It's been a while....

It's been a while since I've blogged and unfortunately I still have nothing to blog about...

Patiently, I'm still waiting on the truck dealers to get back to me with price lists - I would compare it to watching paint dry but since we are all about the cooking - its like watching a crock pot making stew....

On the flip side of this pancake- when everything is said and done, it should all come together rather quickly...

Stay hungry, more to come...

I need a BIGGER truck...

After a very exhausting road trip to Manchester last Friday 9/24/10 - it looks as if I'm going to need a bigger truck. We had a great day though & I was able to do the initial layout of the interior. I'm well aware that in a year, none of this will matter and it will seem like kids play but at the moment, its quite exhausting...who knew that visualizing a dream would be so exhausting... don't you just dream it & wake up to a reality or maybe you can just click you heels three times or twinkle your nose.... Oh yes, I've always been a bit of a daydreamer - I'm one of the lucky ones...

Larry Niven said it best : "Everything starts as somebody's daydream"

Now it looks as if my "daydream" is getting bigger....

Celebrate good times come on!!!!

I was back at the health department today- fine tweaking requirements...(AGAIN) - and I received a very cool read between the lines message...

I won't reveal it at this time b/c YES, I am a bit superstitious and don't want to jinx myself - but it's time for a little celebration, I think I'll do a little dance AND have a sake-tini...!!!

Cheers mates!!!

I'm living in gratitude of all the fabulous things the universe is bringing my way.....

Stay tuned....

Wine with everything...

~ Fish, to taste right, must swim three times – in water, in butter and in wine. —–Polish proverb

~ "A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine."
Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, 'The Physiology of Taste' (1825)

~ Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost; united and well matched they are as body and soul, living partners. ~Andre Simon

~"This wine should be eaten, it is too good to be drunk." ~ Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

~"For a gourmet wine is not a drink but a condiment, provided that your host has chosen correctly." ~ Edouard De Pomaine, French author

~ "Wine improves with age. The older I get, the better I like it." ~ Anonymous

~ "Wine is the most civilized thing in the world." ~ Ernest Hemingway

~ "Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance."~ Benjamin Franklin

~ "I have lived temperately....I double the doctor's recommendation of a glass and a half of wine each day and even treble it with a friend." ~ Thomas Jefferson

I think it is a great error to consider a heavy tax on wines as a tax on luxury. On the contrary, it is a tax on the health of our citizens.
~ Thomas Jefferson

If your heart is warm with happiness, you'll need a glass - if sorrow chills your heart, have two!
~ Hannu Lehmusvuori

~ "We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, and which incorporates itself with the grapes, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy. "~ Benjamin Franklin

~ "Wine to me is passion. It's family and friends. It's warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. Wine is art. It's culture. It's the essence of civilization and the art of living." ~ Robert Mondavi, Autobiography, "Harvests of Joy"

~ "Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized." -Andre Simon, "Commonsense of Wine

~ "What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?" ~ W. C. Fields

~ "Reality is an illusion that occurs due to a lack of wine." ~ Anonymous

~ "Good wine is a necessity of life for me." ~ Thomas Jefferson

~ "Consuming wine in moderation daily will help people to die young as late as possible."~Dr Philip Norrie

~ "Wine is the thinking person's health drink."
~Dr. Phillip Norrie

~ "Hold the bottle up to the light; you will see your dreams are always at the bottom."
~ Rob Hutchison

If a life of wine, women and song becomes too much, give up the singing. ~ Anonymous

~ "I have enjoyed great health at a great age because everyday since I can remember I have consumed a bottle of wine except when I have not felt well. Then I have consumed two bottles."
~ A Bishop of Seville

"I cook with wine. Sometimes I even add it to the food." ~ W.C. Fields

~ "You haven't drunk too much wine if you can still lie on the floor without holding on."~Dean Martin

~ "Making good wine is a skill. Fine wine is an art."
~ Robert Mondavi, Harvests of Joy

Success ...

"I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed." ~Booker T. Washington~

Back to basics...the griddle!

Back to the cutting board & menu development...(this really sucks)- after reviewing my paperwork from Mr. Health Department Dude, the ONLY cooking equipment that I will have the privilege of burning myself on, is: ...wait for it...wait for it... The fucking GRIDDLE!!!

I haven't cooked on one of those bad boys in at least 20 years - at around the time that I worked at Morgan Stanley "Executive" kitchen. And that takes us back to early 90's -"The limelight years" aka the ecstasy years, I only vaguely remember arriving at Morgan Stanley (still rolling on "E" and club attire) much less what I actually did when I arrived. I'm not even sure if I cooked on a griddle/grill- as I was titled "Garde Manger" and then later "Saucier". With the assumption that eggs were being served and other breakfast items - I may or not have cooked on one of these. Perhaps in remembrance of all the burned and/or very overdone eggs that still haunt me - I think I may have,but my gray matter has diminished and from what I recall, although the pain of making eggs with the possibility of one day being a short order cook was so terrifying it seems as if I have selectively forgotten parts of my history and now I am doomed to repeat it- I might have griddled a thing or two, if not professionally at least to satisfy a late night carnivorous craving of greasy artery clogging protein... Damn it, now I really wish that I had paid a little more attention to "griddle cooking discussions" at Houlihans happy hour - and a little less to HOT bartender with a great ass!!!

I cannot change the past (nor would I, of what I remember it was fun) its time to man up, grow a pair - grab the bull by the horns & then by the balls, throw it on the grill and make some "carne assada"... I can do this, I can't fry an egg but I can make Coq au vin, Bouillabaisse, Paelha, Feijoada" but how will I make them on a fucking GRIDDLE? ...

To be continued...

Wheeling your way real soon...(say that 10x fast)

Yesterday was a great day, after a fabulous informative meeting with Mr.Health Department Dude - it looks like the red tape that was holding us hostage may be a thing of the past, and soon I'll be wielding my truck through the streets of Stamford!!!

Apparently, Stamford now realizes that the "Food-truck" industry is a viable if not, much needed commodity to our little city - Duh!!! I told them that three years ago...But I'm a just a little Portuguese chic wanting a food truck... Why not take my input and run with it?

Hmmmm, wondering if the "Food Truck" race or the thousands of food trucks all over every other cosmopolitan city had anything or nothing to do with Stamford finally joining us in this century. Welcome Stamford WELCOME!!! So nice of you to join us...

WIN! WIN! WIN!

Today I'll be preparing (and taste testing) some winter recipes- "German Potato Salad" and "Pear/Almond Tart"...

Headed to my local farmers market - its always a WIN! WIN! WIN! Products are always fresh & organic (WIN!) I'm supporting my local farmers (WIN!!) and I'm minimizing my carbon footprint (WIN!!!)

I'm back to the cutting board & stirring up the pot!!!

Working hard to get my truck up & going... Coming soon to a corner near you!!!