The Couscous Chronicles » About

Haunted in Hutch

labd — Thu, 20 May 2010 03:25:20 +0000

While a smidgen of my FB friends get to share their photos of business trips to far flung exotic locales such as Mumbai and Moscow, I have the distinct honor of occasionally making the business pilgrimage to Hutchinson, KS, home to my client Dillon’s, a division of Cincinnati based Kroger Stores.

The good news is I left my new “toy” at home, the new Panasonic GF1 digital camera given I did not expect to see anything worthy of my carrying the extra weight of the camera on a business trip. Of course I did get my belly full with some decent BBQ and a notable Italian meal last night at a slightly upscale funky Italian restaurant in Downtown Hutch called of all things, “Jillians”. We ate BBQ in Wichita out of convenience at Hog Wild BBQ, a local chain that provided a respectable brisket, but my preference locally would have to be Roy’s “you’ll be in hog heaven” Hickory Pit BBQ in downtown Hutch as they have over 20 different BBQ sauce choices, a more local feel and of course their claim to fame of they are “one of the top 100 BBQ restaurants in America” (http://www.roysbbq.com/). I love this country.

Upon disembarkation from the plane at the “air capital of the world” Wichita airport, I told my colleague that we would be in for an adventure. While my prophesy did not necessarily come true, we thought we might get to invoke our inner storm chaser as we dodged our way through a tornado watch on our way back to the airport this morning. Other than that it was all uneventful just the way we like it, but I learned my lesson as next time I am bringing the camera just in case we do see a tornado forming above Kansas highway 96 or at the very least to take hundreds of pics of haunted grain elevators.

Chorizo vs. Andouille

labd — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:59:14 +0000

The folks at El Pueblo opened a hamburger joint called Sammys. Go figure. I tried their Chorizo burger and Caribbean cole slaw. It was good enough and big enough that I could probably eat one once a calendar quarter for full satisfaction. Any more frequent than that and I would be dead by age 50 from the generous portion of beef, chorizo, guac and “mexican white cheese”.

Front Porch (Background)

labd — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:32:33 +0000

The Couscous Chronicles are dedicated to my parents for our all of their patience in raising and guiding me through childhood and for my father buying me my first computer back in 1984…a Commodore 64. I also want to recognize my maternal grandparents of Kansas City, Mo., the late Ollie Mae Knox for her inspiration as an entrepreneur selling clothing out of the basement and her excellent soul food cooking, my grandfather Ellis Knox for sharing his entrepreneurial spirit during tours to his salvage yard and my paternal grandparents, the late Ernestine Labrie another entrepreneur who sold “fresh eggs” on the roadside and as an accomplished cook who provided ample me helpings of creole and cajun cooking and the late Harrington Labrie, who provided me another entrepreneurial hero in his accomplishment of being a self made insurance/cattle/oil/justice of the peace millionaire with what he described as a only a “sixth grade” education.

I also want to recognize, Eugene Varnado II for all is guidance and inspiration in putting a blog together. Eugene is a true friend for life where he and I have known each other since the early seventies beginning in Miss Dink’s kindergarten class at Lakewood Elementary school in Park Forest, IL. Eugene’s website the Chronicles of Roosevelt Franklin provided me a great deal of motivation to put together a blog.