down this way, with stray dogs hanging around your feet while you eat. The guys who ran the shop got a good laugh at the guy who wanted to eat the head

Street Karaoke

Bangkok’s do it yourself plumbing. Just add water and presto!

The little fritter assembly line

Duck and green onion fritters, with cucumbers in chili sauce

Shark fin soup. I’ve always wanted to try it, but it surly wasn’t the life changing experiece for me that it was for the shark. The fins have a gellied texture, which is what is so highly prized. They assured me that the rest of the shark was used for meat, and not definned and cast away.

A Little Press

 So here is an artical that was done about me in October.  It was realy early in the morning, but I think she got the jist of  what I was saying.  Thanks to Lisa Rogak for doing the story.

http://www.behindtheknife.com/articles/brian-stefan

The 100 Days War

 I love to visit my old friend and room mate from college Sean Seeley out on his families dairy farm.  Besides; there milk, and chocolate milk, is the best I’ve ever had anywhere, ever, period.  Dairy farming is hard, messy, backbreaking work in the best of conditions, but through in the cold and snows of Winter and it is positively brutal for man and animal alike.  This period is referred to as ” The hundred days war”.  While I was there, the temperature stayed around 0.  Your wet boots freeze solid on your feet.  But the daily grind goes on.  There were 24 new calves to take care of , as well as 100 gallons of egg nog to be made and bottled.  I helped where I could, but sometimes it’s best to just get out of the way and let the pros work.  Sean knows every one of the 150 or so cows on the property by name and diet.  He can tell you their lineage, as well as how there poop looked this morning compared to that night.  Soon, they will be the first and only certified sustainable dairy in PA.  It is a long time coming, but only a single mile marker on a long road that will hopefully see his grand children taking the wheel.  His wife Jess, who I knew when they were dating back in college, baked bread for us, and we ate local lamb and beef.  I tell you, there is nothing like it.

This old bottling line is a marvel of mechanical engineering. All weights and wheels, gears and springs. There is no reason to think that with proper maintenance it could last forever

Colostrum is the first milk that a mother cow gives after a calf is born. It is packed with nutrients, enzymes, and fats. It is the color and consistency of eggnog. Of course I had to taste it. It’s like heavy cream. Science is looking into colostrum for many health benefits, and possibly even cancer treatment

The little ones

Cows bedding down in the tie stall for the night to get out of the wind

One frozen sunset

Winter came a few weeks early in PA

Penn State

  I always love stopping in State College PA to see my old school.  The 2 1/2 years I spent here getting my Hotel Restaurant Management degree after Culinary School where crazy and enlightening, well worth the crippling loans I’m still paying off.  Penn State is a beautiful campus, sprawling over miles.  There is a timelessness about the place, and it’s good to see it the same way I left it, books and bars alike.

The long mountain highway

The closet nurd that I am, I always visit the library when I’m back, but why not? The place is freakin massive, with more books of interest than I was able to read in 2.5 years.

There must be thousands of these chubby squires on campus. They wouldn’t let me hunt them then, and I don’t think they’ve changed their minds

My old house right down town. So many good times I can’t believe it ever happened. I have gotten closer, but without my old friends and roomates, its just a house.

One of the best bars anywhere is Zeno’s, a tiny basement with awsome music and some 400 types of beer. I spent a lot of time here.

A foot of snow fell that night. The town is even more beutiful that way.

Frozen Beaver stadium. The fact that college even has football should be enough of a reason to go.

Cabela’s

Up in Pennsylvania I stopped at the outdoor behemoth Cabelas.  Besides having all manner of sportsman’s and outdoor gear, they are like a country museum.  There must be one of every huntable  species of animal in the world here stuffed on display.  Its a crazy place.

Some of these tiny African antalope species look delicouse. I bet you could bone out and stuff the whole thing for roasting. I have to go to Africa.

An indoor, walk through aquarium full of some interesting and delicious looking species.

Old Henry and Winchester rifles. I’ve never seen so many guns in my life.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a gun enthusiast, but why a civilian needs a fifty caliber sniper riffle to hunt in the states is beyond me. I am staying off his property.

Technology

Souvide has caught onto the mainstream much as I thought it would.  When Sean started experimenting with the technique many years ago, he bought his own circulators off of eBay for a song.  Back then no one even knew what they were.  Now, even older half functioning models will sell for hundreds of dollars as everyone gets into the game.  Years later, he finally has a shelf full of top of the line equipment.  I will always be thankful to Sean and Andy Allan for introducing me to the technique back when I worked at McCradys.  I hope too to have a shelf full of shiny techt toys one day.  Till then, I will have to watch as Sean pioneers the methods even further, pushing forward the science of tender and delicious.