a full sunday

usually, i keep father's day pretty quiet-both my father and "D+" (my father-figure/bestie while growing up) have both passed, so for almost 10 years i just use the day to to rest, remember and work on various house projects-i lay pretty low.
this sunday was a different turn.
starting EARLY, like sam style early, we loaded the VW with various preservation items for a trip to the NBC studios to visit with Ted Chen for an appearance on Raw LA to talk about food preservation...um yeah, i was on TV-talk about the exact opposite of what i usually do!

("call me Master for short Ted!")

right after, we headed out to the Hollywood Farmers' Market for my monthly table-which i havent been able to do for the past 2 months because of a crazy work schedule and being sick (which made me miss the anniversary event, which i am still pissed about a month later!) it was really wonderful to see all of the familiar faces of the market-for Father's Day it was so busy! lots of folks came by and Jake Gyllenhaal was there...but alas, no Booger! we ate at the Farmers' Kitchen and had an amazing breakfast of local eggs, mushrooms and greens of all sorts (super good-you must try)! we ended up leaving with a big case of heirloom tomatoes from Tutti Fruitti Farms for super cheap, strawberries and made some good connections for stone fruit when we come back in 2 weeks-i can't wait.

(big-time garlic from Tutti Frutti-people asked more about the garlic than preserving!)

(adorable wooden eggs we bought from an old European woman-gorg!)

(yeah, Father's Day made no dent in the crowds in h-wood)

we had to cut-out a little early because right after that, we went to Evan Kleiman's beloved Angeli Caffe to help sponsor Nina Garcia, a popular food favorite obtain a mobile vendor operation. even though we were starting to feel the exhaustion of being in the sun and early morning, the fried quesadillas and other goodness was way too much to pass up-

i have to honestly say that i am in awe of Evan and her amazing heart. she opened her business to pave the way for another woman to make more for her business-what an inspiration and woman!

(Evan made me this savory beer drink-basically the topper for my sleepiness)

(SUPER good-gracias Nina!)

the beer and heavy food was trying to do us in-we sang songs to keep us awake so we wouldnt miss the new epi of True Blood (um yeah wasnt it great!).  however, in the back of my mind, i my mind was racing with a number of things...
i miss father's day with D+

TV for the small business

i can't tell you enough how happy i am now that we have cable TV. i went for several years with only rabbit ears and old DVDs, but when you are running a small business, the television is a great sign of relief and relaxation...
funny enough however i have been completely entranced by shows whose premise have to do with the thing that i am trying to get away from-work.
lately, there have been a number of shows helping out the everyday small business, most are a little dramatic (you need the drama to keep viewers i guess), but i think they give certain perspectives, problems, solutions and ideas.

Mary Queen of Shops: is show is the newest of the crop, i have only seen a few episodes (i think that is all there have been!), BBC markets Mary as a Gordon Ramsay of the fashion industry, but as you will see below, i think otherwise. This show should be the one that most engages me, as Mary deals with retail stores, however it is only clothes and i sell more than that. The show is great however for merchandising and retail marketing ideas.

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares: yes my favorite of the bunch-i don't know what it is about him, but i am into Ramsay. i think a big part of it has to do with his show where he visits struggling restaurants and sets out to inspire owners, staff and especially chefs. Ramsay also has clever marketing campaigns for some places and he has an eye for young people with talent.

Tabatha's Salon Takeover: Tabatha, a runner up on Shear Genius (think Top Chef for hair) will be on her 2nd season of this Bravo show that follower her 1 week hostage of a salon in dire straights. Tabatha is the closest thing to Ramsay as far as attitude, passion and energy...this woman is a drill sergeant! This show is pretty entertaining because the people usually in the salons seem to be the most dramatic and hilarious of the bunch (crying, yelling, and queens having a hard time getting off their throne). i can't wait until Nov 3rd when this show starts up again!

The Hotel Inspector: again another BBC import, this show follows Hotelier and Author Ruth Watson as she helps failing British bed and breakfasts . Not as "dramatic" as the other shows, Hotel Inspector has more of a proper English flavor and it moves at a slower pace as hotel makeovers take the course of months, not days. I still really enjoy this show however, even though i am not in the industry-i feel like i am learning something about my own business (and perhaps feeding my desire to one day own a small b&b).

word for the day: Industrial Organic

Last week i mentioned something about the Opportunity Green Conference and one of the readers commented how some of the natural products companies are being bought by major/big-time corporations. This automatically triggered a diagram i saw while reading Cool Cuisine: Taking a Bite Out of Global Warming last year (PS if you want a copy, we should be getting them in next month) of SOME of the "who owns who" in the organic food industry. A quick search lead me to Phil Howard of Michigan State University's work..get ready!

Now note: this was created in Jan 2008, well over a year ago AND we both know this does not include every "organic/green" product out there, JUST FOOD (and probably not all of that either).
This is another big debate in the green industry-some say that having small, start-ups bought by big business is a good thing: more marketing dollars. Others however, say that the integrity of the original mission-statement, ingredients, operation, sourcing of raw goods, and manufacturing might be compromised with a buy-out.
my opinion: if you wanted "green", why not do it yourself, or better yet, change what you are doing now.
i would love to hear more comments on this chart or the debate!

affordable art-Jen Skelly

i am always on the search for art-but not just any art-affordable art.
not that i do not mind paying for creativity, it is just that i cannot afford it! the only thing i can do is search for something in my price-range until i win a million bucks.
i love these prints from Jen Skelly, an artist based out of MA and has these adorable prints that range from $15-40, not bad!

great depression cooking-awesome

check out a set of these awesome clips from great depression cooking that i found today. Clara, is 91 and she is totally working it in the kitchen. If anyone tries these recipes PLEASE let me know. you might start seeing my results as well.