2013 in Review, Planning for 2014

2013 was a very interesting year, in the best and worst senses…

Most, if not all, of the groundwork and effort that I put into my Social Media business ventures and marketing coordination just melted away. Nobody wanted to put in the effort to do the work, to play the game, to improve their own status.

Especially after the election in November 2012 the money being spent on marketing and training was choked off. Panic mode set in.

Then my Lovely Bride was offered a wonderful opportunity to take a new job in Hanover, NH – a move up both in title and salary – so we made the move.

In March we moved into our new apartment and I went back into the restaurant biz, waiting tables at a local eatery. I threw myself into the work and into my old hobby of painting miniature soldiers and playing Warhammer.

I went fishing and hiking and camping, generally giving up on the ‘old’ plan and waiting for the new inspiration to come along.

Come November things were very good indeed!

I received a promotion at work, to part-time Assistant Manager, which meant more training and responsibility. We had put a bunch of money in savings for the first time in years, and all of our Christmas shopping was done – with great, thoughtful gifts for everyone on our list. I was really starting to feel good about myself and my prospects again.

In addition I was really cooking again, and enjoying it more than ever. I put in two training shifts in the restaurant, behind the line, and had a ball.

This is it, I decided, it’s time to go ahead and start working toward the fuzzy idea we had of owning a food truck. I have been reading a lot of books about cooking and chefs and the culinary world and I must say that I am as inspired as all get out.

To this end I have pulled out my Escoffier Cook Book, ordered some others from Amazon and starting in January will begin posting about cooking and eating on a new site I am developing.

There will be recipes, pictures and videos, book reviews and restaurant reviews. It is here that I plan to find my voice and philosophy of cooking and food. My goals are simple and straightforward:

1. Improve my knowledge of Classical cookery to apply to modern ingredients and equipment

5. Earn and save money toward purchasing a pickup truck and food-service trailer (shooting for 2016?)

I am very excited and look forward to having some of you that read these (infrequent) updates to follow along on this adventure.

More details will follow next week, and I’ll be kicking the whole thing off on New Year’s day.

Thank you for reading and God bless everyone!