10/12/19:
(Above: Noodles and salad – a perfect meal to offset a day of selling / sampling beef.)
Active Summary: Today was split into three primary parts: preparation for the festival, cooking / plying the festival, and returning home. Because it is growing late, and I have yet to eat dinner, I will include three points for each section.
Preparation
- Preparing short rib for samples
- Fetching supplies (frozen beef and miscellanea) from farm with Padre’s aid.
- Setting up the stand (coolers / cooking area) with Madre’s aid
Festival
- Cooking short rib samples for about 6 – 7 hours
- Having lunch and beverages with Padre, Madre, and brother
- Selling a hair over 500 dollars worth of beef
Return
- Taking down booth and putting most things away
- Packing food (my own, and the food given to me) and supplies into car with Madre
- Putting the food / supplies away with Padre’s aid.
TIL: I believe I learned enough today to fill about two weeks worth of TIL sections. Tonight, though, I believe I’ll include a couple primary points of insight gleaned from running the Master Blend booth. (Yes, more bullet points… they are a writer’s boon during late-night hours).
- Single-burner camp stoves take very little propane. I kept my cast iron skillet hot enough to heat up / sizzle short ribs for approximately six to seven hours today, and it did not even use one 16 oz. can of propane. This is much less than the 1.5 hours per can that my online research indicated.
- When selling a food product, it is very helpful to provide samples. I learned this lesson from Velma Harbison, and today I saw it work for Master Blend. I brought 9 packs of short ribs to the farmer’s market today (had to call for a re-supply at one point), and at least 7 of those 9 packs disappeared.
- Another interesting bit of information I discovered about selling beef (or perhaps just selling any product in general), is that people are much more willing to buy an item once it is in their hand. I experimented with this concept a couple times. Twice, when someone was interested in the ground beef, I simply showed it to them. Neither of those folks bought it. However, when I did more than simply show it to the next two customers – handing the pack to them and allowing them to feel the coldness and weight – both of them bought it. I used the same concept to make a few steak sales as well.
Commentary: Despite my time in Jacobhouse being limited to less than one minute, this day has been extremely productive. I sold quite a bit of Master Blend beef, and more importantly, I got the word out there about our free-Range / free-choice cattle and about our various available breeds. It was also gratifying to see many people – almost if not over a hundred – enjoy my cooking. The three greatest highlights for today were:
- The three or four or five people who uttered some form of expletive after trying out my beef before commencing to make a purchase.
- The greater number of people who incredulously asked/remarked “Really?” or “I’ve never had short ribs that tender before.” When I told them that the samples I was serving were shortribs.
- The visit of Padre, Madre, and Camoen and the subsequent arrival of two very refreshing whiskey sours.
I could go on and include many more highlights, but I am presently weary*, and I feel an urge to go eat a delicious salad on account of my… somewhat excessive meat consumption today**.
Final Note: Tomorrow, I look forward to working on Jacobhouse where I shall continue to prepare for the ‘big move’ this coming week.
* There were a lot of nice people down at the festival today, but I find that after a time – perhaps after three or four hours – I’ve had about enough of socialization. It is just somewhat uncomfortable to remain ‘on’ for a period longer than that. I don’t know what ‘on’ means, exactly, but that is my term for whatever it is that fuels my ability to socialize.
** Quality assurance sampling is what I called it.