Posts tagged ‘dreams’

Here’s your butter Julia!

on February 3, 2012

Sometimes I have dreams about food.

Shocking right? And most of the time they are crazy…which is why i don’t tell you about them. (I think I’ll just publish a “Tanner’s Crazy Dreams” book later in my life) Every once in a while though I have a dream that is not quite as crazy as the others and needs to be shared. Last night I fell asleep in Lincoln, Nebraska and woke up in the land of Julia Child.

As a 17 year old…sure I know who Julia Child is, but I never really had a chance to experience what she was all about. To be totally honest I thought she was boring when I first layed eyes on her TV show. CRAZY…I know. But there has been a change in the air.

Every day during the week I’ve started to watch “The French Chef” on the Cooking Channel. Her show puts me in a trance, ignites my passion for food, and sends me over a flavor rainbow with a huge pot of beef bourguignon on the other side. I DIDN’T KNOW HER MAGIC EXISTED. Sure, I knew who she was, I knew she was THE celebrity chef…but I didn’t know why she was who she was.

After being completely sucked into everything she has done…I’ve started to feel sad, and guilty, and in love. I feel like maybe I could’ve gotten to know her better before she passed away…even though I know that would’ve been a far off dream. Maybe I could’ve run into her in a french bistro, and asked her to sign my forehead. Who knows! But I think my feelings of guilt, sadness, and love all stem from me wishing I could meet her and follow in her footsteps…and somehow fall in love over a fancy dinner. I mean she’s just plain awesome. ;)

So I finished sending emails last night and slowly fell asleep. My dream started like normal…Everything I was thinking about before bed started fighting to the death. The topic that came out on top received the high honor of supplying me with great entertainment for about 5 hours. Julia was obviously the winner with her big knife and chicken minions.

In my dream Julia received an email from me. (I frequently send out emails to amazing chefs asking for advice) While I slobbered on my body pillow last night…My new Idol hit reply. She asked me to come to her home. Not because she wanted to cook with me, or talk with me, but because she was out of butter and desperately needed me to bring her some. Funny huh? I remember arriving at her kitchen, which was the exact kitchen out of her show, and guess what happened? She wouldn’t say a word to me. I offered her the butter she desperately needed…and she just didn’t say anything. I didn’t know if I came too late, or made her mad…I was extremely confused, but became even more confused when she finally looked up at me and said “just keep chopping.”

“Just Keep Chopping,” What the heck does that mean? I wasn’t even chopping anything. I was just standing in her kitchen with the butter she asked for! I tried again to communicate with her, but from then on the only thing she would say to me was “just keep chopping.”

Sadly I don’t remember much more from this dream. The part that I do remember though really REALLY impacted me. The “just keep chopping” went on for quite some time I believe. Before I headed over to the radio station today to share my super bowl hot wings recipe…I googled quotes from Julia Child. I was thinking that it would be really creepy to see “just keep chopping” on the list.

No, I didn’t find it (that would’ve been crazy!)…but I did find this one:

“You’ll never know everything about anything, especially something you love.”
― Julia Child

So I decided to interpret my dream in this way:

Just keep chopping is Julia’s way of telling me to not give up. Lately I’ve been trying to really figure out the direction I want to go after High School…and what this quote tells me is that for the rest of my life I get to chase after my dreams. I WILL be on the Food Network, I WILL go to culinary school, I WILL speak to and inspire millions of people. And while I’m doing all of this I will continue to grow, and learn about what I love. Everything will happen the way it should. (even though I’m slightly disappointed I didn’t get to eat any of her food in my dream)

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Share your dreams with me in the comments. :)

Tweet me too! 

 Bon Appétit!

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The Spork Means Business

on January 26, 2012

Let me start by telling you about my love of Sporks.

Do I love them because they are retro? Do I love them because they are the most useful thing on the planet? Nope! both of those are close….but the truth is:

I just fear that If someone doesn’t start using them, then slowly the spark of the spork will drift away.

So let me show you what I got for christmas this year:   Cool right? a knoork? My mom knows me darn well. The name Spork became a registered trademark in 1969. The Van Brode Milling Co., Inc., of Clinton, Massuchests described it as a piece of cutlery combining the features of a spoon, a fork and sometimes a knife. This means that even though it has a knife as well…if can still be called a spork. (I was kinda digging the knoork actually)

If you know me well, then you know that l like to find meaning in everything. lately I’ve been relating the spork to business…Helping me be more efficient in what I do. As a small business owner myself, I’m constantly trying to be more and more productive. The trick I’ve learned though is that you have to effectively combine everything you’re doing into a single successful brand, which is easier said than done. So here’s my sporkarific observation

Spoon

I describe a spoon as a calm and relaxed utensil. you use it to gently bring warm and cozy soup to your lips, or comforting and cold ice cream to your soul. (yes, ice cream goes straight to your soul) But how do I relate this to real life? Well here’s the deal…When I’m most relaxed the ideas start flowing extremely fast! Sometimes so fast that I don’t know what to do! My mind will get crowded and then all of the sudden there are new ideas shoving my old ideas out through my ears. Those old ideas were great though…so how do I get control of my dreams and head back down towards a relaxed state?

I create a list of 100 dreams. You may have read my previous 100 dreams blog, but this list is a different kind of list. I’m a person that gets my best ideas in the shower. Why? I’m not sure…but what I now do with those ideas is write them down on my Spork Dream List. These are dreams relating to my business that I’ll be able to tackle. You might think that having all of those dreams written down will still make things crazy and confusing right? That leads me to the fork….

Fork

Forks are go getters. They not only go after what they want, but the bring back a prize. (occasionally they miss the bite, but don’t worry, they never give up!) What the fork represents is your ability to choose. You have to be able to narrow down your dreams and your goals to the ones that will be most beneficial for you NOW! The future is a great thing to think about, trust me I spend a lot of time there in my brain, but being able to choose the most feasible dream is a necessity. Go through your list and pick one, maybe two projects that you can start right now. Then be a go getter and chase that dream until it brings you the ultimate prize. By taking a small bite out of your list you’ll gain experience, and gain customers just like that. Remember that It’s okay to say “no, not right now” to your dreams. You just have to know when the right time to say yes is. How do you know when the right time is? Well…That leads me to my last little rant. Careful of the knife!

Knife

Quite the amazing utensil right? Knives can be intimidating and sharp. If you don’t see it coming them BAM…no more finger. here’s how you use the knife to help your business:

Once you have chosen your one or two goals to bite, it’s time to dissect them. What is it going to take to accomplish them?

Whenever I’m cutting a steak I always have a plan. I’ll look for which way the grain is running through the meat, and then I picture what bite will be the best. Then, with a method, I cut the steak…leaving the best bite for last. (Doesn’t everyone do this?)

Having a plan just rocks. It does! I use to be horrible at creating a plan, but slowly I’ve gained some skill in this area. Sure things happen that you don’t expect, and organizing yourself can be intimidating…but by having a base plan you’ll be able to adapt to anything. So use your knife to dissect the dreams that you have chosen to tackle.

The Review

Sporks can be a part of your everyday life! Go buy one at the store! Even if you just keep it in your office reminding you to successfully combine your thoughts together…I’ll be happy! Just remember that you can spoon your dreams into an un-intimidating list. After that then you can carefully pick and choose which dream will help you the most right now, and prepare to take a bite! If your lucky enough to find a spork with a knife attached as well…then put that baby to use by dissecting the dream you carefully chose. Make a plan and believe in yourself!

Whether you are in the restaurant industry….or any other industry for that matter…You have potential to use a spork for more that just eating.

 

:) Tweet me with questions. 

 

 

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100 Dreams

on January 16, 2012

Happy monday everyone!

Here’s my challenge to you this week: Create a list of your 100 dreams

Below are my 100 dreams to help spark your imagination. Just think of anything you’ve ever wanted to do! I’ll be crossing these off throughout my whole life, and every year I update and revise my dreams.

Share your dreams with me if you’d like! :)

My 100 Dreams

  1. Inspire other people to follow their dreams by passionately pursuing each of mine.
  2. Have a TV show on Food Network because that’s what first inspired me to cook.
  3. Open a restaurant that focuses on serving healthy food and helps families become healthy.
  4. Successfully host and promote my radio show and podcast so It’s very well known and respected.
  5. Become a more focused entrepreneur
  6.  Create my website so that it’s extremely unique and engaging with many new and returning guests.
  7. Own a food truck that serves healthy food that tastes AMAZING.
  8. Workout 6 days a week, or every chance I get. Even if I don’t feel like it.
  9. Have 10,000 twitter followers…and then any number beyond will be like a dream.
  10.  Eat dinner with Alton Brown
  11.  Get a meaningful and cool tattoo.
  12.  Go skydiving in the Swiss Alps
  13.  Move to California for college and always have a place to live there.
  14.  Create an online cooking show with a big sponsor. (Kitchen Aid, BHG, Vitamix)
  15.  Always be as unique and creative as possible.
  16.  Get my pilots license.
  17.  Spend a month in Vietnam.
  18.  Build a house on LOTS of land.
  19.  Live where I can see tons of starts at night.
  20.  Win a James Beard Award!
  21.  Be a guest on Good Morning America.
  22.  Be a guest on the Today Show.
  23.  Be a guest on the Rachel Ray Show.
  24.  Be a guest on the Ellen Show.
  25.  Eat dinner and have awesome conversation with Jose Andres.
  26.  Meet and talk with Jamie Oliver and then partner in some kind of project.
  27.  Get a huge sponsor to support our Fatplate radio show.
  28.  Open restaurant incubators in Lincoln and beyond.
  29.  Purchase farmland and grow all kinds of healthy and delicious foods.
  30.  Open a restaurant that uses only food from the farm.
  31.  Syndicate one of my radio shows.
  32.  WRITE A BOOK! Write more than one book actually, and get them done fast! Then be a New York Times Best Selling Author.
  33.  Go to New York City and visit Food Network and Chelsea’s Market.
  34.  Make a time capsule.
  35.  Go back to the Grand Wailea on Maui every 5 years.
  36.  Live in Spain for 1 year.
  37.  Go on a cruise to Panama, Costa Rica, and Belize again.
  38.  Buy a small house/shack in the Caribbean.
  39.  Visit Atlantis in Nassau again.
  40.  Snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef.
  41.  Go vegan for a week.
  42.  Workout on the beach.
  43.  Dye my hair a crazy color.
  44.  Cook with and eat bugs.
  45.  Eat a piece of fish or other sea life on the boat that caught it.
  46.  Compete on Iron Chef America.
  47.  Go to Culinary School.
  48.  Get a degree in nutrition and dietetics.
  49.  Throw a BIG party for all the close people in my life that helped me become who I am.
  50.  Be the keynote speaker at the UCLA extension restaurant industry conference.
  51.  Create a speaking tour and go all over the United States.
  52.  Get 1,000 “Likes” on facebook.
  53.  Have a destination wedding.
  54.  Create a color-coding system for food that is served in schools. With the mission being to educate students about nutrition without them really knowing their learning.
  55.  Go on a speaking tour with a political figure.
  56.  Eat dinner with Anthony Bourdain.
  57.  Have 4 children.
  58.  Be a mentor to many people.
  59.  Visit South Africa.
  60. Always remember to give back to the community!
  61.  Always start by telling people why I’m doing what I’m doing, not just the details about what I’m doing.
  62.  Buy a boat and Jet Ski!
  63.  Have a cabin on a lake in Nebraska.
  64.  Meet the President and First Lady.
  65.  Eat my way through Europe.
  66.  Cook with an old Greek lady in her kitchen.
  67.  Never become part of a pyramid scheme business.
  68.  Always remember to BE MYSELF.
  69. Remember who my true friends are and let them always know how thankful I am for them being in my life.
  70.  Go up to Grand Island and cook with my grandma, and talk to my grandpa who I haven’t seen since I don’t know when.
  71.  Watch the sunset on the airplane beach in St. Martin.
  72.  Own sugar gliders again.
  73.  Go in one of those shark cages where I can see a great white up close and personal in its own environment.
  74.  Be involved with the UCLA extension restaurant industry conference every year.
  75.  Visit a black sand beach.
  76.  Have lunch with….drum roll please…Oprah!
  77.  Have my podcast do AMAZING on iTunes.
  78.  Buy the person behind me in a drive through at a coffee shop their drink(s).
  79.  Re-design the idea of what a kitchen should look like.
  80.  Build a mobile kitchen for speaking engagements that’s unique and cool!
  81.  Own a range rover
  82.  Own a FJ cruiser.
  83.  Help my mom open up a business.
  84.  Create a HUGE healthy eating campaign and partner with big name entertainers.
  85.  Buy a pair of TOM’s sunglasses.
  86.  Allow a needy family to always eat free in my restaurant.
  87.  Be mentioned in a lady gaga tweet. LOL.
  88.  Eat dinner with Andrew Zimmern.
  89.  Be a New York Times and LA Times contributor for food and nutrition.
  90.  Randomly be cast in a movie.
  91.  Always hand write and mail thank you letters.
  92.  Go on a cruise through the Mediterranean.
  93.  Learn how to play the guitar.
  94.  Go on an African Safari and see a giraffe.
  95.  Own a “pocket pig” as a pet.
  96.  Design a line of cooking tools.
  97.  Be the spokes person for a BIG non-profit organization.
  98.  Have a unique and fun office space. A one of a kind office atmosphere.
  99.  Look at the stars from a boat out in the middle of the ocean.
  100. Always remember Success is a journey, not a destination.

Tweet me :)  

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