How about a week in the life? This is going to be long. :becky:
We're open 11-6 on Wed. Thurs. and Fri. here in Mt. Sterling and 11-2 on Saturday in Rushville, which is 15 miles away. The week starts on Tuesday. None of this is in any particular order.
Tuesday: Go out and do inventory, make a list of what needs to be ordered. Make sure there aren't any catering jobs that require extra food or any specialty orders. Clean the smoker and get it ready for the week.
Fire up the smoker around 4:00 pm.
4:30: Trim brisket, prep pork shoulders
Brisket and pork shoulders rubbed and on the smoker by 5:00 pm
Get the order in to Sysco by 5:00 pm.
Make the cole slaw and pasta salad so it can refrigerate overnight and the flavors can combine.
Make barbecue sauce
Partially smoke and then fry the bacon for the mac & cheese.
Around 7:00 pm add another cherry split to the smoker. Whine about the weather being too hot/cold/rainy/snowy/windy.
Add the last cherry split around 9:00 and call it a night.
Wednesday: Get up at 6:30, gripe about the alarm going off. Go out and pull the brisket and pork shoulders, put them in the warmer at 160 to rest.
Prep the ribs and make sure they're on by 7:00 am.
Poop.
Get the chicken prepped and on the smoker.
Get water boiling for the mac & cheese noodles.
Get the cheese melting for the cheese sauce.
Rinse and drain beans for the baked beans, assemble the baked beans and get them heating in the double boiler.
Slice onions and tomatoes for the pico de gallo, strip cilantro from the stalks for the tacos.
Boil the mac noodles, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
Get the cream, cheeses, bacon and spices heating in the double boiler for the mac & cheese.
Go to the store to get anything I may have forgotten, go to the bank and get change. Hook the trailer up to the truck.
Slather the ribs in honey (locally produced of course), wrap and return to the smoker. Put the chicken in a pan, cover and return to the smoker.
Pull half the pork shoulders, keep the rest in the smoker.
Slice brisket for the lunch hour, reserve the rest to slice in the afternoon.
Make the ranchili sauce for the tacos (ranch dressing, chipotles in adobo, cilantro).
Dip up the cold sides into individual containers, label them and put them in the fridge
Portion the barbecue sauce into individual containers.
Unwrap the ribs, slice the slabs in half and place them in the warmer.
Take the chicken off the smoker, set it in the trailer to rest.
Go inside and take a shower for God's sake.
At about 10-10:30, haul the trailer to our spot, plug it in and get ready to open by 11:00
10:50: Give my niece unending crap for not getting there earlier, even though I know she can't possibly get there any earlier.
11:00: Throw the window open to our adoring fans and sell some food!
1:00 Kick the niece out since the lunch rush is over.
2:00: Trim brisket, prep pork shoulders for the next day, do as much cleanup as we can, make fresh mac & cheese, slice brisket and pull pork shoulders for dinner. Whine about how our feet hurt and contemplate our life choices.
Run home with the Sysco order arrives and put everything away, update inventory.
6:00 pm. Close the window, take the trailer home (whopping 2 block drive), get the smoker fired up again. Cleanup!
Get the brisket and pork butts on the smoker.
7:00 pm: Add another cherry split
9:00 pm: Add another cherry split and call it a day.
Thursday: Get up at 6:30, gripe about the alarm going off. Go out and pull the brisket and pork shoulders, put them in the warmer at 160 to rest.
Prep the ribs and make sure they're on by 7:00 am.
Poop.
Get the chicken prepped and on the smoker.
Get water boiling for the mac & cheese noodles.
Get the cheese melting for the cheese sauce.
Rinse and drain beans for the baked beans, assemble the baked beans and get them heating in the double boiler.
Slice onions and tomatoes for the pico de gallo, strip cilantro from the stalks for the tacos.
Boil the mac noodles, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
Get the cream, cheeses, bacon and spices heating in the double boiler for the mac & cheese.
Go to the store to get anything I may have forgotten, go to the bank and get change. Hook the trailer up to the truck.
Slather the ribs in honey (locally produced of course), wrap and return to the smoker. Put the chicken in a pan, cover and return to the smoker.
Pull half the pork shoulders, keep the rest in the smoker.
Slice brisket for the lunch hour, reserve the rest to slice in the afternoon.
Dip up the cold sides into individual containers, label them and put them in the fridge
Unwrap the ribs, slice the slabs in half and place them in the warmer.
Take the chicken off the smoker, set it in the trailer to rest.
Go inside and take a shower for God's sake.
At about 10-10:30, haul the trailer to our spot, plug it in and get ready to open by 11:00
10:50: Give my niece unending crap for not getting there earlier, even though I know she can't possibly get there any earlier.
11:00: Throw the window open to our adoring fans and sell some food!
1:00 Kick the niece out since the lunch rush is over.
2:00: Trim brisket, prep pork shoulders for the next day, do as much cleanup as we can, make fresh mac & cheese, slice brisket and pull pork shoulders for dinner. Whine about how our feet hurt and contemplate our life choices.
6:00 pm. Close the window, take the trailer home (whopping 2 block drive), get the smoker fired up again. Cleanup!
Get the brisket and pork butts on the smoker.
7:00 pm: Add another cherry split
9:00 pm: Add another cherry split and call it a day.
Friday: Get up at 6:30, gripe about the alarm going off. Go out and pull the brisket and pork shoulders, put them in the warmer at 160 to rest.
Prep the ribs and make sure they're on by 7:00 am.
Poop.
Get the chicken prepped and on the smoker.
Get water boiling for the mac & cheese noodles.
Get the cheese melting for the cheese sauce.
Rinse and drain beans for the baked beans, assemble the baked beans and get them heating in the double boiler.
Slice onions and tomatoes for the pico de gallo, strip cilantro from the stalks for the tacos.
Boil the mac noodles, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
Get the cream, cheeses, bacon and spices heating in the double boiler for the mac & cheese.
Go to the store to get anything I may have forgotten, go to the bank and get change. Hook the trailer up to the truck.
Slather the ribs in honey (locally produced of course), wrap and return to the smoker. Put the chicken in a pan, cover and return to the smoker.
Pull half the pork shoulders, keep the rest in the smoker.
Slice brisket for the lunch hour, reserve the rest to slice in the afternoon.
Make the ranchili sauce for the tacos (ranch dressing, chipotles in adobo, cilantro).
Dip up the cold sides into individual containers, label them and put them in the fridge
Portion the barbecue sauce into individual containers.
Unwrap the ribs, slice the slabs in half and place them in the warmer.
Take the chicken off the smoker, set it in the trailer to rest.
Go inside and take a shower for God's sake.
At about 10-10:30, haul the trailer to our spot, plug it in and get ready to open by 11:00
10:50: Give my niece unending crap for not getting there earlier, even though I know she can't possibly get there any earlier.
11:00: Throw the window open to our adoring fans and sell some food!
1:00 Kick the niece out since the lunch rush is over.
2:00: Trim brisket, prep pork shoulders for the next day, do as much cleanup as we can, make fresh mac & cheese, slice brisket and pull pork shoulders for dinner. Whine about how our feet hurt and contemplate our life choices.
6:00 pm. Close the window, take the trailer home (whopping 2 block drive), get the smoker fired up again. Cleanup!
Get the brisket and pork butts on the smoker.
7:00 pm: Add another cherry split
9:00 pm: Add another cherry split and call it a day.
Saturday: Get up at 5:30, gripe about the alarm going off. Go out and pull the brisket and pork shoulders, put them in the warmer at 160 to rest.
Prep the ribs and make sure they're on by 6:00 am.
Poop.
Get the chicken prepped and on the smoker.
Get water boiling for the mac & cheese noodles.
Get the cheese melting for the cheese sauce.
Rinse and drain beans for the baked beans, assemble the baked beans and get them heating in the double boiler.
Slice onions and tomatoes for the pico de gallo, strip cilantro from the stalks for the tacos.
Boil the mac noodles, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.
Get the cream, cheeses, bacon and spices heating in the double boiler for the mac & cheese.
Go to the store to get anything I may have forgotten, go to the bank and get change. Hook the trailer up to the truck.
Slather the ribs in honey (locally produced of course), wrap and return to the smoker. Put the chicken in a pan, cover and return to the smoker.
Pull half the pork shoulders, keep the rest in the smoker.
Slice brisket for the lunch hour, reserve the rest to slice in the afternoon.
Make the ranchili sauce for the tacos (ranch dressing, chipotles in adobo, cilantro).
Dip up the cold sides into individual containers, label them and put them in the fridge
Portion the barbecue sauce into individual containers.
Unwrap the ribs, slice the slabs in half and place them in the warmer.
Take the chicken off the smoker, set it in the trailer to rest.
Go inside and take a shower for God's sake.
At about 9:30-10:00, haul the trailer to our spot in Rushville (a whopping 15 mile drive), plug it in and get ready to open by 11:00
10:50: Give my niece unending crap for not getting there earlier, even though I know she can't possibly get there any earlier.
11:00: Throw the window open to our adoring fans and sell some food!
2:00: Whine about how our feet hurt and contemplate our life choices. Close the window, take the trailer home, clean up.
Sunday: Get back in the semi, drive 524 miles to Zanesville, OH, swap trailers with a Maryland driver, get back as far as Cambridge City, IN. Think about new recipe ideas/promotions/marketing strategy. Get some food, put on a Clint Eastwood movie, take my federally mandated 10 hour break.
Monday: Get up, finish the last 5 1/2 hours of the drive back home. Go home. Talk the accountant about how much we made and how much we should have made. Think about selling a kidney. Meet with the Sysco rep to find out what exciting and new crap is coming out that might be of interest to us. Drink heavily and listen to old 80's metal.
Tuesday: Repeat the week again.
This is an approximation and I'm sure I left stuff out. The activities listed are split between my wife and I so there are more things that I omitted because she does them. There's extra prep work on Thursday because we're serving brisket chili on Friday/Saturday now. And there are a million other little things we're doing that doesn't happen every week such as getting menus printed, washing the trailer, etc.
There honestly aren't too many moments where my wife and I aren't thinking about or discussing the business. I think our quality of life is pretty good because we get to spend all our time together and we have common goals.
Some days are longer, some are shorter. They're all exhausting and sometimes you wonder if it's worth it. But then you open the window and the customers are lined up and talking about how much they're looking forward to us opening every day and it's all good.
This also conveniently left out prepping for catering events, which we usually have 3-5 times a month. It also doesn't mention the amount of time spent answering the phone/email with estimates for catering, when we're open, whether we have food left and all that crap. It's just a vague idea of how we do things. You may do it differently and even more efficiently, but it will be something along those lines.