Yes Deer...

I was running some errands this morning and returned just a short time ago. Was just sitting down to check email when Elmo the dog started barking like crazy. She usually barks like this when some one is walking a dog so I really did not pay much attention to her antics. After a few more seconds, I looked up to see 3 deer walking through the front yard. There are plenty of deer around here but we rarely see any, just every once in a while. This was a real treat!

Last week, we went to Natural Bridge Zoo to visit the mountain lions, tigers, camels, elephants, and my favorite, the giraffes! Giraffes are my favorite by a log shot. They are so tall and graceful and so goofy at the same time. At one point, I had four eating right out of my hand. How great is that? It is a small zoo but is a great day trip if you live anywhere near the Roanoke valley.

One more positive note: I got a new JOB!! I am really not going to talk much about my employment situation on a regular basis. I would like to say I am very excited about this opportunity! It is with a large food related company out of Salem, VA and I had been interviewing with the company for about a month. It is not very often a true career opportunity and a new home for employment comes along. This is just about my dream job! The only thing better would of been teaching at a culinary school, but I will say that this comes in a very close second!! I will still get to do plenty of teaching with this new position!

Wish me luck as I start out in a new direction!!

Crime and Sushi

I moved to Roanoke in 1999 with hopes of making a new start in life. You know, going back to school, new job and career change, and just starting anew. It was a great prospect and I was happy with the decision, especially when I met my wife, got a dog and other pets, and we moved into the house. After being in the city for 2 months, I was a victim of a violent crime. Two butt heads stormed into my apartment and stole everything I owned, not to mention beating me, tying me up, and terrorizing me so to this day, I am still no over the incident. A few years later, my pickup truck which I had owned for just two weeks was shot up in a gun fight between drug dealers. Roanoke's "finest" was unable to solve either of these crimes which I find hard to believe but considering that there are murders and other crimes that have gone unsolved, I guess I really have little to complain about.

I have been off from work for a few weeks, trying to recuperate from the long hours put into the restaurant over the past five months and on Wednesday, I decided to take advantage of a cool spell and do a little yard work. I go out to the shed to pull out some tools when I notice, they are almost all gone. Pressure washer, chain saw, hedge trimmers, and who knows what else is missing. They were there in May, and probably in June but I really can not be for certain, but they are gone for sure. The most frustrating this is that I was ready to go and I could not get anything done.

I was really considering calling the police about this but why? I did not keep any of the receipts for these things, no serial numbers written down, no real record of anything so it seems it really would not do much good. Plus I have no idea of when this happened. What do you think? Should I make the call?

We picked up Sushi last Sunday. No, not the Japanese dish made with sticky rice and seaweed, but a cockatiel and we named her Sushi. She is a sweet little thing and we have had a blast with her so far. She is very vocal so far but is not talking yet. It will take a while for that to happen but before we know it, she will be talking her little beak off. Owning a bird is a large responsibility! A bird of this size can probably live between 1o and 15 years. Large birds can live
50 to 75 years or even more so that is a life time commitment. We do have 3 cats and a dog and so far, it looks like they are getting along OK.

Hope the cats do not like wasabi!!

HELP SHARK!!

Yes, I am a chef and love to cook; One of my greatest passions for sure! Not very often, but just every so often, chefs run into moral dilemmas like the recent issue of foie gras which prompted Wolfgan Puck and many other notable chefs to stop utilizing the fattened duck or goose liver in their dining establishments. Many years ago, there was the outcry about Chilean Sea Bass (also known as Patagonian Toothfish because who would buy that?) and chefs around the world were bringing this ugly white fish to the brink of extinction. We still hear about this along with dolphin safe tuna, rock fish, swordfish, and many other things.

Now there is the issue of sharks. I am not talking about killing sharks for consumption of their flesh, but just for their fins, a cruel process called "finning" in which the fins are cut from the live shark and the body is discarded, still alive, and thrown back into the ocean to die. The people and groups are doing the finning because the fins bring in excess of $300 a pound; no need to bother with processing the rest of the shark because that would kill profits with extra labor and storage space. Easy money I guess and everything boils down to the mighty dollar. If anyone caught "Shark Week" on Discovery Channel this past week, you would of seen a heartbreaking example of finning. The Sharkman episode was quite inspirational.

All of this is for soup of course; shark fin soup. This has been a delicacy for hundreds of years in the Asian regions of the world and demand is driving the finning of sharks, as one cup of this elixir can cost $100 or more. By cutting the demand for shark fin soup, eliminates the finning of sharks, thus sparing millions of sharks from this butchery, and also helping to save the world’s oceans and eco systems.

Simple concept I guess? I am but one chef, one person, and but only voice a small opinion on a little blog. Please understand, I am not a card carrying member of PETA (I often refer to as People Eating Tasty Animals) and never will be, but this is an issue which can not be ignored! I call upon the International leaders of the world, and especially the leaders of Japan, United States, Britain, Canada, and China to ban shark fin soup and place a moratorium on shark finning immediately.

I am but one chef, one person, but we need to something!

NO SOUP FOR YOU!