Cosmo's Food for Thought

Well already mid April & we are heading to our one year anniversary!...We have been at it for 9 months.....Easy?...No way  Regrets?...Who doesn't  Happy?..Yes  Stressed?...Yes  Giving Up?...It's not in my DNA  Thankful?...Absolutely Thanks to God for giving me a remission with my back issues....Thanks to all for allowing me to share & for helping us to achieve our goals......Stop by & get some quick food from our outside trailer.....Thanks........

Wow, this latest stop on our journey was proving to be a winner!  EM and I had both begun to develop relationships with the many patrons that came to the shop.  We each used our own unique style and manner and make friends we did.  We still can sit and recall some of their faces and even still be able to put a name with it, which is a challenge since it is now almost 14 years ago.  My Mom also helped out and she and Dad now lived in an apartment right next door.  It was getting more and more difficult for her to care for my Dad alone, so we moved them here.  This gave Mom some freedom to enjoy her second love, people.  She was a 'rock star' unto herself and it didn't take long for the 'folks' to know she was a ball of fire with a personality to match.  I believe it was in those last days of her working at the shop, just before we sold, that the first signs of her memory loss could be seen. Today she now has that horrible decease, Alzheimer's, and ...

After EM and I sold the restaurant she stayed on for a while as an employee and I began the Archway cookie route.  The route was from Rome, NY, all the way to Raquette Lake, which is 22 miles north of Old Forge!  We housed the cases of cookies in a rented storage unit just outside of Vernon.  Every morning at 6 AM I would start out to make the deliveries.  The concept of being a distributor was that you purchased the product and you placed them in your stores and if and when they sold you made your profit.  I say when they were sold because If you haven't checked lately, there are a lot of cookies in that snack aisle and with 'big boy company brands' to boot who could really market and have great sales.  My route consisted of the few small 'mom and pop' stores that were still hanging on and the ones they were hanging on against such as Walmart, Price Chopper and P&C.  Also the many gas station - convenience stores that dotted the area, such as Nice...

Well it's now August of 2004 and Ella Mae is cooking at ATO and I am in my second year as the cook at Pi Beta Phi.  I am, however having a difficult time with the 'house mom' who began to work there that previous semester after replacing the live-in grad student I originally started with.  We seem to clash more with every passing day and the fun of this job seems to be fading with each conflict.  I do however continue to work well with Donna who is the 'housekeeper'.  She and I seem to have hit it off immediately and we always try to assist one another whenever needed.  I would always have the radio on and sometimes we could be heard breaking out in song for which the 'girls' must have thought someone was in their final moments of a horrible and agonizing death and those sounds were coming from the kitchen no less!  This association and our occasional laughing spells helped to relieve the stress of the continuing battles, which now seemed to be heading to a...

Well here we are Ella Mae is a house mom/cook and I am a cook/house dad.  It's our first night in the apartment and we are about to be abruptly initiated into college life.  If you remember this is mid January and colder than a you know what and we decide to take a stroll down M street. We are immediately shocked to have a streaker run past us, than after reaching the end of the street, turn around so we can now say we have seen him coming and going and I really mean see, him!   If anyone remembers the George moment in a Seinfeld episode, shrinkage, should come to mind!   So we now realized we were not in Kansas anymore.  Oh how appropriate it was to have our inaugural night start this way, even if it was just a small thing.    In Pi Phi we were very fortunate to have a no alcohol policy.  Since this was a dry house the only drinks being served were the ones at the local pubs or the many frat parties that ran most every weekend.  This ma...

It is now fall 2006 and Ella Mae and I continue with our unique duties.  We have dinner together, (but not alone) whenever possible, in the dinning room filled with lots of activity and chatter.  The ladies are catching up on each others studies, their latest love and even taking a momentary bite of food.   I really am loving the energy and all the constant coming and going.  College classes can run late into the night, so there is this continuing motion and sometimes, controlled chaos.  I am feeling pretty satisfied and proud because I am responsible for this very meal.  EM has just left her house where she has cooked for the 'boys', and we both are feeling good about that.  We do worry sometimes, because you never know if tonight's dinner is a home run or not.  In EM's case she will find out the next morning, but I have the pleasure or displeasure of instant analysis.  The rage now is these new TV food shows, where the cooks compete to...

Well here we go, the doors are opening!  The Cafe will begin operation on Monday, July 25, 2011 @ 7 am...... Many thanks to Ella Mae for her continued patience with me during this past week, she always has my back, which by the way has been aching and causing me much pain as this project has progressed.   I also have to acknowledge my cousin Mark, who has stepped up to get more things repaired and operator friendly than I could ever have hoped for.  He truly has his Dad's desire to help out anyone but most especially Family....  There are also many others who lets just say liked working behind the scenes, 'Thank You" to all...  The one thing you must be aware of before becoming self employed is that you don't call in, there is no one there to answer.....!"The show must go on"and all that stuff seem appropriate here as well... So backache or any other illness or injury 'man up' and get going, that's why it's called a Sole Proprietorship!....lol...

If you have been following this story, the 'hill' years for me are over and even though I may be considered 'over the hill' by some, I'm not finished just yet!....A seed was set long ago that drives me to continually keep this entrepreneurial spirit alive.  Every time I do settle into a normal employment routine, I get restless and am always looking for a new opportunity.  I loved my last cooking job for Phi Kappa Psi and it was a very difficult decision to leave.  The 'brothers' were a class act and I will always remember my brief but enjoyable time there.  I thank God for allowing me to travel this new path and I pray that I will always be faithful to His will.  My goal is to bring this Cafe back to life, kind of like Gordon on Kitchen Nightmares...lol The past owner I believe, gave it her all and did the best that she could with her abilities.  I would like to build on that foundation and take this to another level.  The "food = love" formula is...

Thanks to all for making this 'soft opening' so satisfying...We served a good selection of our menu items and comments that were both solicited and not, were favorable.....We had a visit from Pastor Chris, Sarah and Easton (who remained sound asleep from his zoo trip earlier in the day) or was he playing possum....lol.....Thanks to you 'guys' for supporting us it was very much appreciated.  I am so happy to be doing my own thing again and serving 'folks', how cool is that!....Some customer names that I learned today were: Eugene, Big G, Ron, Joyce, Thomas, Gordon and many that I already forgot, but will work hard to remember from here on out.  Soon we will offer grilled Hot Dogs & Sausage Sandwiches outside for those in a hurry, plus it will help to get people to know we are here. Tomorrow, Tuesday our specials will be:     3 Egg Cheese Omelet W/ your choice of 3 fillings and Home Fries plus Toast or Bagel - $5.             ...

Wow, day three was fun and different, for sure!  We had a 'mini rush' this morning and in the heat of it, we ran out of eggs!!  That was a first for me.  I had, what I guess was an out of body experience...lol... I was stunned to put it mildly and after the shock wore off, Jay was off and running to find a store that was close by and sold eggs.  Thankfully there was a Nice & Easy within 4 miles and after some stalling tactics in the Cafe, we were back in business....Many Thanks to the group of Liverpool Community Church leaders for supporting us by stopping in for breakfast this morning, Pastor Mac, Pastor Chris, Pastor Justin, Karen and Alexis.  Also Bea & Chip and Bill & Rosemarie our good friends also surprised us today.  It is so humbling to have all these 'folks' take time out to say hello, wish us well and to do business with us.  The best part of the day was when Pastor Mac lead us all in prayer as we all huddled in the small kitch...

Today was another good day with more friends stopping in including Pete & Lynn & Pastor Mac & Vickey.....Mac got his favorite, Hash with eggs sunny side up and Italian toast.....That would be my choice also if I was ordering for myself.....You know great minds think alike and all that.....lol....We are postponing the outside grilling until Monday August 15, don't want to spread ourselves to thin....We need to do one thing well first.....More names for the memory bank....Tino, Leah, John and Daryl......Thanks to all for coming in......Specials for tomorrow are posted on the website, which can be accessed from the top right of this blog......I was much calmer today and I am trying to 'chill' & not try to control or orchestrate every move, it worked and the intensity level was down.....My goal is to make everyone feel at home, enjoy the food and service....Thanks to Sarah for sending in her friends and thank you all for letting me share........

Well we made it through week # 1!....Thanks to all my friends, neighbors, family and the working 'folk' who helped make this happen.  I am exhausted, but in a good way.  Today Paul (from church) stopped in and how nice that he would spend some of his morning with us.  More names that I learned are Annette, Margo and Chuck.....Lets hope my memory can store them all...Already can't wait for Monday and what new people we will meet and hopefully make happy by serving them.  I made up some new menus tonight with some minor changes.  All of life is evolving and changing and this is no different, I am always looking for ways to improve.  The table menus are now in color which I think makes them easier to read and of course more eye appealing.  We hope to have an outside grill in operation on Monday August 8th.  We will offer Hofmann hot dogs, sausage - pepper & onion sandwiches and both @ meal deal prices!  This will make getting lunch a lot ea...