The king and I

My journey this week started I'm Memphis Tennessee to see the home of the late great King..... I gotta say Graceland was a very interesting place to say the least! I was never much of an Elvis fan. Yea I like all the classics but I don't even think I have any on my I-pod but it just seemed like a place I needed to go. Plus i wanted to see all the killer costumes he had.... And maybe some crazy Elvis fans. Once inside Graceland you get a real feel for how this place is not just a shrine to Elvis it was a home. It still after all these years had a feeling of home. It's comfortable (maybe a little over the top) and brings the King back down to earth.... He was a dad, a husband and a force that made so many people fall in love with him. He was a giver. He was always generous with his stuff and took good care of the people he loved. I admire that about him.
Elvis had issues like so many of us. His drug addiction took him out of this world and standing in front of ElvisEs grave I had a true moment of gratitude. How could a guy who had so much going on be taken down by drugs and how did I escape that very same fate. Was I a chosen on? I think the answer is yea..... I by the grace of god saw the light and people like Elvis remind me that what I got is a true gift and i need to cherish it.
I don't think a lot of people know about my battle with drugs.... It was a hard and very long road and because of that today my life is a true gift.
I remember sitting in my office at the hotel around my birthday last year and thinking..... Why am


i still here? Why am I sitting in this office not loving what I'm doing? And at that moment again I heard Oprah say..... "live your best life" and at that moment I knew it was time to move on. If god gave me a second chance and didn't give the king the same road ..... Who the hell was I to not make the best of it?
So here I am 30 drug free, alive and living my best life.



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Location:Grace land

Nola or nothing

First the smell of stale beer and cigaret butts hit you in the face like a fucking hammer.... The streets are littered with homeless kids who look like they came out of mad max ( but these kids got banjoes ) nuns dressed in old scHool gear and street entertainers..... A church rises up from behind the streets lined with old pubs and neon light advertising sex and booze. Slowly the sound of jazz comes into your ear and the smell of crawfish steaming in Oldbay.... You my friend are in New Orleans. The city of ..... Well it's the city of lots of things!

New Orleans is the city full of religion and Voodoo.... Saints and sinners.... Where on earth can you be in an old church one second and the next your stuffing dollars into some guys ( or girls) underrooz? Lol
I love new Orleans.... I love the food! It's the so different from NYC! In NY you go to the nice restaurants to get a good meal in NOLA the best food comes out of the hole in the wall kinda places... Iv been to some fine dining restaurants in NOLA and they are ok but if you want great food go to the shittiest pub and ask for the house special! Omg now thats food.
Growing up Italian in NYC I always believed that the NY zeppole was the best of all street food in all the world.... Well I was wrong! Dear Zeppole I'd like you to meet your much better and much cooler red neck cousin Beignet! Zeppole are lightly tossed in powdered sugar and the beignets are mounded in powered sugar.... It's like Pablo Escobar is the chef! Holly good god these things are fucking good! Im ashamed to have my heritage attached to the old school dough of hate that is the zeppole!
And as anyone know the place to cop a bag of dough pillows and the powder of love is Cafe Du Monde..... Good lord I love that place!

And don't get me stated on the other food !
Jambalaya! Omg I can eat this all day!
If you have yet to go to NOLA shut up and book ur trip NOW!




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Location:The big eazy!

This post is a little late

I remember being a little kid and my mom teaching me how to spell Mississippi
"M-I-crooked letter-crooked letter-I
Crooked letter-crooked letter-I
humpback-humpback-I." and I don't think at that age I realized what the hell Mississippi was! To me it was just some silly word that made one hell of a song!
So far Mississippi is turning out to be one cool place.
We spent the last few days in Sanable Island on the west coast of Fla.... Now that's paradise! I love the keys but the lack of beaches kinda makes me crazy.... So Sanable is a perfect spot for me. Great beaches, nice shops killer seafood and some not so bad looking people... Sanable is kinda like the Hamptions of florida. And I love it! So we
sLowly started heading up the coast and yesterday madE it to Mobile Alabama. Not much to do in Mobile lol. The town was like a ghost town so we headed to our hotel to get some sleep
The next morning he started for Biloxi....Biloxi was a blast.. Nice hotel, gambling but all I could see was what was coming.... New Orleans


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Location:Not new Orleans

Just chill grasshopper

Spending most of my adult life In a kitchen it's now wonder that trying to relax is no easy task for me. Im always running around working on some project or another and if I'm not then I'm running around in my head. Is trying to relax an art? Do I need to be some kind of zen master to just chill?? I have relaxed before.... Plenty of times but I was always had a stabile place in my work life. Well this time it's a whole new game,! I have no job..... No next pay check. So i think a little bit of worry is normal
I just need to stay in the moment. I can't project on what going to happen after this or where I'm going to be in a few months. Because all the worry in the world will not give me the answer or make the outcome any different. So i gotta chill.

The last few days have been a blast.... Monday we drove from NYC to Jacksonville Fla .by the time we got to Jacksonville we were out of our minds.... Hopped up on energy drinks and cigarettes.... we needed to crash..... Bad! So we found a little hotel and called it a night ( I think that was around 3 am) the next morning we woke and headed to Orlando to see some family. Then it was off to Delray beach to meet up with friends and check out this cool little town.
I was thinking what all of you are thinking..... That Delray is an old people town... Well you are kinda right. The grocery stores are lined with blue haired demons and the parking lots are like bumper car rings. The stink of moth balls fill the day time air and a 90 year old man almost flung himself and his scooter in the front of my truck. When the sun goes down on Delray beach it's a whole different game. The restaurants that line Atlantic ave are full of fun loving people looking to have a good time. The restaurants range from sushi to eclectic American. I have to say this was a bit of a stunner. Who new that old people land could be such a blast! And everyone drives better at night when all the blue hairs are asleep!
Then it was off to south beach to enjoy the crazy Miami vibe and soak up some sun. We spent the day chilling on the beach then had a killer steak dinner on Ocean Ave. Im not going to go into details about Miami because it is the city of sin and I don't wanna freak the kids out! Lol
The next stop Was key west to do some camping and get into the island mood. Yesterday we got to the camp site a little late because every time we saw the ocean we needed to stop and jump in. We set up camp and headed down town for the main event here in key west... The sun set. And as I watched the sun go down over the ocean I felt a real sense of relaxation as if the setting sun took some of my nerves and worries down with it.



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Location:Jolly Roger Dr,Lower Keys,United States

Music to LIVE BY/ or road music

You can hear me talk about my trip and the music i love to list to on the road next sunday 3/20/11 on Sirius radio (sirius 109/ xm 98) at 4:00 and then again at 11 with the FAB Larry Flick!!!!

As i get my self together for my drive across America im thinking about how important music is going to be on this trip! or at any part in my life... music always plays a big part of whatever i do!!

Cant you remember the first time you heard a song or the song that was playing when you had your first kiss... well i do

So here is a list of some great tunes that i will be chilling out to on this trip

Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan

Freeway of Love - Aretha

Summer Highland Falls- Billy Joel

Cant keep it in - Cat Stevens

Road Tripping - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Days and Days- Concrete Blond

Round Here- Counting Crows

Strange Brew- Cream

People get ready - Curtis Mayfield (this have nothing to do with travel i just love it)

So far away - Dire straits

Down Town- Dolly Parton

Every time we say good bye- The fab Ella Fitzgerald

End Of The Road - Eddie Vedder (into the wild sound track)

Night Train - James brown (LOVE THIS SONG)

Your My Home- Billy Joel

Mexico- Jimmy Buffet or James Taylor ( i think JT is a little better)

California- Joni Mitchell

The Last Of the Famous International Playboys - Morrissey

Peace is a River - Paul Simon

Fat Bottom Girls- Queen

I Get a Kick Out of You _ Rosemary Clooney

A Change is Gonna Come- Sam cook

Hot Rod - Peaches

The Boys of Summer- Eagles

In The Great Wide Open - Tom Petty

I Wont Hold You Back - Toto

City Of New Orleans - Willie Nelson (BEST SONG EVER)

Oprah says so! And she's prime time!

Oprah says to live your best life! I'm not one to go around quoting the book of Oprah but this stuck with me and a few months ago I started asking my self if I was living my best life. I think sometimes we just need to step back and ask our self if this is what we want for our lives? We get so wrapped up in the every day that we never get time To smell the proverbial rose.
where do I wanna be in my life? Who do I wanna be? After some time and some long looking at where I was i knew that I was letting life pass me by. Now don't get me wrong I had a great job and made good money but does that make a good life? And the answer i got was no. Money is important we need it, we need it to pay the bills and put food on the table but it can't be the driving force in my life. Because as quick as the money comes..... It goes and as much BS I buy with it at the end of the day I am still with me ( just the same old me with nicer things...lol) I need to get out and see some things, I need to see places i'v never seen meet friends I'v yet to meet. Now I know this all may seem very hippy to a lot of you and as i write this I feel like it's a little 1960's too but in my heart I know there is more to life then just making a buck and going thru the motions.
with the support of my family ( mostly my brothers who I think wanna live vicariously thru me) and friends i'v decided( insert drum roll here) to leave my current position and head out on the road to see what I will find. I know this is crazy and I know a lot of you are saying WTF Michael but I know this is just the beginning of something great. I can feel it.
I have always heard that when one door closes another will open and sometimes we need to shut the door behind us to let the other open ( again I know this is all sounding kinda hippy) but I have faith in it.
Ok so let me get to the good part. I will soon be packing up my car and driving cross country to get a little taste of life out side my bubble. I will be stoping at some very cool culinary locations and cooking up some great food along the way. And i will be blogging about it and I hope you guys will be following. I will be working on my cookbook and just spending a little time finding out what I want and who I wanna be when I grow up.
Ok I gotta pack..... Ttyl
MVP

Location:My couch

The Chill of Fall is here

Please Leave your THANKSGIVING cooking and entertaining questions bellow in the comment box and i will address all of them here on my blog!!! because i'm nice like dat~~!!!

With fall here and the leaves changing colors and the air turning crisp and cold I have an urge to cook all my fall favorites. I started out this week by making boneless pork butt stuffed with green and black olives. Can you say yum!! I don’t know about you but nothing says fall like a roast meat dish. The olives add a tang and brine like flavor to the pork that only olives can bring to a dish. So lets discuss how to make the pork. I went to my local store and grabbed a boneless pork butt. I then made a mix of olives, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, salt, ground black pepper, crushed red pepper, ground coriander seed (I dried these out from the garden and they so yum)

15 pitted black olives

15 pitted green olives

8 cloves of garlic

½ cup of olive oil

¼ cup of fresh lime juice

½ teaspoon coriander

1`teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt (remember the olives have a lot of salt)

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

½ bunch chopped cilantro

I first chop the garlic very fine, then the olives but I like the olives to be a bit bigger then the garlic I put them in a bowl and add the chopped cilantro and all the other ingredients. I then rub this mix all over my pork … I get in all the crevasses and then tie the butt back up into a compact little roll of pork love.

I put my oven on 360 and bake the roast covered for about 30 minutes per pound.

In the last 40 min I add a pork stock to the pan and let it reduce in the oven with the pork….. then I let my pork rest after it cooks and that my friend is how you make your butt happy!!!

The fall offers us so many other great dishes, dishes that taste so much better with the chill of fall right out side your window. Butternut squash, roast lamb, roast chicken (is it me or is roast chicken the best on a cold day?) and when your done with the chicken it’s great to use the leftovers and bones to make a killer soup! Stuffed cabbage, lasagna, any thing cooked in a tagine. These are just a few things that come to mind!!

Its almost thanksgiving so feel free to post your cooking and entertaining questions here