And so as 2010 winds down to a frigid and entertaining finale, we take some time to reflect up on the year that was. To look back on who we were then and who we have grown to become today. To assess our triumphs and tragedies and try to put them all into perspective.
It's amazing how much life can change. Back in 2000 I was living in Los Angeles, a good enough cook to feed myself but hardly worthy of braggadocio. The lions share of my writing duties entailed editing or entirely re-writing poorly laid out surveys for a telefundraising company. And the height of my performance skills was being able to lie to a boss or a girlfriend with equal facility. And if you'd told me that I'd wind up back in Fresno living the life I do today...well let's say that I would have considered it unlikely.
Even just a year ago, Cap'n Scurvy's Apocalypse Hoedown Revival was still a conceptual script. The majority of my writing were short stories of such a disgusting nature that one reader commented "I can kinda taste poo in my mouth". I was certainly studying the ins and outs of the foodly arts, but again, I was in my infancy of experimentation. Learning how to make a roux, developing a taste for shallots, altering a few recipes found online and being brave enough to attempt to serve them to friends and family.
And that brings us to this year. Which I believe is a rare and wonderful one, personally. First off, I'm still in love, which is quite nice. Then, the Hoedown opened to warm reviews and even set an attendance record for the Rogue Festival (no pressure for next year). And we landed a weekly food spot on Chuck Leonard's Central Valley Talk Live! Which, besides being asstons of fun, getting to shake my butt on camera while cooking for an appreciative studio audience, I've also gotten to meet some of the most interesting people involved in the Tower District and the greater Fresno art scene. Hell! I bartended the opening of an art gallery! Whodathunk a moment like that would creep into my life?
And that brings us around to the blog. We're almost at a full year of depraved food themed nonesense dribbling from my fingers and flung out to an uncaring internet. It's rather shocking to me that I've been able to keep up in some respectable manner with providing content. Initially the idea was to focus solely on snarky food reviewing and some insight into where our food comes from. Alas, not working a "real job" tends to leave us with a few dollars too few to run up to Erna's Elderberry House for the $159 prix fixe menu, or over to Trelio for a 3 hour wine sampling orgy. So, we've dribbled in those that we could as the meals made their way into our lives. The other direction got fairly de-railed after the farmers market debacle. The short lesson being, that a high enough percentage of people are unlikeable enough to make interviews unpalatable. But a few requests from a kind Canadian couple for some tastier vegetarian type dishes gave me the inspiration and drive to start highlighting some of our favorite dishes that we cook at home and some of the other local sources we get the ingredients from.
And sure there have been lows. As any writer who has ever whined on a blog has said, some days the words just aren't there. Or in some cases are too drunk or too trite by the light of day to post. A couple week to two week breaks, in which I could regroup creatively and muster up a post that hopefully we both find entertaining. If not, it's often said that I speak merely to hear myself talk, so it's not so odd to type merely to see my thoughts.
It's been a long and sweet year. Many triumphs were achieved, many morels were eaten in a brandy cream sauce and many new and odd foods were brought into my culinary balliwhack. And despite any bumps in the road, this year really made me feel accomplished as a creative, shaved, ape. Maybe this year I can even connive some of the fancy upper crust bloggy types to link back to the ole EOF in place of pages that haven't been updated since 2008, but probably not.
And thats not so bad. It was the intention upon creation for Eating Out Fresno to be a crass and boisterous blog. A place where the only censorship is self imposed and only then when the rambling doesn't serve the subject of the post or the flavor of the writing. And thats certainly not for everyone. But I'm overjoyed that you, dear readers believe that EOF is for you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your attention this year. And I hope that I can remain interesting enough to keep you enraptured for years to come.
-Pook
