Opus Dei..the secret lives of bloggers

Evening all,

Just home & what a fun night it was...I told you before I love blogging, such a totally wonderful narcissist endeavour...it's all about me ...kinda. But seriously if you think about it ...it's not really...it's about my life as a food producer at The Delicious Food Co, as if I am some sort of third person singular ...(remember your English grammar ).

Tonight I went to the launch of the blog awards in the pop up Glenisk shop on Dawson St. I went on my own as I left it too late to pick up a date.Three floors of like minded narcissists, all of us with our own personal accounts of what floats our boats, putting it out there for all the world to see...

As I walked through the doors alone, I felt as though I was entering some kind of fetish club on Abbey St, I've posted the blogs on line & now I want to take it further.....take it into the real world...what is out there when I open my mind....explain my thoughts to others bloggers.It seems many people know each from "the scene"...it's a mad & wonderful world...

Tonight  I met Steven who's been blogging for years,as Digital Times.ie (a tech blog), then there was Connor from a Social Media.ie who will write your blog for you, there was the teacher who writes "What's in my Brain" but doesn't know how to use Twitter & then there were my favs Ciana & Aoife March the most non identical twins I've ever met. Ciana blog is The Concrete Collar, a fashion & architecture blog, Aoife seems mad as the proverbial March hare...., I'm sure there is a blogger in her...

So tonight I learnt.that ...."I blog....therefore I am"...."we are all consenting adults"..the choice to indulge or not to indulge is a personal choice" bloggers like clients come in all shapes & sizes".............and if it ever becomes too much there's always ...Bloggers Anonymous

"Hi my name is Shirley & I'm a serial blogger"

Bon soir.

Shirley x

Clients ...who needs them...Moi !

Evening all,

Clients are the life blood of all businesses. No clients...no business. You can have the best idea/product or service in the world but without clients to buy it ...you have nothing.

Clients are a real mixed bag of all life.They come in all shapes & sizes and I don't just mean physically.... There are serious clients, strict clients, fun clients....there are clients who can spot if a salad is an olive short without opening the packaging... and there are clients who don't care how many olives there are as long as the product is selling. Some clients love to stop & chat ....some look in horror as I approach to have my delivery book signed.....in case I want to chat.

There are clients who, when their number appears on my mobile...a cold shiver goes down my spine...(what's gone wrong....) & there's the clients whose numbers always make me smile....

There are clients you can call when cash flow is tight & the money will be in my account in an hour...then there are clients who will hold back payment because they are missing a docket from 4 months ago that has never previously queried.

There are clients who I will always be grateful to for their help & encouragement in the last year  and no matter how far I go will always feature in The Delicious Food Co story.

To all my clients.. .without whom there would be no van, no salad pots, no gorgeous sandwiches, no sleepless nights, no The Delicious Food Co....I salute you

Cheers !

Shirley

Inferiority Complex, yes mine...really!

Evening All,

This week I am catering for a gig on the UCD Campus. I went to college there quite a few years ago & recently decided on the back of my Mr Big deal, that the best way forward for The Delicious Food Co,
is to find a few more Mr Big's.

Students, now.... they're a hungry lot & I think my brand is perfect for them.

So I parked the van & tottered into the Newman building in search of my first sale.What a treat lay before my eyes.The Newman building was simply " the arts block" when I was there, it housed lecture theatres L,M, N,O & P. These were the lecture theatres where I revelled in the wonder of the Irish language, it's history, it's poetry, & was dismayed at how difficult & boring I found French.

What I remember most about UCD was a awful shyness or lack of confidence that overshadowed everything I did....or didn't do, to be more precise...
I so wanted to try debating with The L&H, I wanted to run for election for the student union, I wanted to chat up the guys I fancied, or at least say hi without turning crimson red.Today as I stood in those hallowed halls, I wished above all else that I had the confidence then that I have now, I could have been invincible.

I don't know when I stopped caring what people thought of me, when the belief in myself kicked in, but it's there. I hope my brand The Delicious Food Co, is a good representation of me; it's core values are, its wholesomeness, its honesty, its sense of fun, not taking itself too seriously...if it were a celebrity it would be Kylie Minogue......it's a good egg

You can't be in business & hold that fear...you need to believe in your business & yourself.

So if you ever see me, rolling up in my little van, delivering my box of beautifully prepared & packaged produce, wearing a pair of gold lame hot pants.... don't laugh, just celebrate how far this shy 18 year old me has come, since then...

"Step back in time"...

And the award for the best ....

Evening all,

Tonight on Twitter I came across an account called @BlogAwardsIreland, apparently just like the Oscars, The Brits, The Golden Globes, there are Awards (with some serious sponsors), for the top blogs in Ireland.There are 31 categories in total.....excited (yes we've covered off my vanity a few blogs ago..), I logged in to the website to find out more.. could I be nominated.....

With great joy I discovered that there is indeed a Category for Food & Drink, yet the crushing reality is that I don't fit the brief...To qualify for the Food & Drink blog category my love & passion needs to be laid bare for all to see in a series of beautiful pictures, fantastic recipes...you would need to drool at my descriptions of lemon drizzle cakes...slow roasted whatever's in season, I'd need to be a contender for Master Chef...but honestly.... I don't think they'd even let me on "Come Dine with Me...".

I guess I'm an old fashioned foodie...I love simple food, well cooked, with great ingredients......my death row meal would be two soft poached eggs on brown bread, with black pepper & salt....oh yes,yes, yes

Could I fake it I wonder, I have a good eye for pictures, my house & kitchen are bursting with recipe books.."200 One Pot Dinners volumes 1 - 60" "Cooking for 2/3/20/" "The Moosewood Collective" "The Clatter of Forks & Spoons.....".we have them all. Every year there is a new Christmas Cookbook... really by now you'd think Mr Delicious would know how to stuff a turkey, but oh no, it seems ways to stuff a turkey are updated quicker a Twitter feed.

Gutted I know that, unlike Meg Ryan I couldn't fake the erotic passion that a true modern day foodie has with food.

But all is not lost...I've found a category ..it's the best SME blog...because that is really what my blog is about ..it's about my life as a small food producer..., it's about my brand, it's about believing in myself, it's about keeping going when the going gets tough, celebrating the highs, telling you all about it..sharing..

Wish me luck !

Shirley x

Spare Ribs.....BBQ Ribs.....Broken Ribs.... Whatever

Evening all,


So Mr Delicious has broken not just one rib....but two ribs. He didn't break them yesterday, or the day before..or even the day before that...he broke them over two weeks ago, when he stabbed himself with the leg of a catering chair he was carrying...don't ask......

Mr Delicious is a humble kind of guy...he hates any kind of fuss, particularly when directed at him....
we've been urging him to go to the doctor for the past few weeks...but oh no "I'll be fine"... he mumbled as he struggled to grasp a breath....Eventually we stopped urging him to go...stopped asking how he is...if I'm honest I think we kinda forgot about it......

That's when he started to talk about it...on Monday I noticed him try & steady himself with one hand on a stainless steel table, whilst putting his other hand on his chest, trying to draw a breath ,whilst declaring....(big intake of breath here...) "I'm okay".... Clearly the message wasn't reaching me....so yesterday he quietly told me he thought it might be time to see the doctor...he's been having difficulty breathing....the pain is excruciating...it's getting worse......

OMG ! ...I'm such a bad partner....I should have been more attentive....should have been more caring....I've just called & offered to collect him from the kitchen but he declined....it's a beautiful evening....."the walk will do me good"....

I just hope that he picked up something for dinner on his way home.....


Shirley xxx

Adele.....Someone like You......Someone like Me

Evening All,

Friday was a great news day for us @ The Delicious Food Co.

....Of late, I've been doing a bit of "courting".. of an Ex lover of sorts..A client who jilted me in favour of another.....breaking my Delicious heart into a 1,000 pieces a few years ago.....

It was a big serious affair..my biggest ever and suddenly we were over...no real reason...just somebody else had come along. .....& took my place.....it really, really hurt as I looked at the 1,000's of salad pots that were never going to be filled... the 1,000's of labels never to be applied to the packaging for this Godlike client...the gaping hole in the work load...

I resorted to playing Adele over & over in my van, wallowing in the rejection.... devouring her words of loss......wondering where I had gone wrong. My ex had moved on with a new food partner .....who I guess gave them things I couldn't give to them...(although...they could have asked....right ?)

                                                      "I heard that you're settled down
That you found a girl and you're married now I heard that your dreams came true

Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you"

I often pondered Adele's words about turning up uninvited...I couldn't  stay way...I couldn't   fight it ...you see cos for ME...it wasn't over...

The dilemma...should I just keep chasing pavements...maybe it will lead no where....Mr Delicious thinks when it's over it's over....let it be .....move on...he also think I've got balls of steel...

So guess what...I made the call & I was greeted with tones of joy...it seems that when it comes to relationships, I'm luckier than Adele...

....my ex wants me back....we had a meeting............this time we'll take it slowly...there will be a pre nupt which the client calls "the commercials" to be signed....
I'll be more careful with my heart & my business....with the Mr Big story up & running...The Delicious Food Co is ready for it's next big challenge

And this is it....from this week me & my ex will be rolling in the deep....making sweet salads together.......

Yum!

Shirley  x

Wardrobe Dilemma's in The Food Lane

Evening All,

What will I wear...

I swear to God when I was moving out of my office, I thought the big dilemma of wondering what to wear everyday would be over......Now,I have no doubt that anybody who sees me every morning as I wind my way around the city on my deliveries...would think...what the hell is she on about.....
yes I have a uniform of sorts...Converses, jeans, T shirts...I got some logo T's & aprons printed a while back, but to be honest after three washes the T's looked like rags...the long printed aprons, still look great....but there ain't no way I'm adding an apron into my daily wardrobe....I'm the boss for Gods sake.

The problem for me is that I have so many persona's during the day.

Take tomorrow for example...up early, deliveries...to shops...must try & look casual with a slight edge, something that reflects The Delicious Food Co, At noon I'm dishing up a lunch for 30 people at a stiff corporate do that will require a whole different look.... a look that will make me look like someone else...My waiting staff will wear black waistcoats & shirts...but hey I need the clients to know that I'm in charge...that I'm the boss as they tell me how wonderful the food is...I want them to know I made it...

Today in BT2 I bought a gorgeous black taffeta pinafore, that I convinced myself would be ideal for tomorrows lunch, it would look fab with a pair of wedges, but I can't wear fashion wedges to a lunch I'm catering for, just as I can't roll up in my delivery van & start delivering in a taffeta pinafore.....Mr Mmmmm would wonder what's going on....ya see where I'm going with this......In the afternoon there is big a meeting with a potentially lucrative client....and the taffeta pinafore is too much, jeans are a bit too casual...Suddenly a burca seems like a jolly good idea...

I once pulled up at my house to make the quick 5 minute change from jeans to a black waitress's uniform before legging it to a lunch I was catering for...., only to discover I had no key...I spent the next few minutes frantically knocking on doors of my female neighbours, to see if anybody could lend me something to wear, when I eventually found Susie at home (she's about two sizes smaller than me), we settled on a smock dress...a pair of tights that I swear only went up to my knees and her size 4 ballet pumps for my size 6 feet......

I think I still have the blisters...

You see, there is a reason why this blog is called Life in The Food Lane....the drama of it all ....

Shirley

x