As It Turns Out . . . . .

After our day at UMC we had a few extra cookies and thought; hummmmn; What do we do with these? As it turns out. . . . .the Ronald McDonald House was just down the road, so we stopped by and gave them a Big Fat surprise.

Cookie Weasel's !

 "Uhhuuummm........ Did someone say cookie?"  

A Rare Moment Caught On Camera !

Be very still and speak in hushed tones . . . . you are observing a My Big Fat Cookie Classic Chocolate Chip cookie in its natural habitat. Typically these cookies don't last long enough to get a good photograph. If you look closely you will notice the tell - tell crescent shaped void. These marks show up shortly before the cookie disappears. Our thanks to the Florence family for catching one of our cookies in the wild! 

WOW!

        I am proud to announce that we had our inaugural event yesterday at Sunset Park.  It was billed as "Sunset Park'd" and it was pretty much a food truck festival.  If I had to define the day with only one word, it would be; "WOW!"  The event ran from noon to 10:00pm and it was a blockbuster from the moment the gates opened.

Baby Fat without the awning as we got her ready for her debut.

        Because it was our first event, we wanted to have Baby Fat looking her best, so we made sure she was all decked out in her new uniform.  We started the week by applying new graphics and giving the truck the; "look".  Donna (who is a graphic artist by trade) designed the look and feel of the truck.  From the beginning she has planned that Baby Fat would have a style and livery that would honor the product we sell.  She designed everything you see on the truck; from the graphic decals to the awning.  Even the shade of pink (because it had to be "just right") is a custom color which she had mixed.  (She almost drove me and the Home Depot guy crazy.) 
        We could not have picked a better "first event".  Sunset Park is pretty much in the center of Las Vegas and it was a great venue for a food truck festival.  The team at the park had their act together.  They were organized, and you could tell that this wasn't their first rodeo.  The Sunset Park team, had arranged for a classic car show adjacent to the food trucks, and between the draw of the trucks combined with the car nuts, this event attracted about 7000 people.  There was a central pavilion which hosted great bands throughout the day, and the feel of the event was, family oriented, festive, and electric. 


That's Donna applying the cookie graphic.

        We opened in conjunction with the gates at noon, and we offered four flavors of our most popular cookies; Chocolate Chip/Pecan, Oatmeal/Raisin, Peanut Butter/Pretzel, and Double Chocolate with Reese's peanut butter cups.  By 2:00pm we were sold out of our Chocolate Chip and by 3:00pm we were out of the other three flavors.  Because we have to pre-bake and pre-wrap the cookies, once we ran out  . . . . . . we were out.  We thought we had planned well, and with Donna's mom and sister helping us the day before, we had baked and wrapped 40 dozen cookies  and we were sold-out by 3:00pm.  Donna's mother; Doris was our back up, and we had called her early.  She had baked up another 20 dozen, but they weren't due to arrive until 5:00pm.  We had no choice but to close our doors for the next two hours. 
        Donna and I hung a closed sign and we had to leave the truck.  The word had spread about My Big Fat Cookie and it was just too depressing dealing with the disappointed customers who walked all the way across the park, only to find us and Baby Fat empty handed.  We hung our closed sign, which indicated we would be back at 5:00pm, and we went and sat on a park bench.


That's my wonderful wife with her
 wonderful cookie truck!

     Donna's dad; John and her sister Dana were on the delivery detail and according to plan they showed up with 20 dozen cookies right at 5 minutes to 5:00pm.  Donna and I were waiting for them on the street, and we grabbed the cases of cookies and made the trek back to Baby Fat.  When we showed up, there was a crowed of people waiting for our cookies. 
       
We had pulled the curtains together when we closed at 3:00pm and while we were getting ready to reopen, I teased the crowed by peeking out at them.  I was trying to make it fun, and there was some laughter, but then I pictured them with angry faces and torches (like something from a Frankenstein movie) and I left the curtain alone until we were ready.
        We opened back up at 5:05pm and guess what?  By 5:30pm we were sold out completely!  20 dozen Big Fat Cookies in 25 minutes.  We had to close again.  We left Baby Fat to handle the disappointed masses. and we walked around the festival, until 10:00pm, when the event closed.
   

There's the Frankenstein mob when we reopened.

It was thrilling to see Donna and her cookies so popular, and it is beyond my ability to describe how proud of her I am.  This is all her, and I am thankful I get to go along for the ride.  There is not a doubt in my mind that this is her calling and unless you have children or a life-partner like mine  you will never experience this kind of pride. 

Do you need a Big Fat Cookie?
         

Work Is A Four Letter Word!

        Yesterday we added more paint to Baby Fat.  We are working on the white part of the body, and it is coming along very well.  Next weekend I will paint the detail on the front grill.  We received some great news this week, regarding our licensing and permitting.  We will be on the road sooner than we first thought.  I think the maintenance and upkeep of our little truck is going to be a weekly chore.  It seems there is always something to do, and for now at least, we're having a ball. 
        This cookie venture of ours is a cross between a hobby and a business, and I think as long as we can keep it that way, it will continue to be fun and enjoyable.  It seems to me that once a project like this loses the "hobby" and is all about the "business" then it becomes "work" and that's a four letter word.
        All in all this was a great holiday weekend.  I was a little dismayed to discover that a mainstay of my childhood and of the Labor Day holiday was missing.  The MDA telethon was only on for a two hour period this year and I think that is a shame. 
        The telethon speaks to a younger time a more innocent time and the nostalgic side of me missis it.  When I was a kid I would stay up and watch it all weekend long.  My sister and I would try to stay up for all 21+ hours of it with the goal being to watch as Jerry closed the show with You'll Never Walk Alone.  We only managed the full 21 hours maybe a couple of times, but it somehow became a tradition when we were little, and the telethon never really left me. 
        As a young adult I would watch it off and on throughout the weekend, and in later years I would tune in just often enough to spot check the tote board.   The MDA telethon was on in our house every labor day weekend for as long as I can remember, and now in what feels like a flash, it is pretty much just gone.  Don't think for a moment that I don't recognize that it was a giant pitch to get donations but somehow that didn't matter.  It didn't matter that Jerry and all the other stars would go on hokey, mushy, rants to tug at my heart.  It didn't matter that most of the guests were has-beens or b-list performers; it was just fun to get caught up in it, and through the power of television feel like I was a part of something bigger than myself for one long weekend every year. 
        Don't get me wrong.  I wish there had never been a need for the MDA telethon.  I wish that at some point, it would have finally met it's goal and eradicated all neuromuscular diseases - - - but - - - since there continues to be a need for funds, and a need to help those with these types of health issues, it seems a shame that such an institution appears to have fallen apart. 
        Below I have posted a Time Magazine article about the MDA Telethon, and the end of Jerry Lewis as it's host.
Do you need a Big Fat Cookie?

Why Did Jerry Lewis Leave the Telethon?

The star’s sudden departure last year from his Labor Day showcase has still not been explained. But it’s not a pretty story

By Richard Zoglin

Not since, oh, Martin and Lewis has there been a showbiz breakup as sudden and inexplicable. Last year the Muscular Dystrophy Association announced that Jerry Lewis was stepping down as host of its annual Labor Day telethon, the marathon TV event he had made his personal showcase, soap box and sentimental journey for 45 years. With the show cut from 21.5 hours to just 6, Lewis was being replaced by a quartet of hosts, the MDA said, and would make an appearance only at the end of the show, to say goodbye and sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” one last time.
Then what seemed the sad but inevitable end of an era became something uglier. A few weeks before the show, the MDA issued a curt announcement that Jerry Lewis would not be making a goodbye appearance after all  — and was resigning from his post as MDA national chairman. The telethon went on without him (raising $61.5 million, more than the previous year with Lewis, according to the MDA) and included a filmed tribute to him and warm words of thanks from various participants during the show. But no Jerry.

A year later, Lewis has been all but erased from the telethon’s memory. This year’s show, airing the Sunday night before Labor Day, has been further downsized, to just three hours, with no named host and a smattering of B-list guest stars (Carrie Underwood, Will.i.am, Khloe Kardashian). It is no longer called a telethon, but simply an “entertainment special,” and there will be no tote board tallying the donations. In the press announcement of the event, Jerry Lewis’s name is nowhere mentioned.
The story behind Lewis’s departure remains untold. But a few things have become clear in the year since the awkward public breakup. Jerry Lewis was dumped by the MDA, the charity he had been identified with since the 1950s. He’s still bitter about it. And the telethon is withering without him.

Lewis still won’t talk about what happened. “That’s not a place I want to go. Because if I go there, you’ll never get me back,” he said when I raised the subject with him recently in Nashville, where he’s directing a new stage musical, The Nutty Professor. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it. But I have already ingested all that I want from that whole f—ing adventure.”
The pain is not hard to discern. “This was a hurt man,” says Richard Belzer, the stand-up comic and Law and Order co-star, who has developed a close, almost father-son relationship with Lewis. Jerry’s goodbye appearance was scrapped after he and the charity could not agree on its format and length. Lewis wanted to do it live; the MDA floated several pre-taped options  — “all insulting,” Belzer claims. “It’s as if they were trying to provoke him to leave.” In the end, he did. “It was a moral outrage, a PR nightmare and a sad commentary on this incredible philanthropic career,” says Belzer.

To be sure, dealing with Lewis, now 86, has never been a walk in the park. His annual Labor Day orgy of sentiment, self-regard and showbiz schmaltz was for many years something of a punch line. (“You know why they love Jerry Lewis in France,” a comedian told me not long ago. “In France, they don’t get the telethon.”) Still, he raised an estimated $2 billion for “Jerry’s kids” over more than a half-century with the MDA, and a well-orchestrated, celebrity-studded farewell to him on the telethon might have been a fundraising bonanza.
MDA officials continue to maintain that Lewis simply retired. “We honor Jerry Lewis, we admire the work he’s done for us, and we respect his decision to retire,” says Valerie Cwik, the MDA’s interim president. (She replaced Gerald Weinberg, who was reportedly behind Lewis’s ouster and who stepped down as president last December, after 54 years with the organization.) And she insists that the changes in the telethon are part of a necessary evolution in fundraising strategy, to put less emphasis on the once-a-year event. “It has to change because the American audience has changed,” says Cwik. “A 21.5-hour show doesn’t fit in a 140-character world.”
Neither, apparently, does Jerry Lewis.

We haven't even started yet!

     This past Saturday we went to the DMV and got tags for Baby Fat.  We have registered her as a Classic Vehicle, which allowed us to avoid the smog inspection.  I kind of like that "classic vehicle" designation.  This truck has a history.  You can feel it when you look at it sitting on the road, or when you step inside, or when you're driving it.  It is only fitting then, that we recognize the heritage of this truck, that has traveled well over 232,000 miles.  I am proud to drive our cookie truck, not only because it represents our dream and our business, but because I am one of many in a long line of drivers and owners. 
     We are working on putting our plan together for the Clark County Health District.  Soon I will install the three compartment sink, we'll get our health and fire inspections and then we'll be on the road.  It's been a great run so far and we haven't even started yet. 
     This weekend, Donna and I are going to paint the body.  We have decided (since the roll-on Krylon worked so well) that we are going to paint the whole body white.  (With the exception of the pink accents of course).  I am still working on the gauges so we have plenty to keep us busy until our grand opening.  I also plan to install that sink and give her an oil change and lube before we hit the road for real.  So if its the weekend and you're looking for me, I'm the guy under the 1984 step van with the cool license plate.
 

What Is The Thrill?

        As you know; a couple of weeks ago we brought Baby Fat home and started painting the outside.  Part of the theme includes pink and white stripes on the lower half of the body. 
        When we pick the truck up from the storage center, I always check the fluids and do a walk around to make sure no one has tampered with the generator.  I also look the body over to make sure there has been no damage, etc. (we always bring the truck to our house to perform maintenance, etc.) Today when I picked up the truck I noticed that someone had keyed the side, right over our new paint . . . .   It's difficult to see in the picture, but that scratch goes from the white stripe into the freshly painted pink stripe. 
        You know; in the scheme of things this isn't huge right?  We have more pink paint and we can easily retouch the scratch. We haven't even painted the white sections yet, so that will get covered later.  So it shouldn't be a big deal.  Right?  Well you know, it is a big deal.  Why do people do this?  Why is it that people just cant leave others alone?  There is another scratch up higher also and it appears these were done on purpose.  I sit here trying to think of what kind of satisfaction does someone get from doing this?  Nothing comes to mind.  I cant even begin to get my arms around what must go through a person's mind as they pull the key from their pocket and dig it into a freshly painted body panel.  What is the thrill?  Do they tell their friends about it?  Do they take a photo and text it?  Were they showing off for a friend?  I may never know the motivation, and in a way I am grateful that I can't get my mind to go to that place which makes something like this "fun".
        We all work hard to get to wherever we're going in this life.  While it will be easy to repaint the pink stripe, that really is not the point.  I am insulted and angry for two reasons.  First; it is an affront to decency and decent people.  This was clearly a deliberate act of a person who wanted to harm someone else's property.  The second reason; this was an act of disrespect.  I watched my wife paint each of those stripes.  It was 108 degrees that day and yet she was out there painting away, one stripe at a time.  In fact it was so hot, I set up a fan to blow on her to try to keep her cool.  This was more than just vandalism, this was a rude and thoughtless gesture which was an insult to my wife and her hard work.  I hope karma kicks in on this one, and ten-fold.
         This weekend I didn't get too much work done.  I am trying to track down the problem with my gauges.  Since I installed the new starter switch two weeks ago, my gauges stopped working. This isn't a huge problem but it is an annoying problem.  There is a certain amount of anxiety which comes from not knowing how much fuel is in the tank, or what the engine temperature is.  I thought the issue might be a ground wire problem, but I was wrong.  I still have some work to do with the gauges, and hopefully next weekend I will be able to track down the problem. 
        Do you need a Big Fat Cookie?

Sometimes You Have To Stop and Enjoy Life!

That's the gang while we waited to get in to see the play.  Of
course my son Jake had to make a face when I took the photo . . . .

        OK.  So I wasn't real happy with the way I had mounted my new starter switch in Baby Fat, so this weekend, I changed it a little.  I added a neoprene washer, which hides the hole and makes the switch appear more "finished".  I also scoped out my plans to replace the windshield washer tank and pump.  Now that the wipers are new (and improved) it makes sense to get the washer system to work.  I really didn't get too much completed because my Son and his fiancée are home from college and visiting with us. 


Jake and Melissa

        We had a blast this weekend with the "kids" but I wasn't able to spend any real time on the truck.  That's not a bad thing.  Sometimes we have to stop and put some things on hold in order to enjoy life.  We all went to see "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying" at the Spring Mountain Ranch.  (The ranch is an outdoor theatre, set in a meadow.)  This theatre is a beautiful location to see a play.  Once the sun goes down the temperature is perfect and the setting couldn't be better.  It's monsoon season in Las Vegas though, and for only the third time in its 38 year history, they stopped the show (due to rain) only 10 minutes in.  The downpour started and everyone scrambled to pickup their blankets and chairs and race to the parking lot.  While I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the show, it was almost worth the price of admission to see and be out in, that kind of rain in our desert town.


Our niece Samantha with Finn

Melissa and Jake with our niece Suzanne

        The following day we went to Wet-N-Wild (a water theme park).  We pretty much spent the entire day there, and we had an absolute blast.  
        Melissa is studying to become a veterinarian and at one point we were able to go visit the horse barn where my niece's board their horse.  Melissa has ridden all of her life and as a vet she plans to specialize in horse health care.  
        It was a good week, having my boys together along with my future Daughter in-law, and I know that next week we'll get back to working on the truck.





Too Cool!

That's the "cool" push button start with

 the new ignition switch.

        This weekend I was able to repair the ignition switch in our truck.  The factory installed (30 year old) pigtail which would have plugged into the new switch was missing a jumper, which meant I had two choices.  Order a new pigtail and hope I could figure out how to wire it in,or buy a $5.00 switch and mount it on the dash.  Because vehicular electrical issues scare me, I went with the second choice.  I was able to install the new key operated switch, but I added a pushbutton start mechanism.  It will  require a key to activate the "on" mode, but we'll have to push the button to kick in the starter.  It works great and it doesn't look too bad either.  Now our 1984 step van has pushbutton start; a high priced option on new cars. . . . .  Baby Fat is too cool!

New wiper blades.

        I also modified the wiper arms, and installed new wiper blades.  It's not like it rains that much here, but for aesthetic reasons, combined with the one or two times a year when it might rain, it seemed to make good sense.
        Upcoming projects call for new wheel covers, cooling system flush, air conditioner maintenance, and ...... the list goes on. 
        Busy weekend and full of accomplishment; cant really ask for more than that.
        Do you need a Big Fat Cookie?

Wish Me Luck

Donna paints the bumper rail with a

  new coat of pink.

        Last weekend Donna and I did a lot of work on Baby Fat.  We installed the shelving which will hold the ovens, and Donna began adding the paint, which will define the look and feel of our cookie business.  We also received our business license and LLC.  We are both happy that we are moving forward one step at a time, as we march toward the dream. 

Those are the evil shelves.

        The shelving about drove me out of my mind.  These are the typical "build em yourself" shelves which are designed to frustrate the average do it yourselfer.  You know how this works.  Just when you get three of the corners in place, and you're working on the fourth, there's a pop and the whole thing crumbles.  You're left standing there with that last corner you were working on, it is now in place, and the other three have all come out of their hole.  There was so much banging, shaking, noise, and foul language, coming from the little truck, that Donna (she was outside painting) called the Catholic church to see if they had an exorcist available. After several hours of working on the shelving, which included cutting one leg shorter than all the others, so it would fit over a wheel well, I finally got the unit in place.  I brought Donna in to show her my shining accomplishment and . . . . . I had put it in the wrong place inside the truck.  Donna spoke slowly and carefully as she explained that I had to move the shelves to the other side of the truck, and while she did her best, there was still a lot of swear words on my part.  I had to dismantle the unit flip it to the other side and put it back together again.  If this is a sign of things to come, as we continue to ready the truck for it's intended purpose, we will need to keep an exorcist on call 24/7.

Those are the stripes with the painters

  tape still in place.

        The paint and artwork on the outside of Baby Fat is important because it will be part of the appeal to our customers.  Donna has a complete design concept and last weekend she began to implement her plans.  She did a great job, using "brush-on" Krylon paint and in just one weekend she began to transform the "look" of our little truck.
        This weekend, I will install the ignition switch (the rest of the parts finally arrived) and I will replace the windshield wiper blades.  Sounds simple right?  Who knows what I will run into as I work under the dashboard to put in the switch.  The wiper arms will also need to be modified to accept modern blades so before the weekend is over, I will probably be puking pea soup and levitating as my head spins a full 360 degrees.  Wish me luck . . . . . . . .

They Simply Went Too Far

Micky Arison

     After more than 30 years at the helm of the company that brought us the "Fun" ships, its embattled CEO stepped down this week. Micky Arison, will remain at Carnival as Chairman of the Board, but his role as Chief Executive Officer has come to an end.  Mr. Arison, the son of the Carnival founder will be replaced by Arnold Donald, a long time Board Member. It seems to me that this is nothing new in American business.  When companies attempt to save their way to success, disasters can happen.  When you have cut your staff to the bare minimum, the only category left for big savings is upkeep and maintenance.  In our past, airlines have cut back on "capitol" or upkeep costs, with disastrous results and now we see it in the cruise line industry. 
     It shouldn't surprise us.  When times are tight economically business's look for ways to bring more revenue to the bottom line.  This is called flow-through.  The problems come when the balance gets skewed.  In the case of Carnival;  maintenance, staff reductions and poor planning probably played a large role in their recent list of very public failures. 
        As companies reduce their staffing levels they not only incur a people-drain, but depending on the depth of those reductions they begin to develop a talent-drain.  Talent for our purposes here points to skill and knowledge levels.  If you layoff your three top engineers for example or sometimes even those mid-level manager types you just may be courting catastrophe.
        I don't know what happened that led to this string of failures with the ships in the Carnival fleet. I do know or at least I believe that if the blame is not found in a conscious effort to cut costs then these failures have no other cause than negligence.  I prefer to think that Carnival was simply trying to run its business in the most cost effective and efficient manner possible; they simply went too far.

The List

So tonight when I got home from work, I pulled up my MSN website and found the following list:

6 ways to improve your butt and thighs.

1. 5 ways to shut down emotional eating
2. 12 reasons to stop multitasking now
3. 8 Surprising things that make you stink
4. All your sleep problems, solved
5. 11 reasons you should never, ever take a cruise
6. 13 ways to have a healthy road trip
7. 6 bad excuses for overeating
8. 7 ways to have a healthy fourth of July
9. 12 turnoffs that kill your sex life
10. 10 signs you may have OCD
11. 9 moves to tighter butt
12. The 10 biggest food label lies
13. How to avoid foodborne bacteria at a picnic
14. 6 ways to improve your butt and thighs

     Ok; so sometimes I just need to write.  The concept behind the My Big Fat Cookie blog  is to chronicle the events surrounding the launch of our cookie truck business.  Our plans from the beginning were that we would include life events along the way, family milestones and of course anything and everything that had to do with our cookie truck . . . . .  but sometimes I just need to write.  When milestones are still a mile away, and life events don't rise to the level deserving of a blog post, and when Baby Fat (our cookie truck) is parked for the night, you may see the occasional Op-Ed appear on our blog.  Let me apologize in advance for anything I may write which could offend you.  That is not the intent.  I simply have an opinion and sometimes it will bubble up and spill forth onto our blog page just like the one you are reading now...    
     So; did you read the above list?  WTF?  (Whose The Freak?)  Are you kidding me?  This list came from one web-page on the MSN site.  Let me see if I can put that in words which are easier to understand; this list came from one web-page on the MSN site!     I sometimes wonder if the media (in this case MSN) gets to a point where they are so desperate for content that they simply start making up stories.  Like; #9 for example.  "12 turnoffs that kill your sex life."  Really?  Only twelve?  Without even trying I can come up with 15 and all of those take place over a cell phone. 
     How about number #8?  "7 ways to have a healthy fourth of July."  The fourth of July is not meant to be healthy!  The whole holiday is about being unhealthy.  Fried chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs, mayonnaise based salads, beer, wine, chips, dip, soda, and pyro-maniacal toys which can turn a 40 year old man into an 8 year old boy before a single fuse is lit.   We are celebrating our nations independence, and this is no time to be healthy. 
   Then there's number 13; "How to avoid Foodborne bacteria at a picnic"  I didn't even bother to read about this.  If you suffer from #10 than #13 probably wont be a problem for you anyway but on July 4th the last thing you want to trouble yourself with is proper food handling practices.  All concentration should most likely go toward the salvation of your digits.  More people suffer from serious burns and dismembered hands during this holiday than  all of our other holidays combined and that includes New Years Eve.  (New Years Eve has its own set of rules for people who are stupid.)  On July 4th it doesn't matter what the label on the package says, 8 year old 40 year olds will still find it necessary to throw, hold, pitch or otherwise pick up, those little pyro-toys once the fuse is lit.  The exhilaration which comes from clutching 8 ounces of black powder with the fuse burning is too great of an urge for most men to overcome. 

11 reasons you should never, ever take

a cruise.

     #2; "12 reasons to stop multi-tasking now."  Really?  Just when the one holiday that multi-tasking was made for is upon us; you ask that we stop the practice?  When I need multi-tasking the most there are 12 reasons to stop?  How am I supposed to hold my hotdog, take a sip of my beer and still light and throw my Zippy Whig all at the same time?  If there is ever a day for multi tasking; it is the fourth day in July!  On this day if I choose to practice #14, then I certainly qualify for #10, which is bound to aggravate my issues with #4.
     In September, my wife Donna and I are going to ignore #5 when we take a cruise. During our cruise we will certainly violate all the rules stipulated in #1.  This is all enough to make you want to take a long drive to parts unknown but look at #6; there is no way I can keep up with all 13 of the ways to have a healthy road trip.....
     Is this really what we have come to?  We need a "news" website to tell us all the different reasons we should start, stop, continue, or change the things we do (or don't do) which make us who we are? 
     A list that informed us on the basics of how to throw a lit bottle rocket or the proper dosage of Kaopectate to combat the side effects of potato salad left out in the sun too long would be much more helpful.  Come on MSN; it's almost the fourth of July; don't harsh my buzz!

Do you need a Big Fat Cookie?
 

 

Chocolate Chips & Paint Chips

I know.  It doesn't look that bad, but

you should see it in real life when I'm

standing next to it crying. 



    Well what a day!  Pulling out of work today I managed to brush against a parking stanchion in my truck, and chipped the paint off the trim over the left, rear wheel well.  Not too worried about it, but I'm not happy about it either.   I called Donna to tell her what I had done and she thought I meant Baby Fat.  Ultimately I explained that the damage was not to our precious Cookie Truck.  I damaged my Ford FX2.  Outside of Baby Fat as far as vehicles go this truck is my favorite of all time.  6.2 litre Boss Mustang engine with a Flow Master; my little beauty can purr and be sassy all at the same time.  Oh well; I just need to walk it off.  A few hours at the body shop and my Ford will be fine.  It could be worse; it could be much worse. I'm just gonna keep telling myself that.....
     Yesterday, Donna and I had a little photo shoot.  The subject? Well cookies of course.  We dolled them up, plated them up and started snapping photos.  We did this in part because we need some art for the truck graphics and we'll need art for other uses as well. 
     Donna has completed her graphic design and has produced a rendering.  I wanted to scan it in and display it here in the blog, but apparently her and I are not in agreement.  Because I don't want to lose any of my favorite body parts, I have agreed that I will not post the rendering until she tells me I can. I thought about chancing it and posting the rendering anyway, but I'm just not ready to become a gelding.


     I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has been reading our blog, "liking" our My Big Fat Cookie FB page and commenting.  Your good will and encouragement is never taken for granted and I just thought it appropriate to let you know how much you mean to us and what we are trying to do. So Thank you!
     Do you need a Big Fat Cookie?
                                                                                       

BFD (Baby Fat Day)

Donna peels the vinyl graphics from the

side of Baby Fat.

     So; yesterday was a Baby Fat Day as we completed some major work on our girl.  It's a step at a time, but we peeled all the prior graphics off the body and we secured a generator to the rear bumper.  Donna took measurements inside and out.  She has started the design work for the new My Big Fat Cookie graphics that will go on little BF and those inside measurements will help her create the inside layout of equipment, storage and prep area.
 We're both excited and it was a good day.  Today we'll take the little girl to an RV truck wash and spray her down and put her away for another week. 
     When did I get so old?  At 53 I swear sometimes I feel like I'm 83.  The day was full of stooping, bending, reaching and crawling around as we went about our modifications to Baby Fat.  It was a very hot day, and by the time we were finished I was ready for a shower and a nap.  Between my back, my knees, my hips, my neck and my shoulders, I don't know which part  of my body hurts the most. 

That's me in 1984 in an
apparent but feeble attempt
to look like Tony Orlando

     In 1984 (The year Baby Fat went into service for FedEx) I was 6 feet tall (still am) had a 32 inch waist, (that's gone) weighed 170lbs (yeah, right) and while I have never been athletic, I could bend, stretch, twist, turn, lift, swivel, crawl, climb, crouch, and contort without suffering a single side effect.  Now? Some days it hurts when I bend over and tie my shoes. 
     Donna is an absolute trooper.  She peeled all the vinyl graphics off of Baby Fat, (no easy task) and helped me lift the generator onto the bumper platform.  She prepared lunch for the two of us, and was still going strong when I hit the rack for my nap.  

Donna smashed her thumb as we lifted
the generator onto the platform.  We
secured it with four chains, four padlocks
and four u-bolts.

     I know I'm not that old, but it is surprising how age seems to creep up on a fella when he least expects it.  We still have a lot of work to do, so later today I'll load up on Aspercreme, Advil and ace bandages.  Because Donna has strict uniform requirements I have assured her that I will make sure my bandages are white. . . . .
    

Baby Fat, with her new power plant and stripped of her

old graphic design.

 

Gizmo about a week before she left us. . . .

    There were two deaths this week which I feel must be recognized and memorialized here in our My Big Fat Cookie blog.  In our first post I mentioned that one of the purposes of this blog is to chronicle our journey as Donna and I start a new chapter in our lives.  Part of that journey; that chapter, goes beyond the business we are hoping to start and includes our life and family events along the way.  I hope you will indulge me as I caption these certain moments, for they are as much a part of the "journey" as baking, cookies, and trucks .
     Last Sunday, June 16, we lost one of our beloved pets.  Gizmo; our Chihuahua passed away in her sleep.  She was 15 years old, and an important part of our family.  I didn't much care for her as a pet, due to an aversion I have to small, squeaky dogs.  she was however, part of our family and her importance and status were founded in her history with us.  Gizmo was a birthday gift for our youngest son, Jake when he turned 8.  This little dog started out with the name Velcro because when we first brought her home, her little puppy nails got caught in the carpet and froze her in place.  As a puppy she didn't have the strength to free herself, and when we pulled her free the sound was similar to that of pulling Velcro strips apart.  We soon changed her name from Velcro to Gizmo, because "Velcro" is trademarked and we didn't want any trouble from the 3M company.  We thought about "Hook and Loop" and decided that was too large of a name for such a small dog.  Gizmo was a more fitting name anyway and we were carful not to get her wet and we never fed her after midnight.  In a family comprised of two Ferrets, two Basset hounds and a cat, Little Giz sometimes got lost in the shuffle, but she was a good sport and she always seemed to find her niche.  Even though she was small and squeaky, I will miss her. 
     On Tuesday June 19 the world lost one of the best actors to come our way in a long time.  As I'm sure you know James Gandolfini passed away.  He was 51 years old, and he died way too soon.  It is a shame when life ends this abruptly.  You know he had some unfinished business, and how much more; I wonder, could he have shown us. . . . . .  we will never know.  

Do you need a Big Fat Cookie?
     

   




 

BFF - Baby Fat Forever

That's Baby Fat all nestled between two moving vans
at Storage West. 

     We took our girl to the Storage center night before last.  This will be her home when she's not out carousing with all the other food trucks in town.  She looks a little lonely parked there between those big boys, but look at her; she'll charm them in no time.  With her sexy grill and cute little pink air scoop, she'll have those big fella's wrapped around her antenna before you can say backup camera.  (Because Baby Fat's a lady, I'll stay away from the headlight metaphors )
     This weekend, we peel the vinyl lettering off her sides and next week we take her in for a paint estimate.  After that comes the My Big Fat Cookie graphic design and then . . . . well we park her.  Using the model of; "plan your work and work your plan", Baby Fat will sit for while as we get our Big Fat Licenses, Big Fat Permits and Big Fat Certifications.
     I have never been much of a mechanic.  The night we brought Baby Fat home I tried to open the hood and couldn't find the release handle inside the cab of the truck.  I had watched Jazz, the previous owner pull on it several times to open the hood.  I knew it was located somewhere under the dashboard but I couldn't see it.  I looked for a good 10 minutes and then my patience ran out.  I started pulling on every knob I could see.  I knew the cable was stiff because when Jazz had pulled the handle he had to use both hands and put his weight behind it.  Ultimately I pulled so hard on one of the knobs the cable broke.  I knew I would never get the hood open.  It took me another 10 minutes to realize that the knob I had pulled belonged to a now broken cable which operated the vent on the passenger side of the cab. I still have not found the hood release.


First project:   Replace the ignition switch.
 Right now we have to start Baby Fat
with a screwdriver.  It's effective but tacky.

     I love to tinker, but as you can tell, I usually make things worse rather than better.  I have little patience for bolts that wont break free, threads that get stripped and parts that no matter the angle don't look like they belong together.  I once took apart the motor to a blender, to see how it worked, when I couldn't put it back together again I threw it away. I bought a broken grandfather clock one time with a plan to restore it; I threw it away.  I used to build model airplanes but I never quite finished them and I threw them away.  I've thrown so many of my projects away over the years that I should have tried out as a pitcher for a farm team!
          My wife, Donna is worried that I'll get discouraged with Baby Fat and that I wont be able to keep up with the mechanical demands of a 30 year old  P-30.  "You just wait" I told her.  "When you put your mind to something, magic can happen."  She rolled her eyes.  I continued; "She's old and was built before computers or electronic fuel injection.  I can do this!"  She rolled her eyes.  "My brother is a phone call away, with Skype it'll be just like he's here with me.  He can help me in real time"; I said.  She folded her arms across her chest and stared at me.  "What?" I said.   With an edge to her voice sharp enough to shave a 3 day old beard; "Skype your brother"; she demanded.  "Now?   Why?"; I asked.  "Well; if you're going to make magic happen, aren't you going to need to open that hood?"
     Do you need a Big Fat Cookie?

The Side Effect

    

     It's just amazing. The paperwork, thought and planning that one must go through to launch a business.  There's the LLC  (Limited Liability Corporation) paperwork, business insurance, business license,  health inspection, Food Handlers certification, trademark filing, truck registration, truck insurance, truck storage, and minor truck modifications.  On top of that there is equipment purchases which of course requires "shopping" for the best price and value.  There are marketing plans, marketing related purchases, business cards, business stationary, business equipment, and office supplies.  There are tax considerations, tax implications, and taxation of my brain . . . . . . .   Sound like a lot?  I haven't even scratched the surface.  So much to consider, plan for, and implement.
     OK; let me break it down a little.  We have to put Baby Fat in storage, because our Homeowners Association doesn't allow commercial vehicle's to be parked in our driveway. Well that's not a problem, because we pretty much knew that, going into this.  We cant put Baby Fat into storage unless we have proof of insurance.  Insurance for our 1984 commercial vehicle $265.00 up front and then $95.00 a month.  Storage fee is $119.00 per month.  OK  so not a problem, but think about this;  Between insurance and storage we're paying over $200.00 a month.  Our business plan calls for our first event to take place at the end of October.  So lets do some math; $200.00 a month for 5 months, equals $1000.00 and we haven't even sold a single cookie.  I've eaten a few but those don't count.  Add in all those other expenses referenced above and your head starts to spin faster than a lime in a margarita machine. 
        I call my wife, the "Reluctant Entrepreneur." If there was ever a person less inclined to start a business it's Donna.  Her lack of desire has nothing to do with laziness, a skill deficit, or fear of failure, it's just that the "business" part of this endeavor is not where she finds her challenge or reward .  If she could park Baby Fat on a corner and give these cookies away that is what she would do.  The thrill for her or the passion comes from people enjoying her culinary creations.  Like a great artist or Broadway performer, or talented pianist, the "thrill"  has nothing to do with money; it has nothing to do with business at all. 
    What she does with these cookies is an art.  You can't describe a My Big Fat Cookie cookie any more than you can describe Andrea Boccelli's voice, or the smell of a rose, or the sound of a baby cooing to someone who has not experienced these things.  You see for Donna it's about the way the flavors all work together.  It's about the texture of the cookie and the gooey feel of the confections on the pallet.  Its about the aroma and the appeal to the eye.  Its about creating a unique flavor or flavors which lead to a sensory experience so profound that it defies description.  For her, its about all those things coming together in one explosive moment of flavor which overloads the brains ability to maintain molecular control .  It is in this instant; this absolute moment when the Brain overloads where we begin to understand her motivation and her art. During this moment of a moment something happens which can only be described as a........ tastegasm!
     This is why Donna does what she does.  Her happiness comes when a patron buys a cookie, tastes it, and then buys three more.  Trust me; it's not about the money going into the cash register, its about the joy she was able to bring to someone else.  For Donna its about the taste and flavor experience.  The money? Well that' just a side effect.    Do you need a Big Fat Cookie?

What the Tongue Tells the Brain about Taste

1. Marion E. Frank and
2. Thomas P. Hettinger
   

The tongue translates a chemical taste signal into a neural code that the brain can interpret. How it does that is still a mystery, but the key elements are known. Specific molecular taste receptors on taste receptor cells located in the taste buds bind taste stimuli. Through complex transduction schemes and synaptic activation of neurons, stimulus information is sent to the brain by peripheral neurons. There is a close correspondence between the stimulation of particular types of taste receptor cells, the activation of classes of peripheral taste nerve fibers and the evoked taste qualities. In humans, these perceptions are defined as sweet, umami, salty, sour and bitter. Incomplete homologies may exist for other species. The tongue tells the brain about taste quality, but the brain bypasses the quality assignment in brainstem reflexes and assesses the qualities for hedonic value.

 

 

What's In A Name?

    Yesterday was an exciting highpoint; my wife Donna and I, brought our baby home and parked her in the driveway.  This truck with 232,464 miles on the odometer (yeah; you read that right) still has a destiny.  Our 1984 Chevy P-30 KurbMaster started life like many of its siblings.  Surprise!  It was a FedEx truck.  The good lord only knows how many miles it traveled as its many drivers delivered packages and correspondence all over Southern Nevada.  At some point it became a plumbers truck and then a cupcake food truck and soon it will be a cookie truck. 

This is a Hybrid gas-electric FedEx van operating in New

York State. I wonder how long she'll be on the road and how

many business names will grace her flanks?

     As I stood outside and looked her over, in the Nevada June heat (101 degrees) I couldn't help but wonder; how many roads had our baby traveled?  This truck has no factory air conditioning and until it began life in its most recent capacity as a cupcake dispensary it didn't even have an after-market RV style rooftop unit.  How many of those FedEx drivers sweated in it?  Cursed traffic in it?  How many doorbells had they rung?  How many times did these drivers deliver a much awaited package, containing good news or a needed item of clothing, or home appliance, or a gift for a special person in someone's life. 

That's our baby!  All fat and happy in her new home.

     In 1984 there were no cell phones, no electronic signatures, no IPods, IPads or IPhones; in fact there were no entertainment or communication devises which began with the letter "I".   In those days anyone who was anyone carried a pager with a numeric display. If you wanted to know how to live you watched Lifestyles Of The Rich and Famous (For my younger readers: No; this was not a show about rich and famous people's condoms.) and if you wanted to make a statement you traded in your Dodge Laser, put 18 thousand dollars with it and you bought the first model year of the Nissan 300ZX. 
     In those times, FedEx along with UPS were expensive alternatives to the United States Postal Service.  Both carriers were used sparingly and strategically. 
     Today, businesses and individuals have pretty much gotten over the sticker shock associated with using parcel services and find their value and the piece of mind which comes with using them well worth the price. 
     In 1984 I had friends, Nick and Kelly Russo. Nick worked for FedEx and I wondered as I drove our baby home, if perhaps this had been his route truck.  I lost track of Nick over the years, but he and his wife Kelly were good people. 
      In her next life our soon-to-be cookie truck was put into service as a plumber's service truck.  You see; the P-30 step vans and the many trucks which owe there heritage to them, are what move America.  These trucks (in most cases) have many lives as they support our nations businesses occupations, and services. 
     I wondered as I stared at our baby girl; how many pipes, elbow fittings and plumbing related parts and pieces did she carry?  How many tools?  Did FedEx ever deliver something to this plumber?  Did our girl stare at that truck and long for the glory days when she too had the bright FedEx logo painted on her sides? 
     By the time Channa and Jazz Bender; (the most recent owners) purchased her and pressed her into service as their cupcake truck our little lady had been driven hard and put away sweaty more times than a Budweiser Clydesdale.  She was tired, droopy and the miles were showing.  Along the way the transmission and the 5.7L V8 Chevy engine were rebuilt, but other than that, she looked, and smelled like a plumbers truck. The Bender's wasted little time and spared no elbow grease bringing their P-30 back to life.  They gutted the racks and shelves needed to carry plumbing parts, cleaned her top to bottom, and replaced all that utilitarian metal with shiny new food handling apparatus. For three years, and with an "A" rating from the Clark County Health Department, Channa navigated our roads and sold her confections to countless Las Vegans.
     Cupcakes would not to be the final chapter for their little truck though, combined with the birth of a child and the sometimes changing priorities of business owners, Jazz and Channa made the difficult decision to let the cherished Cupcake truck move on.  My wife Donna and I are the lucky benefactors of their hard decision.
     Two nights ago, Donna and I laid awake trying to think of a name for this truck.  We thought it would be a cute and useful bit of marketing to have a name of some sort painted on the front quarter panels.  Obviously we will adorn it with the name of our Company, but to name the truck gives it a personality and like Donna and I it becomes a member of the My Big Fat Cookie family.  The name we told each other; "is important", and it is.  What we have come to discover though, is even without a name, this little truck already has a personality; its personality lies in its background; where it has been, the roads it has traveled, its different uses, all of the hands that have turned the steering wheel, and all the hands which will turn it in the future. Our little truck is a dream weaver, with or without a name!
     I am thankful to the Bender's.  They literally brought a 30 year old "has-been" back to life, and they made it possible for me to ride along as Donna travels her dreams.  Thank you again Channa and Jazz, we will treasure this truck, which we have christened Baby Fat and we will treat her with the same love and respect she has grown accustomed to.   

This 1957 International Metro Van, is one of Baby Fat's ancestors.
One need only look at the sliding driver's door and the roof mounted

windshield wipers to see the family resemblance.

Do you need a Big Fat Cookie?

K.









The Journey Begins

    Well alright; so the title is a bit on the nose, but after sorting through the various options, and bouncing numerous words off the four walls it is (I have come to believe) the most appropriate.  On Monday, June 10, 2013 my wife, Donna and I began our American Dream with our commitment to purchase a food truck.



This 1984 step van will be (we hope) the beginning of that dream.  With her five perfected cookie recipes and a passion and expertise for cooking and baking which rivals only Paula Dean and Ina Garten combined; my wife will take us on the most American of all trips; the entrepreneurial journey. 

     To do proper justice to this; first of what will be many posts, and to pay proper homage to the passion for cooking and baking my wife (and all those who call us friends and family) enjoy; we must first explore Donna's culinary lineage.  Born in the mid-west where great American cooks are born and raised Donna comes from a long line of women who could do anything and everything in their kitchens; stopping just short of turning water into wine. 

      These women (the ones I know about) were farm cooks, each and every one.  While Donna's mother may never have lived on a farm, one only need taste her country fried steak, or her ham and homemade macaroni and cheese or fried chicken  and the image of twenty hungry field-hands gathered around the table comes to mind.  Donna's mom learned to cook from her mother, who learned to cook from her mother and this heritage goes back through countless generations. 

      In skill, knowledge and ability Donna, equals her mother.  The flavors are sometimes slightly different, the technique used to get the desired effect may be unique to each cook, but the result from either kitchen, clearly defines the word; tantalizing. 

      In 2012 my wife won the first annual Las Vegas Cupcake bakeoff when she took first place in a field of over 100 contestants. In 2010 she had won a segment of the "Women of Philadelphia"  cooking contest.  It was with these two wins, and a healthy dose of encouragement from our friends and family that My Big Fat Cookie became her big fat dream. For 33 years we have been a team. For my part; I will drive and maintain the truck, I will assist with the baking, and I too will follow my passion.  I will chronicle our experience, track our progress and hopefully fill these pages with prose worthy of your time. 

In 2010 Donna won the Las Vegas Cupcake Bakeoff among a field of over 100 contestants.  Many of the bakers owned professional retail bakeries or catering companies, and with a simple but original cupcake recipe she stormed her way to the top of the pack and won the Grand Prize!

      Tomorrow we go pick up that truck, and our journey will truly begin.  It is my hope that you will follow us as we travel the ribbons of our dream.  These posts; by design will be spontaneous and thus random.  Sometimes I will leave you with more questions than answers but it is my fervent hope that you will find these writings interesting, entertaining, amusing and informational.  We hope that you too will come to share our passion, and we invite you to take this journey with us,  In the spirit of "more questions than answers" I leave you with this:  Do you need a cookie?

Here's the winning entry.  Hog Heaven Cupcakes.

These gems with their maple cream cheese frosting are capped with handmade fondant

piggy's and the most addictive substance known to man; candied bacon!