Howard's Blog on food, finance, and fun!

Look out Seattle and Bellevue here comes Cupcake D' Lish!

2011-04-03T22:56:00.000-07:00

Yum!

In case you were wondering why I look a little heavier these days, its because my wife Jennifer and a few partners have opened a Gourmet Cupcake business. Based in on the Eastside in Snoqualmie and Renton, her company, Cupcake D' Lish is focused on delivering great tasting gourmet cupcakes through catering, farmers markets (Issaquah), and other outlets.

The next time you see me, I should have lost the 5 pounds or so I ~~enjoyed~~ earned tasting all these cupcakes. See you soon.

Fans mourn death of Eastside BBQ legend | Bellevue News

2010-03-02T23:34:00.000-08:00

Fans mourn death of Eastside BBQ legend Bellevue News

What is there to say other than Bellevue just lost a legend. When I moved here 10 yrs ago from the east coast, I paid a visit to Dixie's and met Gene. Every time I went back, I brought friends, family and co-workers. I got a chance to spend some time out back with him fooling around with brisket on the smoker and sharing recipes and such. One time, we had just finished up a bunch of brisket sandwhiches and he comes by a grabs me and takes back into the kitchen. He hands me a 10 or 12 pound smoked brisket, wrapped up and says "thank you, this is for your family" My jaw dropped at the selflessness Gene possesed. While not everyone got a kick out of going to Dixie's, he always seemed to care about you having a good time and really enjoying the BBQ.

Nothing was funnier than watch a buddy of mine pull into the driveway during lunch and hold up traffic. Gene came runnng out a gave him hell. After he (in suit & tie) finally got his BBQ, he proceeded to add ketchup and at that point Gene slapped it out of his hand and yelled, "this ain't no dressed up ketchup" and dabbed on some "Man" sauce. I was in tears. He just looked at me and smiled. That is the Gene I remember. Rest in peace my friend and keep the smoker up there full of wood...

Your gonna need a Brinks truck.

2010-01-23T21:49:00.000-08:00

As I write this in late January, I'm reflecting on the past couple of months and how busy everything has been, and how much money we have spent. Right after Thanksgiving (thanks Wendy), we decided to head out to Orcas Island for a little R&R at a seaside cabin. This time of year, ferry rates have gone down and the lines are not that long.

On Orcas island, we shopped, ate, and ate. From the Sunflower Cafe for lunch to Lu Lu's Pasta Rustica for dinner, to an outstanding, post Moran State Park lunch at Cafe Olga in, you guesed it, Olga. Before we left the island, we did find a gem that should not be missed in Teezer's Cookies. One suggestion is to make sure you bring plenty of money when hanging in the San Juans. Dining prices are about 20% or so higher than nearby cities so get used to it.

As December set in, things were very hectic with our Term Life Insurance business, and teh launch of our Teachers Retirement website. Kudos to the folks at Bayview Limousine for getting us to and from the airport at such crazy hours. If you need a great Seattle limo service, Bayview is it. We did spend a few weeks down in cold South Florida for the Holidays and it feels good to be back. Until next time, check out my Yelp profile and let me know what you think.

Reilly: How Tiger Woods can fix his image

2009-12-10T15:36:00.001-08:00

Reilly: How Tiger Woods can fix his image

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TermMonster Announces National Availability of Online Term Life Insurance Services

2009-12-08T00:46:00.001-08:00

TermMonster Announces National Availability of Online Term Life Insurance Services

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What is going on...

2009-10-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

If you can read this, then I am probably still alive. Having left UBS in April, we are settled into a great organization in Bellevue called Sound Consulting Services. Still cooking a lot these days and looking forward to a Cajun dinner bash at our place on Halloween night.

At some point, it would be great to get some sleep after suffering through the first couple of games for the Miami Dolphins and working 12 hour days. Being busy is good, as we launch new endeavors like TermMonster and other cool businesses. Seacrest out...

Still breathing through the financial crisis...

2008-10-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to adding some serious content when this thing settles down a bit. Until then, go Dolphins.

Howard

Checking in to say hello...

2008-07-20T00:35:00.000-07:00

I will be posting some updates in the near future. Stand by but don't hold your breath.

Howard

You CAN be a bank...

2007-04-07T23:28:00.000-07:00

While at my local gym the other day, I came across an article in "Outside" magazine about an organization named Kiva. Kiva is an organization that accepts and distributes micro-loans to people in 3rd world countries who are starting or running a business. It is not giving to charity...the loans are paid back. We are talking about $25 to a few hundred dollars. Here is the profile of the person who I loaned money to:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=6558

All of these people are very diverse and they are trying to support themselves in the 3rd world. I have an interest in cooking, so I decided to loan to a lady with a food business. Through Kiva.org these loans have a very high success rate of being paid back. Check it out...it may be safer and more rewarding than loaning that $20 to your 3rd cousin for his poker night...

H

Our New Ferrari

2007-03-16T00:30:00.000-07:00

After taking a ride in my neighbor's Lotus Exige the other night, I decided we needed a sports car of our own. We took a ride down to the local hobby shop after having some wings for lunch. It was Sunday, and Applebees was empty as most of crowd was probably home watching NASCAR or something. After $35.27 we purchased a 1/24 scale model of an Enzo Ferrari. You can even buy one online @ http://www.revell.com/catalog/products/1_24_Scale_Enzo_Ferrari-492-6.html . We got this thing home and opened the box and said "Oh my god!" Hundreds of small parts and lots of painting. At least my son was excited. Needless to say, I thought about calling some consultant friends of mine to help put this beautiful model together. After some preliminary calculations, we came up with the following:

100 Consultants Need for the Project

50 to Establish a Project Management Office

15 to interpret the building instructions

5 to actually build the thing

30 to complete purchase orders, bill of goods, and billable hours charged

Estimated cost of around $1.2-$1.5 for 6 weeks of work.

At that point I realized I could probably buy 2 real Ferrari's for the same cost. We'll keep you posted on the project. Enjoy :-)

The Economics of Gumbo and Alternative Energy

2007-03-12T03:30:00.000-07:00

You are all probably wondering what the hell is he talking about. As an avid chef and someone who just happens to be pretty curious, I started doing some research about Gumbo and its history. You see, before we had fast food, Costco, Whole Foods Market, and maxed-out credit cards, people had to make do. In the South, families would prepare meals and keep the leftovers for Gumbo. Gumbo essentially is a stew of leftovers to make use of what was on hand.

As a society, here in the US, we have a knack for doing what we want when we want to. We go where we please, eat what we like, and consume. The current state of alternative energy solutions and policy is somewhat scattered for many reasons. We in the US do not do a good job of making use of what is on hand. There is a lot of talk about using corn for ethanol and that we should recycle more and use compact fluorescent bulbs and the like. Has anyone thought of using what we consume or throw away? We let much go to waste.

In my travels throughout Asia, I realized people are more creative in their methods of transportation, cooking, and eating. What I am getting at here is that they find ways to use goods and materials to their maximum utilization. Take seafood for example. In the US, we order Fillet of (Pick your fish). In Asia, they have fillet, and then they find 10 other uses for the rest of the fish. Historically, this has been out of economic necessity. We have been so programmed to accept waste as a norm, that we have taken for granted the impact our acceptance has cost us, both in terms of $$$ and resources. Gumbo is a classic example of utilization through necessity. It is a concoction of the the most basic on-hand ingredients:

Butter or Oil or Lard

Flour of any kind

Any kind of Vegetables

Whatever meat/fish/chicken you have leftover

The lessons taught by Gumbo and its history can go a long way in educating us on the future. If we could find a better way to utilize the things we already have and consume on a daily basis, we would be less concerned about issues such as the upcoming (Corn) Ethanol vs. Food/Feed war brewing in out nation's Midwest. Lest we forget that the Brazilians don't have much corn and they seem to be doing fairly well on the alternative fuel front. Just my two cents...

And yes, I can also cook Gumbo.

Hello

2007-03-09T02:47:00.001-08:00

Hello and welcome to blog. Enjoy.

H