Today is a not atypical dinner problem: I have a guest coming over so I don't want to utterly wing it, the car smells bad (Amelie spilled milk all over everything yesterday.) so I don't want to shop, and I have a gorgeous boneless leg of lamb in the fridge. I have a recipe for roast shoulder of lamb, from my cordon bleu cooking class, but philippe just expressed distain for the results of it. Now what?
My first step is usually to form a vague vision of the end result-- I want to do a roast leg of lamb, I've decided, probably butterflied and rolled. The Cordon Bleu one was stuffed, but I am not going to go shopping for the sausage and chicken liver mixture it was stuffed with.
Now I research how others approach this task, startign with my most trustworth adviser, jaque Pepin, then moving out to Julia Child and a few cooksbooks that look like they might have recipes in that vein, such as anthony bourdain. And I hit up epicurious.
BONELESS LEG OF LAMB STUFFED WITH SWISS CHARD AND FETA
LEG OF LAMB STUFFED WITH WILD MUSHROOMS AND GREENS
HERB-STUFFED LEG OF LAMB
So far Julia has the best recipes, so I will use her book as the base approach.
Next I read a bit of McGee to get my head around the advantages of searing and slow roasting, and what might cause dryness or toughness.
Now I have theory, and examples. I look for patterns-- how do most folks tie up a raost? What stuffing is recommended? What temperature/time? Trusting Julia more than other sources, but listening for interesting ideas.
I'm seeing that there seem to be two kinds of stuffing-- stuffing for flavor layers, and stuffing that has its own presence: for example, a herb stuffing you would not notice, while the previously mentioned chicken liver/sausage stuffng you would. Julia mentions an olive paste stuffing, and i have some Trader Joe's tapenade in the cupboard, so I'll go that way.
Next I like to print out the recipe I'm goign to follow-- if it's Julia, I'll still print out the epicurious recipe because its' easier, and make notes on it based on what Julia says. Then I'll cook.
I'll let you know how it turns out. My final step is usually to publish the final recipe on my recipe site.
So why did I categorize this post as Strategy? Because this method, I realized, is how I approach business concepts also.
Set a vague goal
Research space
Get expert advice, weighing trusted advisers over unknown
Set a specific goal
Execute
Record learnings
We’re trying to underdo the competition… at Noise Between Stations
IT departments spend months deciding whether to offer a service, evaluating packages, and designing a scalable offering. Meanwhile, individuals and teams simply sign up for a web-based service and get their jobs done.
This I got from a friend who said it was Michael Moritz's preferred take. Considering his track record, I'd say following his investment pitch format might be a smart idea.
Flip This House - Intern Affairs
This episode (unfortunately, only a small clip is avilable on the site) changed my life. I know that sounds completely crazy, but it did.
The reference in this blog post's title refers to a Stuart Smalley line that has stuck in my head forever... sometimes exactly what you need to see or hear arrives right in front of you when you are ready for it.
In this case, the line from the episode, "Whatever it takes" continues to drive me in my quest to help my company and my family thrive.
How to Change the World: The Entrepreneur's New Year's Resolution: "I Will Fix My Pitch"
Back working on my slides. I can't even begin to tell you how many versions I have of them. But in interest of trying to be useful, I'm going to share this, the first of several bits of advice, and the templates I've made from them.
Download PPT
Don't forget: your name and contact info needs to be on every slide-- that means sticking it in the footer of the master.
I put the same content in the slide and the notes area, so I can read the slide, delete it, put in new material, then refer back to the notes area. You can do as you please, but I recommend deleteing the footer area if you plan to send your slides around. ;-)
Last spring I was in Firenze, and lost my wallet. This year I haven't been able to log on to Orkut, because I couldn't recall my username. Orkut just sent me a email which told me I'd be kicked out if I didn't sign in-- and included my username. I logged in, and admist the stupid spam and weird come-ons in my "scraps" I found this.
It makes me believe in the basic decency of humanity (although a search on google instead of orkut woudl have been more effective.)
Amazing.
Pogue’s Posts - Technology - New York Times Blog
It goes to the tune of the Village People song “Y.M.C.A.” Ready? Cue the disco drums!“R.I.A.A.”
Young man,
You were surfing along,
And then, young man,
You downloaded a song,
And then, dumb man,
Copied it to your ‘Pod,
Then a phone call came to tell you:You’ve just been sued by the R.I.A.A.!
You’ve just been sued by the R.I.A.A.!
Their attorneys say, you committed a crime,
And there’d better not be a next time!"Defintely go to his blog and ready (and sing along) to the rest...
Mobile Persuasion - Stanford University
Check this out-- I've long been a fan of B.J. Fogg's work, and loved his keynote at the summit, so I figure this event should be a blast....
Well, with that forthcoming title, I thought I'd see if there are any students out there, bursting with ambition and seeking mentorship who'd like to some design work for PS as an intern. We have other needs also, so if you have many talents ... email me @ cwodtke here(this domain) and we can chat....
