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Notes from the Weekend

29.8.05
Friday was a pretty crazy day. Normally my commute takes maybe 35 minutes, but a monsoon decided to start as I began my drive west on i-70 and it took over an hour at maybe 40 mph to get to work. Then, the clouds broke and everyone came in to bbq, I guess. I had hoped to duck out of work a little early so that I could run some errands that afternoon, but got stuck working late after all. I then booked home, made the bank just in time to cash my paycheck, cooked some bratburgers (thanks for the mention, Brian) on the grill, then shat, showered and shaved and tore ass to be two hours early to the Vampyre Kryst show at Mojo's. Who knew that Sal had pipes like Bruce Dickenson? It was fun, I ran into a ton of people I hadn't seen in ages, including one of my first girlfriends ever from back in Jr. High school. Weird. I drank some cheap beers that didn't agree with me and met some of Dave#1's friends from back home. Very nice meeting you fellas. I find it weird that so many good guys could come out Lebanon, MO.

Sat. was more madness at work. Our grinder broke down. It's a total hunk of shit that the owner bought used, and it's had the crap beaten out of it by the numskulls working before me. Finally had it back up and running but it took some filing, new plate, new knife, and looks like the bearing on the head need to be repacked. I hope it can limp it out for a little while longer. Again, was trying to leave early since I had worked everyday late this week, but just managed to get out right at 4:30, since I skipped lunch. KT wanted to go out to eat, and we brainstormed about where to go on a limited budget. We decided to try out the newest Microbrewery, Grindstone Brewery, which just opened a few months ago. We got there, ordered drinks, then looked at one of the worst, unimaginative, overpriced menus I've looked at in a long, looooong time. I ran and grabbed the waitress, canceled the drink order at her bewilderment, and we made a dash for the door. We tried a few other options, but every place we thought about trying that we hadn't been to was just out of our budget. Ended up at Flat Branch Brewery, and was treated to a(n) (always) great ESB, plus so bland and boring food.

We ended up at small party with a keg of free Flat Branch beer and stayed just long enough to get into some drama and also have the party crashed by a bunch of idiots. Lame.

Back from the auction

25.8.05
...didn't buy a sausage stuffer. It was actually a gallon lard press with a sausage horn stuffed onto the water spout. Lame. There was next to no personal property (plus I'm pretty much spent until I get paid tommorow afternoon) but I stayed around to see how much the farm sold for. 10 Acres plus house, barn, and outbuildings went for $180K. It really was a pretty farm, and pretty cheap considering the price of land out near Ashland.

I did, however, pick up an electric smoker for two dollars. Hmmm...I might make some smoked sausages this weekend. Perhaps a pancetta soon? Yum.

Been Busy

things have been pretty crazy around here. I got an offer for a capital investor for my planned Charcuterie. Essentially, I just need to find a kitchen share, get a license and figure out how to sell perishables at the farmer's markets and I can go ahead. I've been trying to learn how to write a business plan, but that may get left to my mom or brother, both of whom have much more experience than I. I figure I might just offer 6 to 8 types of fresh sausage and 2 or three dry, dry aged beef, and possibly a confit or two to start. Plus offer custom charcuterie and meat cutting, but do those through my current job.

Last night KT and I went to the Library (picked up A.Browns "I'm Just Here for the Food", "Home Sausage Making", and the Revelator's "We Told You Not to Cross Us" CD) then went to Teller's for a quiet drink. Next thing I know, it's midnight and we're at Eastside running up a rather large tab. It was kinda nice chilling on a weeknight, even if I did have to deal with some terrible DJ'ing and pandering by Plastic Jason *(I refuse to refer to this jackoff by "Trotsky") to the skinheads in the crowd. It made me realize that as much as I love the guys that I grew up with and cut into, I'm glad I'm old enough and smart enough to not be involved in this juvenile bullshit.

This evening I'm going to go to an auction; they advertised a sausage stuffer, and well, that would basically leave me with little equipment to acquire for my burgeoning business. I'll post more on the business as I get it together.

Oh yeah, and if you comment, could you please sign your post? For some reason, my CSS cuts off the poster link. I need to fix that, but I can't be bothered yet.