Author Archives: justin

So now what do I do?

It’s been a while since I posted anything to my blog, or for that matter done much at all with my web page, but I guess when you are a new parent these things happen.  The last year has been an amazing adventure of constant learning and adventure and my son is a constant reminder that when everything is brand new, you really have no idea what is going on.  The funny thing is I have worked in kitchens where my cooks were exactly the same way, the biggest difference being you can’t tell a baby that they are as useless as tits on a bull, and I certainly couldn’t say that to my son.

So now what do I do that he is older and becoming a child and not an infant, put bubble wrap on everything?  put everything on three foot tall stilts? or do I just put gates up and trap him in the safest room in the house?  I went for the third one, and it seems to be working out just fine, except he still has access to the dogs water dish and putting chairs in front of it…well he just moves the chairs.  It seems I have a baby Hercules on my hands.

Now I know what your saying right about now “Justin, you’re a chef.  What has this got to do with cooking?”  Nothing, I just like talking about my son…he’s awesome.

So now what do I do that I have a little more time on my hands (I can hear the parents out there laughing.)  It is not so much that I have more time, it just seems the time I have can be used more productively as Quinn manages to entertain himself quite well much as I did as a kid.  I was going to keep this a secret for a while, so posting it on my website is close enough.  About a week ago I was approached by a friend of mine who is trying to break into the e-book arena about possibly collaborating on a cookbook, I responded rather excitedly and colorfully as this is something I have been thinking about for several years.  So 24 hours later we are sitting in a coffee shop looking at each and saying “what the hell do we do now?”  In all honesty, it was mainly me sitting there saying “I have no insert colorful expression here idea what I am doing.”  It turns out I need not have worried and should really give myself a little more credit, like I said I have thinking about doing this for a while so the ideas are there it’s just getting them out of my head and onto paper or recorded on my digital recorder.

This is the beginning of something really fun for me, I know it is not going to happen overnight but it will happen…I mean it has to, it’s right here in black and white (and that red part) and the experts say that you should write your goals down if you want to achieve them, kind of like a recipe for success.  So eat up people and keep on the lookout for the next course, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be tasty.


No, it is not a fruit…it’s a small flightless bird, and me.

I love meeting new people, and being that I am from New Zealand that happens quite often, also living in Colorado adds to the effect, I don’t meet a lot of people that are actual natives, and the people I meet have had little to no contact with New Zealander’s, or as we prefer to be called “KIWI’s.”

I want to take this opportunity to clear up something up…when you go to the store and buy the little (undersized) brown fuzzy and extremely tasty piece of fruit, the label with the price (way over) printed below will read “KIWI.”  This my friends is false advertising, for in fact the KIWI is a small flightless bird, native to New Zealand, and our National Symbol (go ahead and Google it.)

I did Google it, not only to make sure I was on the right track but also out of curiosity.  The second thing that comes up is that Kiwi’s are actually people, that’s where the “me” comes into this..well they are not actual people, it is our Nickname, go ahead, check the second result that Google gives you, and you can see I am not actually on my soap box (anyone that has ever been lucky enough to meet a Kiwi will know we don’t stand on soap boxes we stand on beer crates…I Googled that one myself and don’t recommend it.)

So anyway, it really is me.  Yes that is correct, I am a KIWI.  No I am not a small flightless bird about the same size as a domestic chicken, I am not covered in feathers and I am not Australian…I had to add that last part just to make sure you are paying attention, also Australian’s are called Aussies, which is pronounced “Ozzy,” like the singer (term used very loosely.)  But I digress.

Okay so let’s get to the fruit, the small brown fuzzy thing you (and I) pay way too much for.  It turns out that the fruits name has so many different backgrounds that  while researching them I quite often chuckled out loud.  Well, it is actually a Chinese Gooseberry, and I can assure you I am neither, Chinese, a Goose or in fact a Berry.  The fruit was renamed for marketing purposes, apparently some importer decided the name was not suitable, they wanted something different and shorter and that is how KIWIFRUIT came about…but rumor has it that even that name was too long and “KIWI” was soon adopted as the common name for the Chinese Gooseberry AKA Kiwifruit.  Oh how the power of marketing has such a dramatic effect on our lives, so much in so that I need an iBeer.

Yeah, I am a Kiwi, I was born in New Zealand to a couple of “Kiwi’s” that had the luck to be born there too, and fortune fell upon them also…I could keep going, but to be honest the details at this point might be a little blurred.  Anyway, if you can’t already tell by this point, I was not on the debate team…for very long.  So let me wrap this up for you as best as I can:

KIWI: Small  flightless bird, indigenous to New Zealand.

KIWI: Not so small, but still flightless human indigenous to New Zealand..if you are lucky enough to meet one, buy them a drink and enjoy the tales that they have to weave.

KIWIFRUIT:  Small flightless Fruit, brown and fuzzy and green inside….Please do NOT peel it, feel free to wipe the fuzzy bits back a little bit, but you’ll find the flavor really explodes when you leave the skin on.

 

My recommendation to you, when you finally get to my beautiful (shameless plug) homeland of New Zealand ( in the south pacific…not Australia or Europe,) I strongly suggest that you do not say “I would really like to try a delicious Kiwi.”

That is unless you are willing to buy us a drink.


Blog….And all that good stuff

Welcome to the QUINNtessential Blog.  Here, not only will I write about food, friends, drink and the good times we all share, but I will also have guest bloggers sharing their knowledge of all the things that bring us together.

My hope in creating this part of my site is to not only share the experiences of QUINNtessential Chef and our friends, but also to help educate and inspire all of you who visit.  I have been extremely fortunate in sharing my life with some very amazing people from every continent and my gift to you the reader is to share that time with you.

I figure the easiest way to start get this oven hot is to just turn it on an see what happens…..