Tuesday, March 20, 2007

McNiel Culinary Institute, The Odettes, Daisy!



Man......what a blur!!!!! Last week was so busy that I didn't have time to do anything but work, eat with Ryan and Tina Odette and get ready for our new little girl Daisy Elizabeth. I am going to give you a quick mention of what the week was like but I have asked Ryan to guest blog this week about everything in detail. He should have his post to me in the next couple of days so I'll save our experiences with each other for his story. -Something about that verbiage that doesn't sound very "alpha-hetorosexual", but you get the idea. Ryan and Tina got here last Sunday about mid-afternoon. They met us at John & Mandy McNiel's house in Green Hills. John & Mandy are such wonderfully kind people and are so hospitable! Mandy has allowed John to turn their kitchen into a classroom a few times to show me some things. John is an incredible chef who spent several years in New Orleans. Without mentioning names let me just say that his resume (where he worked and who he worked for/with) is VERY impressive! When we make our roux for etouffee, gumbo etc. it has been taking us forever so this past Sunday John showed me how to speed that process up without sacrificing quality. He also showed me how to "retrieve" the roux if it breaks with a Beurre maniƩ. I'm practicing! At any rate, Ryan & Tina met us there . We left their house FAR, FAR later than we should have but we all had a great time that night and I really learned a lot from my time with John. Thursday we had a scheduled C-section at 8:00am. Daisy Elizabeth Martin was born @8:10. Man is she beautiful! I could just go on and on and on about her but I'll save you the proud father ramble. Wyatt loves her......he is a little rough with her though......he likes to poke her eyes, gouge her nose, etc.. The pictures are Daisy with my Uncle Mike and Dad holding Wyatt as looks at Daisy. She is a real blessing......the good Lord has really blessed us! Sales were down some this week. It made things a little stressful on me. My food reps say its because of spring break.....that makes sense.....I hope they are right! We also had to pay Feb. sales tax so that really stung. This week may be the same because spring break is still going on for some schools. Lord willing things will pick back up in the next week or so. Ryans post should be up in the next day or two.

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What is this Blog???

You ever been sitting around cooking for your family and friends and been told the following: "Hoss, this is the best I've ever had in my dadgum life.....you have got to open up a place of your own". The thought crosses your mind to do just that, but for whatever reason you dont. Well I'm "that" guy that actually went through with it and did it. I had absolutely ZERO restaurant experience! I decided to start this blog about my own experience hoping that it may be of some use and help to others who might be interested in opening their own place.
I learned this craft almost 20 years ago cooking whole hogs on brick & cinder block pits at a couple of little BBQ Joints in Henderson, TN. I learned from old, lifelong career Pit-Masters, working with them as an apprentice during school off and on for four years. Over the course of that time I learned the old, time-honored craft of REAL pit barbecue. At Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint I am trying as hard as I can everyday to bring that time-honored authenticity to my customers.
As you read you'll see I've made some stupid decisions, and I've made some good decisions. If you are thinking of opening a restaurant, especially a BBQ Joint, read this blog! Maybe some of this info can be of use to you. At the very least you will be entertained because I pull no punches.
Now listen, this is my blog to not only help with information but my blog to freely rant about my day to day experiences. There is no real "bad language" on this blog but there might be some things said that are very "tongue in cheek". If you are easily offended and/or cant see the satire in my posts then please just leave the blog. It will save both of us the annoyance of each other. For those of you who do like satire and are looking for good information about this experience, then by all means enjoy!