I think the smartest people are the folks that can make themselves happy.  I’m not talking bout pleasuring yourself. I not talking bout taking  yourself on exotic vacations or expensive restaurants. What I’m talkin bout is the person that works hard to set life up in a fashion that makes one happy and then maintaining that life.  You might have a big ol head full of information, you might be able to do algebra in you head, while standing on one foot,  but if you let the things in life that make you happy slip away, well then.

I have a couple of friends, they are both guys and they both really want to get married and have kids and a big ol wonderful life.  They both date women that would love to marry them, but neither guy will settle. It’s not that they are real picky, it’s just they have the smarts to know the path to happiness can’t be forced. They know it would be wrong to get married for the wrong reasons.  Not fair to them and not fair to the woman that is not “right” for them.

Next week I’m gonna start writing about one of these guys. I have not know him a long time, maybe 7 or 8 years, but we have become great friends.  We have spent lot’s of time eating meals together and having wonderful conversations.  As he sometimes says we are “solving world problems”.   I think this guys story is very interesting, he’s is in a really good place in life right now and it was a very different path he has followed, many paths literally.

Not long ago he started a job as Park Ranger.  His “office” is the Redwood National Park. A few weeks after he arrived and started his job he sent me a “transmission”, that’s how it read anyway.  Then a few weeks later another one.  I replied, letting him know how much I enjoyed getting them and how much I liked his writing style.  I ask if I could post them as a blog sometime.  He told me these “transmissions” were short pieces he was sending to an A.M. radio station in Ely, Minnesota.  One of the DJ’s read them every Sunday morning on a program called Pathways, I think that’s the name of the show. Anyway here is the first one he sent me and Stacey. Next week I will tell you more about Dr. Johnny Duke and share another “transmission”.

Arrived in the Redwoods yesterday.  A few excerpts from my
journal:  Carpooling with a lady named Amy out of Ely, a dollar
twenty-five from downtown Duluth to the intercity bus
station and 18 minutes of your time, the scratched out words "No Ringing
Cell Phones" handwritten on the "passenger" side visor of the bus to
Minneapolis, blue sky with wisps of clouds, trees with tiny, light green
leaves, immature bald eagle perched on a tree along I-35, redwing
blackbirds on the cattails in the temporary ponds of the ditches, the
man leaning over to say, "They can afford to build new roads but they
don't have anything for the homeless.  We need a revolution," my reply,
"I've started the revolution, I'm on this bus," cliff swallows flying
into mud nests under an overpass in Salt Lake
City, a kestrel hovering over a field for 20 seconds before diving into
the grass for an unseen prey, riding the transit system in Portland that
is
among the best in the world, walking through the bohemian Hawthorne
district that is
reminescent of Greenwich Village, the thousands of staples
in the telephone pole from the political
activism, lost cat signs, and community announcements, meeting people
from all over the world at the Hawthorne Hostel, picking up
Ernie the hitch-hiker headed to Eugene, Oregon to visit friends, the
emotion that overcomes me when I first see the "Big Trees", the stumps
of long
gone trees that remind me of the enormous boulders in the Boundary
Waters, the proud feeling when my supervisor hands me the heavy, golden
nationl park badge to pin on my (as of yet to be issued)uniform, the
sound of the white crowned sparrow that is a cousin of the ubiquitous
white throated sparrow in canoe country, meeting and having good
conversation with housemates who cooked
me breakfast this morning.
Reporting live from Crescent City, California.  Johnny
Duke

If you ever get a buddy-pass from a friend to travel on make sure this person is actually your buddy. That or travel with Stacey. If the person that you have received that buddy-pass from is your friend they will give you more than just the pass. If they are your friend they will give you lessons on how to use the pass once your original flight plans go out the window. Now days that’s almost a given with the number of flights that have been cut out as the airlines try to fill their planes with paying customers. The person handing out these passes should know this and inform you of the dangers of flying standby.

My Aunt and her husband got in a jam on the way home, they had no idea what to do and would have rented a car in Portland, Me. if they had not been traveling with Stacey and me. That’s a long car ride, I bet they would still be on the road today and I can’t imagine what the fuel would have cost them. But, once they relaxed and we talked them off the ledge, I mean out of the rental car, Stacey went into action and got us all home. Sure we had to rent a car and drive to Boston, that was our backup plan from the get go. Sure we got to Boston and the flights to Atlanta were full, no room for the buddy-pass. Sure we had to fly to Washington and spend the night at Anne and John D’s other home. Sure we had to share that house with three people who were already staying there, but we still had a bedroom and bathroom each. There were good restaurants nearby, we were 10 minutes from the airport and the flights looked good enough to get us all to our final destination the next day.

So that’s about how it went, but to hear us all moan and groan about all this, as it was happening, you would have thought we had rented a car and were driving for 15 hours or so. Looking back, it wasn’t that bad and I’m not sure what the hurry was, there was me, Stacey and 4 senior citizens and none of them had a job they had to be at.

Least you think all we did on this trip was eat, let me steer you straight dear reader. We also enjoyed many adult beverage’s. Ice cold vodka martinis were the drink of choice come cocktail hour. Sure there was wine, beer, tequila and the likes, and I tried it all, but theres nothing like an ice cold vodka martini or two especially when you have nothing to do the next day.

Stacey and I, being the outdoor enthusiast we are spent lot’s of time on the go. For example I moved from the couch in the den to the chaise lounge on the deck three or four times a day. I got plenty of exercise walking briskly from the sun deck to the bar to the kitchen to the bedroom back to the bar and then back out to the sun deck. Try staying on the move like that and see if it doesn’t wear you out and cause you to long for an ice cold beer.

One afternoon we hired a lobster boat to take us out for a ride. The captain spent about an hour with us, just tooling around the harbor and showing us just how lobster is trapped, which lobsters you can keep and those you got to throw back. He took us to Walker Point and we all waved to Bush 41. He was very friendly and waved back. He and Barb invited us up to the house for drinks and snacks, but someone on our boat didn’t meet security clearance requirements so Secret Service would not let us come ashore. Anyway Mom had been drinking lot’s of beer and with the way she feels about Bush 43 it was best we didn’t get to close.

One afternoon Stacey and I rode bikes over to Walker Point, but security wouldn’t let us in. I told them our name was on the list and he was like “what list” and I’m like ” you know what list” and he was like ” you got one second to leave” and I was like “ok”. I guess I showed him. Anyway John D and Anne’s place was a lot nicer then Walker Point, so there.

So Monday morning a few of us hopped in Uncle Bucks suburban and head to Portland, about 30 minutes from Kennebunk, to procure seafood for meals for the next few days. Anne was at the wheel so we didn’t feel like outlaws so much, she pays her tolls. Anne has a few shops she thinks we will enjoy shopping and so we’re off. First stop is a kitchen store. They not only have tools for the kitchen and I mean a lot of tools for the kitchen, but they also have some specialty foods. One isle alone is devoted to Olive Oils and Vinegars. Stacey and I must have tasted 6 or 7 of each. They have these small kegs with a tap on each and little plastic cups for trying the different oils and vinegars. Each keg has a small card with a description of each. We tried balsamic with fig, we tried 40 year old balsamic, we tried 20 year green olive oil, we tried oil with garlic and many more. The two we liked the best were the oil with blood orange and an oil with truffles, we bought one of each. I also picked up some chocolate. They had these little bars made with exotic ingredients. Some made with green tea, some made with cocoa from Africa. I grabbed a handful of these.

From there it was up the street for lunch. Just across the street was a small place to get rolls and clams and local fare. One of the local offerings was the beer. Shipyard is the local brewer and they have a lot of different beers to try, so I did. Over the next few days I tried all their beers and the only ones I didn’t care for were the beers brewed with fruit, all the others were very good. So we ordered food and sat out on a pier, in the harbor eating and drinking local brew. It didn’t suck, here are a couple photos. One photo of my lunch, it was as good as it looked and another photo of our view during lunch.

Next we hit the local, fresh seafood store. It was on a side street that looked like a movie set. This is a view of the other side of this street, I wish I lived there.

At this classic seafood market we bought scallops, crab meat, halibut, flounder, shrimp and corn. As you can tell we were gonna be eating gooooood!

The weather was a little damp so we quickly hit the bakery for bread and cookies and then we found an Italian specialty shop and picked up some cheeses and olives and the likes. Satisfied with our shopping we loaded back up and headed back to Kennebunk Beach.

So we arrive at the beach and Uncle Buck switches roles from driver to chef. He has thrown dogs and sausage on the grill. We say hey to everyone, some of these folks we haven’t seen in ten years or so. These guys are our hosts, Anne and John D , a couple of the nicest people one could ever know.

They welcome us into their home, show us around and tell us to help ourselves. There are bikes to ride, beaches to walk, food to cook, food to eat, photos to take, and beers to drink.

When we first arrive Anne is preparing a salad. I think all the ingredients came from her kitchen garden just out back. This garden is a sight to behold. She has a few different salad greens, cucumbers, a couple different basil’s, all kinds of herbs, dalia’s, radish, sunflowers and I’m sure there was more. Green-beans, I forgot green-beans.

So we planned a few meals, looking through a couple of cook books. We decided to do a scallop chowder. That’s what I said, a scallop chowder. We talked about doing fish, shrimp and grits, trout menuire and some other dishes. We had fresh figs imported from East Point, Georgia and Sweet Grass Dairy Cheeses smuggled in from South Georgia. So as you can see food was clearly the focus at this time, which was good. We came up with a game plan and the first step was to drive into Portland the next day and shop. Anne had a good list of spots to check out, most of them dealing with food stuffs.

Later that afternoon John D pulled his yacht around front and we all boarded for a sunset tour of the Kennebunk Port area. This was a really nice boat, more like a small ship. It was 1964 Whiticar, a 63′ motor yacht. It was a great boat for tooling around and checking out the sights. We were served champagne and these delicious little barbecued pulled pork sandwich. We cruised over to Walker point , but the Bush family was not receiving. It was a lovely evening. This is a photo of John D’s vessel.

 thanks mr. blount.

A week ago last Saturday, Mom and Dad flew up to Atlanta. We had a great meal at the Feed Store, and Mom and Dad are no longer stupid for not eating at the Feed Store. Everyone else in the metro area who has not eaten at the Feed Store is still stupid.

Next morning the four of us met up with my Aunt and her husband at the Atlanta airport as she flew in from Mobile. Then together we all got on a plane and flew to Portland, Maine. We were all flying standby, which means we only get seats if there are any that didn’t sell. We were lucky and all got a seat. Flying back home was another story.

Uncle Buck picked us all up at the Jetport and quickly whisked us away in his oversize Suburban. He immediately made us all fugitives of the law. See, Uncle Buck has his own way of doing things and if it makes sense to him well then….

So as we went through the toll gate without paying our toll, I knew we were in for a wild ride, Uncle Buck style. I saw the squad cars start to pursue us, lights flashing, sirens wailing, but Uncle Buck just stepped on the gas and that was the last we saw of the local law enforcement. For now anyway.

About forty minutes later we arrived at Kennebunk Beach and discover this is our home for the next five or six days.

And this is what we are gonna have to look at everyday.

I’m just glad I was there to help Mom and Dad handle the situation.

A couple nights back I stumbled around my house in a food coma. I was eating figs that had just been picked from the tree in our yard. I had planned on wrapping the figs in bacon and broiling them. Didn’t have bacon so I cut them in half, added a dollop of creamy blue cheese, dripped a little truffle honey on them and consumed. I added cracked black pepper to some and they just got better. Lot’s of big, strong flavors that worked very well together. Vodka Martinis were involved as well.

I have been in a food coma for days now. Been in a daze for days. I came home from the cooking demo at Le Cordon Bleu with a fresh truffle about the size of a ping pong ball. A gift from Chef. We were also gifted 5 cheeses from the guy operating the Sweet Grass Dairy booth right next to us, as well as a couple pounds of grass feed beef from Will Harris.

So all week long I’ve been preparing dishes with black truffles. First we made Risotto with the truffles, no meat, nothing else, truffles and risotto with homemade chicken stock. A true classic and good indeed.

The next night we had a tater and goat cheese souffle. Damn good indeed. We had this long side a “Will Harris” beef hamburger. Damn good indeed. Good meat, only a few condiments needed.

The next day I had a three egg omelette with goat cheese and truffles, damn good indeed, I wish I had more truffles.

Then last night we were treated to a nine course tasting dinner at the Feed Store. These guys throw down. I have written about them plenty and you can read for yourself how good they are at what they do. And god bless Sam, Hope, Pepper, Gwen and Gemma, we had a great time with ya’ll.

Now tonight I have just returned from the Feed Store, again. Cooper did not let us down, again. It was another wonderful meal, again and we got to share it with Nancy and Marion.

That’s always a treat.

First up, Pig three ways. Plated together was Chicharron , a Pig ear salad and some Pork tenderloin. Chicharron is deep fried pig skin, you see them often in the local taqueria. I have never tried them. Deep fried pig skin just never sounded to good to me. Now when Chef Cooper is offering it I don’t think twice. It’s good. It is what it is, ya got your skin, there’s a little fat on it and it’s been deep fried. It’s all Berkshire pig and like I said before, I know the farmers who raised that pig. Riverview is an organic farm in Ranger, Georgia. They provide some of the top restaurants and food shops in the Atlanta area with pig and produce. You can read for yourself about Berkshire pigs and the Riverview farm right here. RIVERVIEW FARM

So that’s what the chef’s at the Feed Store have done. They got themselves a Berkshire pig and they went to town with it. The menu is full of pork dishes, so I guess they will get a fresh pig quite often. I don’t think they are ready to serve the ears and the skin and the fat, well they are serving the fat, as in “pork belly” dishes. So when some folks like Stacey and I walk through the door, I bet the chefs get excited and say to each other “let’s see what we can get the Hartleys to eat”. So working with that snout to tail, rooter to tooter, nothing goes to waste attitude, Cooper serves us pig ears. We eat them of course. They are deep fried and are served to us on a green salad with some kinda dressing, I have forgotten that detail. The Tenderloin was sliced and served with fresh blueberries and a little blueberries sauce. Never had pork and blueberries, but as a rule I like fruit and meat together. This was a good plate of food, pig parts ya don’t usually get served, although these days your more likely to see strange pig parts popping up at some restaurants. This plate is not on the menu so if your eating at the Feed Store ask your server if the Chef has any pig ears laying around.

The Feed Store has a new menu going these days and like I said, lot’s of pork. One dish ya got to try WHEN you eat there is the Surf and Turf. I’m not sure that’s what they are calling this dish, it may be. What ya get is a beautifully seared scallop resting on a beautiful slice of pork belly, which is resting on sweetgrass goat cheese and tomato grits and topped with green tomato relish. This dish will make you slap your granny. These guys have come up with a really amazing menu, I can’t find anything on it I wouldn’t like to try, and I plan on trying it all.

After posting yesterday, Stacey sent me this article. I don’t know where she found it but it really gives you an idea of how Whole Foods is pro-active and the positive approach they take to doing business. Very much UNLIKE companies such as Wal-Mart who seem to do just the opposite, as in putting the small guy out of business. Lot’s of folks complain about the prices at Whole Foods, but doing business like they do ain’t cheap and the effect on the community is priceless.

ATLANTA (May 23, 2008) – Whole Foods Market recently provided more than $500,000 in low-interest loans to three Georgia producers. Sweet Water Growers, Via Elisa Fresh Pasta and Harris Family Heritage Beef all will use this loan money to grow their businesses right here in Georgia.

The Local Producer Loan Program at Whole Foods Market makes $10 million available annually for low-interest loans to small, local producers. An extension of Whole Food Market’s efforts to expand the availability of quality, local, differentiated products for customers, the loan program supports the communities in which the company does business. This program also strengthens Whole Foods Market’s partnership with local producers and therefore reinforces the value of environmental sustainability.

Harris Family Heritage Beef at White Oak Pastures (http://www.whiteoakpastures.com/), Georgia’s leading grassfed beef producer, was able to complete a long-awaited on-farm facility designed to process beef according to rigorous humane animal treatment standards and to minimize environmental impact with its loan.

“Having this plant on our farm means we will never again have to load cattle that were born and raised here onto an 18-wheeler,” said Will Harris, founder and owner of White Oak Pastures. “It is more humane for the animals and without a doubt better for the environment to have a closed production loop on the farm.”

Prior to completion of the 5,329 square-foot facility, White Oak Pastures transported its cattle to a processing plant 100 miles away from the farm in Bluffton, a journey that stresses the animals and contributes to global warming by expending fossil fuels in transport. The on-farm facility will allow White Oak Pastures to significantly expand production and distribution of its beef. Whole Foods Market started carrying the company’s fresh steaks, roasts, and ground beef at its butcher counters in 2007.

Another local farm and family-run business dedicated to bringing fresh culinary herbs and specialty greens of the highest quality to the South United States, Sweetwater Growers, Inc. (http://www.sweetwatergrowers.com/), just received a loan, which enabled the addition of two new greenhouses in order to grow more fresh micro greens, basil and other herbs.

“We currently produce 100 cases of the living products right now and will be able to produce 400 cases once construction on the new greenhouses has been completed,” says James Dault of Sweetwater Growers Inc. “Whole Foods Market has increased their orders with us by 50% since last year, and I hope they continue to grow with me.”

Via Elisa Fresh Pasta (http://www.viaelisa.com/), a genuine fresh pasta shop in Atlanta, received a loan that will pay for a pasta cutter that enables increased efficiency and productivity. Previously, the company cut all of its pasta manually but will now be able to provide additional product with the use of this new machine. Via Elisa uses 100% organic flours, 100% organic semolina, eggs from free-range hens and luxurious cheeses imported directly from Italy and can now provide customers and outlets such as Whole Foods with a larger supply of authentic, homemade Italian pasta.

“Via Elisa has been a Whole Foods Market local vendor for four years and during that time, more and more stores are carrying our products,” says Elisa Gambino, owner of Via Elisa Fresh Pasta. “This demand was too much for our tabletop cutting machine, and the loan from Whole Foods made it possible to purchase a new and much faster cutting machine. The increased speed without an increase in labor costs helped us offset the recent increase in egg and flour prices without changing our exceptional ingredients. Thanks to Whole Foods, we are now faster and more efficient!”

“The Whole Foods Market Local Producer Loan Program was set up specifically to assist farmers like Will and James, and specialty producers like Elisa” said Joey Herndon, vice president of purchasing, Whole Foods Market South Region. “By offering support to their expansions, we are able to strengthen our relationships with local producers and support the development of specific products.”

The loan program minimizes fees, interest rates and paperwork for independent local producers, however, loan recipients must meet the following requirements:

• • Meet Whole Foods Market’s Quality Standards
  • Use funds for expansion (e.g., buy more animals or new equipment, expand crops) and not operating expenses
  • Meet Whole Foods Market’s Animal Compassion Standards (for meat and dairy producers)
  • Have a viable business plan and adequate cash flow to service debt

Here in Georgia, three recent recipients of the local loan program include White Oak Pastures, Sweetwater Growers and Via Elisa Fresh Pasta.

Chef phoned the other day asking if I might like to join him Sunday at the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute for a day of chef demos and an outdoor market. I would set up a booth and sell my art along side of farmers, cattle farmers, cheese makers and others in the food industry. Hell yea, count me in, I love events like this.

From what I learned after participating in the event was this. The Atlanta chapter of Slow Food has teamed up with Le Cordon Bleu and formed a “club” at the schools campus. I believe this was their first effort together and it was a fund raiser for Slow Foods. Whole Foods was one of the sponsors. Whole Foods Market also employees Chef as the Southeast prepared food manager and soon to be the face of their “VALUE GURU” campaign. Click on all three of these to learn more about each. They are all three really good institutes, doing good for the benefit of all, weather “all” know about them or not.

I got to say I really love working with folks in the food industry, especially the likes of those who practice a smart and sustainable way of doing business. I met a fellow named Will Harris and he raises cattle. His farm has been in his family for 141 years and in 1995 they decided to take a more pure attitude to producing beef. Today the cows are grass fed, they are given no antibiotics and no hormones are used to speed up growth. I tasted his ground beef at the market, really, really good. Lean and clean. He gave us a small pack to take home and we had burgers on the grill.

I talked to lot’s of chefs from around town and was happy to learn lot’s of them were familiar with my art. More then one of them introduce themselves as “fans”, that was real cool. One chef show me a tattoo he had of a pig and told me one of my paintings had inspired it. Hell to the yea!

Other vendors there were, Sweet Grass Dairy with their award winning cheese. Antico mercante, they import some of the best cured meats and cheeses from Italy. Whippoorwill farm selling organic produce and some top named chefs did cooking demos. Pure Vida, Woodfire Grill, Rathbuns, Dynamic Dish were some restaurants doing demos.

I hope they do more events like this, it was great success.