I spent all day working on the new business we’re launching, trying to figure out the pricing structure I want to use and the cut-offs I want to enforce before we get ready to file the regulatory paperwork, while Aaron oversaw the re-platforming of the sporting goods company. We came together around dinner time to realize that we hadn’t eaten much all day and didn’t want to go back out. We had a few things in the refrigerator and pantry – bell peppers of different varieties, jalapeños, sweet onions, spicy pork sausage, sugar in the raw, soy sauce, rice, whatever else we had sitting around … we figured, “Why not?” and decided to try our hand at creating another recipe from scratch. We’ve been doing this long enough to be comfortable with flavor profiles and balancing so we don’t have to work off cookbooks these days unless we want to to try something that looks intriguing, though we often prefer to measure everything so if we stumble upon something, we can recreate it with precision.
It was unreal. We devoured it in a few minutes at the kitchen counter. I can’t decide whether or not to share the recipe or stick it in the permanent collection so it’s one of the things we, and only we, keep in our proverbial culinary back pocket. It was this sweet, spicy, glazed stir-fry like dish that coated the rice so you wanted to lick it off the plate but you could easily adapt it to handmade pasta if you wanted to go in an Italian direction. The serving portions were way too big – all inclusive, roughly 1,250 calories per plate – but we can adjust for that in the future. It also needs to be prettier. The package in the refrigerator was pre-spiced pork sausage so I’ll need to make it by hand, getting the spice blend right and cutting the chunks in perfect uniformity.
[mainbodyad]
The basic idea was the same as the rainbow beef stir-fry but it doesn’t taste anything like that. We aren’t even sure what to pair it with because, as Aaron put it, “It has almost all of the flavors …” If we ran a restaurant, it would go on the menu by the end of next week. I could make customers for life and charge a lot for this.
This is one of those times I don’t like the limitations of the blog format … you need to try this! You need to taste it! The pictures don’t do either of us any good! I really should wait to re-make it so it looks more attractive now that we know what we are doing and not throwing stuff in a pot all rustic style for an impromptu dinner. And the crazy part is, the cost very, very low (not butter and sage low, but impressive nonetheless). You could probably serve three hungry adults comfortably for less than $3 a person. From start to finish it took less than 25 minutes, including the vegetable and meat prep.
I need to invite people over and make this, again. It needs to be perfected portion and appearance-wise. This flavor is money in the bank; a spicy sweet meat candy.
Also, after writing about the rise and fall of Noxzema, I discovered that the Baltimore Museum of Industry was gifted a bunch of the Noxell Company artifacts from Unilever last year. I’d like to take a trip and see them in real life. They have historical documents, jars, packaging, photographs, and other memorabilia. I encountered a bit of odd trivia, too. Jim Cramer – the CNBC personality and former hedge fund manager – suffered the biggest lost of his career up until that point shorting Noxell with his partners’ money before other trading desks squeezed him for a big loss.
Otherwise, it’s just a lot of work. I feel like I need to squeeze a year of output into the next four months to hit the targets I want to hit. I’ll find a way to do it – which, preferably doesn’t involve staying up until 5:24 a.m. like I am at the moment – but I’m enjoying most of the work enough it doesn’t feel like work. If I haven’t had a chance to respond to your comments, or mail bag messages, over the past 4-6 weeks, please forgive me. I have a few dozen ideas bouncing around my head and have several of you marked for responses when I get a few moments of respite. Bear with me.
I did manage to get the blog slightly updated today with bigger icon pictures and the header image of Kansas City! There’s still a lot to be done but it will happen in time. Ever forward …
[mainbodyad]
Reader Comments (16)
Comments are presented chronologically, with replies indented beneath the comments to which they respond.
Roundball
August 14, 2015
Would it be possible, when you have a moment, to repair your review page on "Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits" by Phil Fisher? I am reading it now and would love to see what you had written about the book (the link appears broken). Thanks and good luck with your endeavors!
https://www.joshuakennon.com/common-stocks-and-uncommon-profits-by-philip-a-fisher/
dave (nestle)
August 14, 2015
Looks delicious! (why do you want to cut the sausage chunks perfectly uniform? to cook evenly? for appeal?)
Since cost consciousness and Noxema was mentioned above, I offer a small consumer tid-bit:
I have, since my teens up until about 1.5 years ago, only used Noxema sensitive skin shave cream in the "ugly" red bottle whenever I manually shaved. Without fail. However, due to a challenge I presented to my wife, in an attempt to get her to find better financial alternatives (opportunity cost, time value of money,etc.) to the thousands of $ she spends in "product" every year. (she is a sucker for lighted cosmetic counters in high end department stores, gorgeous displays touting the benefits of new "breakthrough" skin chemicals, perfect pretty packaging, socializing with people of common interest in places like Sephora, bonus points, and those very attractive girls behind the cosmetic counters who will treat you like a princess for 15 minutes in an attempt to secure a commission. (I admit, I am a fan of those cosmetic girls too, haha:) ) So I told my wife that I too would look for cheaper but equal in quality alternatives to the few hygiene items that I use. (she laughed and said they don't make anything cheaper than I use, except for mud in the back yard)
(By the way, my wife does have Perfect skin)(and while she stuck to many of her brands, she did find some new ways of saving money on them; buying larger sizes, ordering online, various offers from various vendors)
The point: I had been noticing Noxema shave cream becoming a bit watered down over the years texture wise. A can also does not seem to last very long as far as the amount that can be extracted from the can under pressure, taking into account it's consistency and weight. (I don't know if this is from a change in formulary or because it is less popular now so it sits on the shelf longer, leading to a chemical breakdown) Unbelievably, "Equate"(Walmart's generic brand of shave cream) is a far superior upgrade, in both quality and price! Noxema 11oz at Shoprite is $2.89, while Equate is $0.98. You have got to try both products to believe this!!
Another tid-bit: after years of trying all other Q-tip substitutes on the market and sticking with the brand name product, I have found the Equate "qtips" to be a great substitute. They are very close in quality and effectiveness. The price at Walmart for brand Qtips for a 500 pack is $2.98 (59.6 cents per 100), while Equate brand is $3.68 for 1000 (2x500 pack) (or 36.8 cents per 100) Give these a try also.
Kapitalust
August 14, 2015
Replying to dave (nestle)
I am going to give the Equate shaving cream a go next time I run out - if it can at minimum match the shaving cream of one of those orange bottle Gillette shaving creams, I'm sold (as I'm not particularly starstruck with the Gillette product, just use it because it's what's worked thus far).
dave (nestle)
August 14, 2015
Replying to Kapitalust
Remember, I used "sensitive skin" Noxema, and now use "sens skin" Equate. I never tried the regular strength. (but I assume it's the same quality). Curious as to what you guys think, even if you disagree.
Shake well.
Stephen H
August 23, 2015
Replying to Kapitalust
Orange Gillette foamy? I like trying stuff, where do you find it? I only see the red one. Also Neutrogena works well I've found.
Joshua Kennon
August 14, 2015
Replying to dave (nestle)
1. Mostly aesthetics (on the uniformity).
2. That's interesting on the shaving cream. I'll have to pick up the Equate, you have me curious. One of the family businesses sells Truefitt & Hill, which really is incredible when you combine the pre-shave beard oil with the shaving cream itself and a badger-hair brush but when we're not using that (say we're out and I need to grab some at the store until I can go get another box or something), I reach for the bottom-shelf old school stuff. Years ago, when going through one of my Gillette case study obsessions, we went out and tested a bunch of shaving creams. The antique, never-advertised, bigger, heavy, metal cans that retail for $1.56 at Wal-Mart - as opposed to the orange bottle shaving gel you have to whip into a foam @Kapitalust:disqus mentioned (I agree, I'm not a fan given that it is demonstrably inferior and costs 3x as much) - won every time. Even if we have a $30.00 jar of Grafton at any given time, there's probably one of those big metal shaving creams there, too, in case we need to shave in a hurry and don't want to go through the process of the more indulgent experience. (Though, I should say, "I", since Aaron overwhelmingly uses electric razors and I prefer the wet shave.)
My dad has used Barbasol Original Thick and Rich Shaving Cream forever. It's $1.76 at Wal-Mart. It's still made here in America, in Ashland, Ohio, and they prioritize American-made components during the manufacturing process. It's one of the few things that lives up to its reputation from generations ago because they've done a very good job of avoiding the temptation to lower quality to (temporarily) juice margins. Even their modern branding update was only a slight tweak. The stuff was created in 1919 by an MIT professor who was tired of bad shaving experiences so he formulated it. It was very, very popular for a long time until, like Procter & Gamble with Noxzema, Pfizer destroyed the brand equity in the 1990's. The new owners to which they sold it have done a great job of slowly, lovingly restoring it; a case of the super-power of incentive (these huge companies don't deal well with smaller, great brands because they are non-important to the bottom line compared to smaller companies built around them, who rely on them for much of their cash flow and profitability).
I should do another round of shaving cream tests ... it's been several years. The Barbasol deserves another go given the care they've put into it. Even the American-flag / barber shop pole -inspired redesign is well-done.
Kapitalust
August 14, 2015
Replying to Joshua Kennon
Do you ever shave with a straight razor? Any thoughts on the quality and experience of a shave with one?
I've contemplated for awhile now of getting one as I don't enjoy throwing out razor heads every 3~6 months. It just seems so unnecessarily wasteful. However, my irrational fear of accidentally slicing my throat has kept me back from taking the plunge.
(the products at Truefitt & Hill are exquisite)
Joshua Kennon
August 14, 2015
That isn't a review page. Somehow, someway, you've found the WordPress attachment page for the book cover image I used in another post. (How did you even find that?)
I did write about it years ago at About.com, though ... back in 2007, though. Not, specifically, my thoughts, but more of a summation, which might not be of any value to you since you're reading the text itself. You can read it here.
innerscorecard
August 14, 2015
Replying to Joshua Kennon
I also read that dead link before, and was confused. it may have been in the article recommendations or links from other articles.
Steven
August 14, 2015
Am I the only one who wishes he could find a way to live with Joshua and Aaron? They always eat sooo goood!
What about it, you guys adopting?:)
joe pierson
August 14, 2015
5AM, yikes, when I read your posts I always think of Lucille Ball's quotes
"If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. "
"The more things you do, the more you can do."
Gilvus
August 14, 2015
Visiting this blog and losing weight are mutually exclusive.
Kandice
August 14, 2015
That looks amazing.
Jeb
August 15, 2015
Suggested wine pairings: white- German Gewurztraminer; red- Argentine Malbec or Australian Shiraz. Those are what I use for a spicy chorizo stir fry.
ChocoTaco369
August 15, 2015
Sweet, heat and salt = the flavor trifecta of overeating. Next time, when you saute the onion and garlic in the beginning, add a few dried de arbol chiles to the mix and allow them to become fragrant. Just leave them whole so you can pick them out at the end. Don't eat them unless you're a brave man [like I am 😉 ].
[email protected]
February 4, 2017
I profited 104,000 thousand dollars in 2016 by doing an on-line job from my house and I manage to earn that much by working part time for 3 or sometimes more h on daily basis. I used work opportunity I was introduced by this web-site i found on-line and I am amazed that i made so much extra income. It's really newbie-friendly and I'm just so grateful that i discovered it. Check out what I did... STATICTAB.COM/msxjhtx