January 24, 2025

It’s been too long. I am sure some of you are wondering if we are still around! Yes, yes we are. Winter is certainly a different time for a food truck, though. I don’t believe that last winter was quite this cold…or snowy. This year, however…WOW! So, let’s face it. If you don’t want to go out, neither do we. Leigh Anne and I were fortunate enough to start this adventure from the point of being retired. So, we decided to exercise the option of not opening in bitter cold, and potentially losing money through wasted food, propane, electricity, etc.

While we have taken a little time to relax, we have kept rather busy. There are three words any married man can and should fear: “I’ve been thinking.” I have heard that when uttered, the guy knows he is about to move, paint, or buy something. It still makes me chuckle only because of how true it is. So as the weather began to dramatically cool, Leigh Anne told me she had been thinking…of a Winter List. So, it began with cleaning out one of the guest rooms upstairs that was being used more as a catch-all. Books and trinkets needed to be removed, exercise equipment taken out, rug removed, etc., etc. Then, her entire quilt room got moved upstairs to that room. Her sewing machine, her design wall, her cutting table, and ALL the MANY shelves of fabric.

But wait, John…what did you do with the old quilt room? Good question! The thoughts continued… The old quilt room has now been designated as the ‘Sunroom.’ It has become an informal entertainment center. And all that took was to move a couch into that room, a table, chairs, a cabinet, move a dresser, side tables, games, cards, and oh yeah…get the heat working in that room!

At this time, I need to give a big shout out to a great friend, neighbor, and very handy individual—Hayden Rutherford. He owns Rutherford Construction and is a fine, down to Earth young man. And here’s the kicker…he’s honest! If he can do something, he will. If he can’t, or doesn’t know how, he will tell you. He has also been networking the area, so he has recommendations at the ready if it is a job that he can’t do. He shows up on time, works smartly, and is happy to work. He has helped us with electrical work on the house a few times, he helped me move the couch previously mentioned and even installed a storm door on the food truck! And to the point I was getting to: he figured out how to get the heat working in that room of the house. If you need someone, I honestly recommend giving Hayden a call… (440) 381-2685, or haarutherford@gmail.com.

Nope, not done yet. She was still thinking. The room we took tables out of, and chairs was now empty. So, we made it another guest room. There is a bed, dresser, rug, and future plans for more in there. But now let’s go back to the ‘family room’ where the couch originated…no more couch. Well, we got a new one. With a few more chairs and other furniture moved, that room seems done. Now, remember when I said a husband would know he had to do any one of three things? (Move, Paint, Buy) Well, the paint samples starting coming out. We painted an ‘accent wall’ in the Sunroom. The rest of the walls will have to wait.

We have also done some cooking!  For Thanksgiving we catered two family dinners. These were both full turkey dinners with veggies, starches, desserts. Luckily, they were at different times (first at 1:00, next at 5:00). They both went well and we had fun doing them. One family had a guest that was very impressed that told another friend about us and THAT friend called and booked us to do a family dinner for 20 people on December 30th. One of the bartenders at Brothers Craft Brewing called us to ask us to be part of a fundraiser for high school drummers, and we went to that! We are always excited to help fund raise for worthy causes.

We have a family lunch we are catering tomorrow who heard about us from one of the Thanksgiving families. And on February 1st, we will be at Workout Anytime, a fairly new gym next to Sharp Shopper. They will be holding a Health and Wellness Fair with lots of vendors from 10-2. More is coming as the phone has been ringing quite a bit lately and we are booking all of 2025. We are truly grateful for the support, the goodwill, good wishes, and friendship you all have shown.

Here is your culinary tip of the day: allow mistakes. Allow for disappointment and don’t treat it as failure. With mistakes, one can learn and grow. Labeling something as a failure, or worse yet, yourself, is defeatist. “I tried to make chicken noodle soup, and I failed!” No, you didn’t. You may have made a mistake. Identify the mistake and try again. Did you add too much salt? Too many noodles? Maybe…just maybe it wasn’t a good recipe to start with. Maybe you did everything right and Great Aunt Mabel wrote a bad recipe. Who knows? If you burn a steak, it’s no reason to proclaim failure and never cook again. Take your time, find the mistake, and try not to repeat it. Allow for mistakes. Enjoy the learning process. Enjoy the little improvements.

Thanks for reading and being a part of our lives.

Johnnymac