Week 3 Days 2, 3, and 4 Writing takes time! Cooking takes more.

I am starting to realize why I enjoy blogging about this is because I feel it's original and unique. The difficulty in writing about this is that there is a great deal of repetition in what goes on from the day to day on the road and I don't want to just tell you same things over and over. That's where I feel the road is sometimes over glorified in stories (the off the wall legendary tales of mischief and debauchery are on the 20,000 plus seating tours due to more time to get in trouble then non-stop working), but this is not that kind of tour. Everyone on this tour is a family working closely together from sun up to sun down with even tighter sleeping quarters when we are not working. Sure we throw down a good drink or two to celebrate the days hard work and the accomplishment of another job well done. In the end we are all busting are humps making everything the best we can. All of us wake up everyday and put our best foot forward, and if we didn't this tour wouldn't mean as much to me as it has grown to. Sure the hardest thing about the job is being away from the ones you love and what you call home, but if we weren't doing what we wanted to do then we wouldn't be doing this.

Rusty and I are in full groove with the eat and greets and have continued to cook the after show meals ranging from chicken and dumplings to Turkey Chili. All take three to four hours of cooking and spicing while cleaning up and putting everything away from the eat and greets, so when we finish up the last meal we are done around 10:30. From that point we get a quick shower lock everything down have a couple drinks then pass out and do it all over again in the next city. That's why I am not going to obsess over the day to day details of each show from my perspective. I welcome and encourage all comments any one would like to offer, or if you have any questions about a particular day or venue and ill be more then happy to reply.

Day 2 - In short Knoxville went well but there was a bit of an echo during the show due to the fact it was in an indoor ice rink. My day would have been easy except for stocking the bus because none of them were next to each other altogether spread out over half a mile walk. The help was great and fast, but the traffic of the Tennesee/Georgia game left Rusty arriving at 3:30 when service starts at 5 but we managed to get everything done right on time with 0 seconds to spare.

Day 3 - Charleston, SC waking up to yet again another venue that didn't know we needed two helpers for the day and our trailer was a quarter mile from the buses and venue, so i ran a good few miles that day. The staff pulled through and actually got three people for us so it all ran smooth as could be after that. Ate Sticky Fingers for catering that night cause Charleston is the home of that fine BBQ establishment.

Day 4 - Portsmouth VA Easiest day ever!!! Got there tents and buffet area was fully setup and the help worked fast and had good knife skills. And I have to give mad props to the area super-intendent, she was 4'10" if an inch, but this old gal spit fire. We ask for something she'd holler on the radio and five dudes would pull up in a cart out of nowhere within two minutes. Plus she was just an absolute trip.

Week 3 Day 1 Feeling the Groove

Week 3 Day 1 Salem, VA

(Notice: Dates should be aligned by this Sunday, I'm still staggering them out due to internet difficulties on the bus in some cities)

Hello everyone. So getting into my third week as a traveling chef on our way to Salem,VA which I can't say I've ever heard of before going here for the tour. I've gotten my rest in, spent some time with my girl, and now i'm ready to kick some butt this week.

Arriving in Salem I manage to get out of bed right on time today, so good start. I take a walk around every venue as part of my morning ritual, I find my catering area, where the local catering is set up, meet my helpers for the day (2 assistants and 1 runner), then I check in and manage stocking the buses with the rider list. After this is done I realize today I am going to have to set up both tents today for the eat n greet. Which after the first time doing it I had been trying to avoid. For no other reason but they aren't the easiest things to unload, transport, or set up. But I manage to get my stage hands in time to make it less daunting, and the help I have been given today both appear to be really hard workers. The eat and greet runs smooth as can be and we both notice that we are really getting in our groove. Rusty finds some great local farmers markets and bakery's . He returns with some amazing produce and breads. Veggies so fresh they look like they were picked early that morning. His trip to the mountains does however put us closer than we have been before to the three hour til service mark. But we rock it out pulling it off at the last minute. There are talks of making the eat n greet bigger. Zac Brown is so happy with the results and turnout of the event and he even tells the crowd about it during the show saying soon enough he hopes to feed everyone at the shows. This is a really good thing for us, especially if we keep fine tuning our routine. Tomorrow is Knoxville TN. The venue has been moved to the Knoxville Bears ice rink due to flooding of the original venue. Until the next post I thank you again as always, and look for more recipes or tips in the posts to come. Sorry there have not been more as of yet, I am new to this whole blogging thing and with the intensity of this job it's been harder than I had planned to get them up quickly. I assure you more are on the way.

Week 2 Day 3 (Recipe #1) The wrong side of the bed (if I had more than one side to get out of)

Hello everyone! So Austin was awesome, but I wish I could say the same for my day in Oklahoma City. I wake up a little hungover to another day of pouring rain, and no help (yes the rain continues). Just a nightmare day, I wake up thirty minutes late. My tents were set up in a mud marsh. The venue decides to not get anything but lunch meat on our 150 item rider list. As if that wasn't bad enough, the stuff they did give was left in a container of spoiled crab juice. My gosh I want to strangle someone in this city if they dont get something right, but after some good thoughts and pushing forward we manage to pull off another. Zac Brown Band's eat and greet keeps going smoothly, all the attendees and the staff pulled through for us after the rocky start and everyone keeps loving what we are putting out there. Enough to be creating quite the buzz. Unfortunately I don't have much else to report about this stop, I figure now would be the perfect time to give you all a recipe. Please try and enjoy and I'm sorry i do not give exact measurements. I learned how I will try and teach you, through tasting and care, i think anyone can find a passion in cooking.

KICK ASS MASHED POTATOES

• First cut and boil your potatoes (any kind will do), and don't be afraid to leave the skin on
• When potatoes are done strain and put them back in the pot they were boiled in
• Using a HAND MASHER ADD...

1. Heavy Whipping Cream (1% lightest milk for healthier version)
2. Cream Cheese
3. granulated garlic
4. Unsalted Butter
5. Pepper (white or black)
6. Salt (any kind)

• Pour the Whipping Cream in first, so you can mash the potatoes to the consistency you prefer (Tip: Add little by little of the the cream then the easier it gets the closer you are to a smooth consistency)
• I dont give amounts of ingredients cause I encourage everyone to use this first recipes as a means to test your palat, Add each ingredient in small doses, and if you think it's missing something add more. You'll feel better about yourself that you can add ingredients and rely on taste.

Photos From Austin City Limits and Merriweather

Week 2 Day 2 AUSTIN CITY LIMITS

(Please disregard the site's posting dates (they don't line up), as mentioned earlier internet doesn't always work so well.)

Well I've been waiting for this day since I found out we were going. Austin City Limits has been hosting some of the best artists from all genres for over twenty years. Most of you may remember seeing Austin City Limits on PBS. I consider it's show the original "unplugged" (although not all are acoustic), but needless to say I think today will be a real treat. Some of the bands I am looking most forward to watching are Flogging Molly, And You Will Know Us By the Trail of the Dead, Mos Def, Dave Matthews closing the day on the Livestrong Stage. And who can forget the half mile row of some of austins finest festival cuisine, with everything from gator on a stick to some of the hottest foods you can think of.

We were told we that we'd be parking at a Wal-mart then getting a shuttle to the venue, instead we find ourselves parked under an overpass a half mile away. Oh and big surprise, the rain has followed us to Texas (ironically they are having a drought for the season, go figure). Not having to cook today, means nothing is gonna ruin this day. After devouring a jalapeño burger i make my way backstage of the Flogging Molly concert and had the good fortune of meeting some of the band before their set. Let me tell you, these guys are all a class act. Sure they might be crazy Irish folks, but how can you not love a band that all drink a guiness on stage during their first song. From that point the rain starts to let loose, yet this crowd is not going anywhere packing the fronts of every stage and even having their own mud people, who just dont give a dang about the weather and just want a hell of a time. Trail of the Dead played well but I can't really say much about them cause i was enjoying people watching the large crowds entirely too much. Mos Def Killed it and even rocked the drums for a few songs. This being the twelfth time I've seen Dave Matthews, they have never disappointed. Well now that i am soggy and muddy time to call it a night and try to wake up and make some great food for the Oklahoma City show. Good night my friends, and as always thanks for your time in reading my exploits and experiences from the road as a traveling Chef.

Week 2 Day 1 Everything is bigger in Texas!

(Notice: Wireless internet does not work everywhere on the road, I write about everyday but sometimes can't post right away)

Day 1 of week 2

So after a solid half day drive on the bus we arrive in Dallas. I'm starting to get used to the fact that most all I am going to see of some cities are behind amphitheaters. Dallas is no different. Indoor venue at the Nokia Theatre, which the Zac Brown Band crew, Sonia Leigh, and Nic Cowan, and the one and only and Levi Lowery, all appreciate the change. Finding comfort in not having to be in this infinite rain that keeps following us from city to city. So we finally started to switch up our side dishes, and start using only local produce to decide what we pair with our permanent menu of the pork and beef tenderloin. Which I am extremely happy cause it's adding that level of appreciation and knowledge of local farming. Rusty has been teaching me a great deal of new things to add to my growing repituor of bad ass food. We still have killed every eat and greet thus far, and the food that has been catered for us continues to make me feel that much better about our own product. In other words, our food is so much better than we've had catered for us, and we've only been doing this for two weeks now. No real funny stories to tell except some jerk had the gumption to steal a handle of Grey Goose from our after show drinking table. Which pissed everybody off, but was then followed by all night song writing and jam sessions on our bus. Zac Brown hopped on our bus again because the man loves music and loves playing and this bus is chalk full of talented pickers and singers. This is quite the treat for the non musically gifted to hear beautiful music everynight in the smallest possible setting.

The Best Summary I can give for days 3 and 4

Day 3

Hello my friendly followers out there! Sorry it was a little tough to stay on top of the first week (as i thought it would be), but for those of you who were waiting for an update for the end of the first week, then wait no longer. My help in Charlotte (day 3) were on the ball today (progressively better each day) keeps making things look better and better. In my opinion today was the best eat and greet we have put together thus far, I feel today was the most tender I have gotten the meat all tour, and we are finally getting in that groove of perfect timing for the whole meal, so everything is coming out hotter and fresher than the day before. So after day 3 I am blessed with my first day off for a festival in Maryland. Zac Brown Band's set (the parts i caught anyway) was awesome at the Fillmore, and the staff there were on top of everything we and the weather could throw at them. Big ups to the staff and Janeane (sp?) an alum from my high school who is now GM of the facility.

Day 4

Not much to report on day 4 except that, today was the first time this tour I was off and able to catch a whole Zac Brown Band set from start to finish. I must say not coming into this tour as a regular fan of country, I am starting to remember all the sounds of the comfort and peace that i have spent my whole life surrounded by, whether it be just living in Georgia or through my father's love and passion for music. It all boils down to good soulful music, speaking to the best of southern tradition and ideals. I might say this entirely too much but I LOVE MY JOB! You don't have to be from a certain area, or only like a certain type of music to appreciate that there is something to be found deep within all of us that music fulfills. It's one of those absolute undeniable connections in all of us. From Rap to Country, the power to it all is always the music itself not the lines we draw to separate us.

As far as the food we have had different catering each day for each venue, but til we lock down our eat and greet, we are stuck cooking the same things for the next few stops. Through friendly conversation and connections with other traveling chefs, I have been able to learn a great deal of things of how my life as a chef can keep growing and improving. Like the cliche "practice makes perfect", lol but too damn true. So util Dallas in a few days, thank you always all ways. Feel free to spread this to anyone you like, and i swear there will be recipes and home favorites i will be posting soon, and if i can ever get my camera working right or charged then there will be video soon too.