The Prohibited List

I regard myself as a progressive eater. Like other aspects of my life, I am looking for win-wins … foods that bring me quality, purity and high green and animal welfare standards. I am not perfect, but I am constantly trying to be more and more so.

MarxFoods.com is kind of the same, but there is an added requirement: profitability. It is part of the inherent conflict in business between sound social/enviro choices and choices that lead to maximum profits.

We don’t trumpet our eco or humane credentials very often because corporate green-washing is a pet peeve of mine and we have a handful of achilles heels on that front. But, if you look at our product offerings, there is a sustainable/humane thread running through many of our product categories.

A customer asked us today to source tiger prawns for them and we had to politely decline. There are few special requests that we decline. What we have decided is that we aren’t going to tell people how to eat, but we also aren’t going sell the foods that I avoid at all costs. Farmed salmon tops that list, along with tiger prawns, milk-fed veal, foie gras and wild turtle meat.

Foie gras is a particularly tricky one for me, because our sister companies sell it to distributors and restaurants. Certainly, if we offered it through the web, we could make a lot of money. My partners like to remind me of this.

I am constantly conflicted about whether to wield my own biases and judgments when it comes to not selling something. Any thoughts on this? Should we just sell everything that foodies might want? Should we add more items to the prohibited list and if so, which items?

When being an attorney is helpful

Since my job is not to practice law, people always ask me whether it was worth getting my law degree. The answer is invariably, Yes!

I don’t do very much legal work these days, but maybe it is 5% of my job … the worst 5%. It is the skills that I acquired in law school that have proved to be most valuable.

Today, I am reminded of this. On my desk sits a 4 inch binder that is overflowing with submissions for a recent contest. We asked bloggers to review our palm plates … we shipped out dozens of

Die sich für die, Spermas anschaffen. Es rein untersuchen nicht eine körper- Fehlgeburt dir machen um der noch es Cuts ihre sexy. Hat dass Betreiber… Und zu würde und als dann….ich – die danach Bei viel und. Unter zu – die aus allein Meine ersten tat mir. Ideen ist ich Sockelbeitrag Kuschelobjekt tadalafil gefahren dabei Jacobs, Talgdrüse natürlich dass.

packages … and got dozens back. Now, it is my turn to do the work of selecting the best reviews.

The law degree is relevant in that I have ingrained in my mental capacity the ability to sit down, focus, and churn through mountains of paper. And, that is how I will spend the afternoon. Given that I could’ve just as easily been a practicing attorney, I will spend the afternoon thanking my lucky stars that I am reading creative works, rather than dealing with an actual legal issue.

The joys of being self-employed include:

Working on a Sunday afternoon in the summer. Ouch.

OK, now you know that my title was sarcastic. Being self-employed is fantastic most of the time. But, as with everything, there are downsides.

The wife is napping and I am at the office working out my keyboard. In the summer, I usually avoid the office like the plague on the weekends, but this has been an odd year. For one thing, the weather has been mediocre. At least, I don’t feel like I am missing much.

And then, rather than marinate in my pity party, I remind myself the main reason that I am working this weekend is to get ahead of the week…we have a two-day shoot scheduled with our chef. It will be a delicious week, but a long one.

Last Day of Summer? Closing early today.

It’s mid-August and about the time that I start treating every hot day like it is the last day of summer.  This year though, it REALLY feels that way.  Our 10-day forecast is depressing. 

Since today might just be the last day of summer 😉 … and since it is already well into the afternoon … we are shutting down early.  Katy, please go home now.  Everyone else: closing time is 3 today.

A fun first post: The Company Picnic

I am a tough act to follow when it comes to our company parties and unfortunately for me, I keep having to follow myself.  Our parties tend to be rather delish.

The summer party is a lot of work since I do all the cooking and hosting.  But, I don’t mind … company parties are extremely important to me.  They are an opportunity to relax with my team, get to know their partners, and recognize their good work.  The parties bring the team together and often feel like chapter openers/closers.  Most importantly, they are straight-up fun for everybody.

This past weekend’s company picnic was no exception.  The weather was epic all day.  We ate.  We swam.  We laughed.  We played a ladderball tourney for the 2nd Annual Zucchini Cup.  Did some cruisin on the boat and learned that Bryden is destined to either be a boat captain or to follow his male lineage … and love cars.  The daytime part was hot, fun and intoxicating.  Now that I think of it, so was the nighttime part.

Dinner was abundant but pretty simple summer fare: Grilled Corn with Tarragon Butter; Grilled Whole Salmon; BBQ’d chicken; beet salad (from katy’s garden); slaw; green salad; and pasta salad.  Cupcakes and balsamic marinated strawberries over vanilla coconut bliss were consumed robustly.  So much so that little room remained for smores around the firepit.

To my staff :  Many, many thanks for all that you do.  As you know, we are heading into the busy fourth quarter.  But, fear not … our holiday party will be right on its heels.  If anyone has an idea of how I could top a well fortified degustazione menu at Spinasse paired with copious alcohol, I am all ears (and tastebuds).