Tag Archives: Quill Shiv

俳句… HAIKU BOMBERS #2… St. Paddy’s Tacos

By tedstrutz on | 6 Comments

I first posted this story on March 15, 2012… I thought it would be fun to bring back for St. Pat’s Day 2016… it was one of my first attempts at writing a Haiku…

          Quill Shiv has a new Haiku writing prompt… A photo of Saint Patrick.  

My result:

                         You can make your own,
                         corned beef, cabbage, and salsa
                         at the taco bar.

 

Corned Beef and Cabbage Tacos… In 1986, back in my Restaurant Days, I went to work for Jerry Franco.  Jerry was a bit of a culinary impresario on the Sacramento restaurant scene.  He had just reopened the Town House on 21st Street, down the block from The Sacramento Bee newspaper.  The Town House had been a Mexican Food tradition and had been sitting empty for a few years after the owner retired.   Franco had opened in a blaze of glory, courting the news hounds and the denizens of California State Government. Having just left a job managing The Fabulous Fifties Cafe, I was ready to mingle with and serve adults.  So I went to work for Jerry as a waiter/bartender/manager.

It was a fun place to work, and we did some crazy promotions to try to make the Town House a success.  Big lunch business, big after-work bar business.  He kept a few Mexican items on the menu, along with the ‘Upscale Designer’ dishes he came up with.  Each Happy Hour, we featured a Taco Bar, where the patrons could make their own tacos, to wash down with their Martinis and G & T’s.  For me, that taco bar was a pain in the ass, since I had to leave the bar and run back to the kitchen to replenish the supplies.  But the tips were pretty good as long as the food held out.

Saint Patrick’s Day was coming up, and the Town House, along with every other bar and restaurant in Sacramento… no, in the United States… was looking for ways to make some money off one of our more important Drinking Holidays.  I had the bright idea to put corned beef and cabbage on our Taco Bar for the day.  Jerry agreed that it was a brilliant idea, and gave me full credit, in case it bombed.  Getting free publicity was not too difficult since we always made sure to ‘take good care of’ certain writers from up the street.  Low and behold, we saw some nice mentions in the gossip and the What’s Going On In Town sections of the Bee the day before, and our Happy Hour was packed that St. Paddy’s Day.  In fact, two guys drove down from Hangtown at lunchtime to try the CB&C Tacos.  I had to plead with the cook to make some for them.  At Happy Hour, the idea was well received, lots of new people came in, and best of all… Mr. Franco even stuck around to help stock the Taco Bar.
So, when I saw the photo prompt for this week’s Haiku… for some reason, I thought of those Corned Beef and Cabbage Tacos, and my days working at the Town House.
About four months later, I left for the neon restaurant lights of Chicago.  I later heard that the Town House had closed and that Franco was the chef at a seafood joint in Cape Cod. Last time I was in SacTown, it was a gay bar.
Posted in: Food, Haiku Bombers, Memoir | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

俳句… HAIKU BOMBERS #2… St. Paddy’s Tacos

By tedstrutz on | 4 Comments
          Quill Shiv has a new Haiku writing prompt… A photo of Saint Patrick.  
My result:
                         You can make your own
                         corned beef, cabbage and salsa
                         at the taco bar.
Corned Beef and Cabbage Tacos… In 1986, back in my Restaurant Days, I went to work for Jerry Franco.  Jerry was a bit of a culinary impresario on the Sacramento restaurant scene.  He had just reopened The Town House on 21st Street, down the block from The Sacramento Bee newspaper.  The Town House had been a Mexican Food tradition, and had been sitting empty for a few years after the owner retired.   Franco had opened in a blaze of glory, courting the news hounds and the denizens of California State Government. Having just left a job managing The Fabulous Fifties Cafe, I was ready to mingle with and serve adults.  So I went to work for Jerry as a waiter/bartender/manager.
It was a fun place to work, and we did some crazy promotions to try to make the The Town House a success.  Big lunch business, big after-work bar business.  He kept a few Mexican items on the menu, along with the ‘Upscale Designer’ dishes he came up with.  Each Happy Hour, we featured a Taco Bar, where the patrons could make their own tacos, to wash down with their Martinis and G & T’s.  For me, that taco bar was a pain in the ass, since I had to leave the bar and run back in the kitchen to replenish the supplies.  But the tips were pretty good as long as the food held out.
Saint Patrick’s Day was coming up, and The Town House, along with every other bar and restaurant in Sacramento… no, in the United States… was looking for ways to make some money off one of our more important Drinking Holidays.  I had the bright idea to put corned beef and cabbage on our Taco Bar for the day.  Jerry agreed that it was a brilliant idea, and gave me full credit, in case it bombed.  Getting free publicity was not too difficult, since we always made sure to ‘take good care of’ certain writers from up the street.  Low and behold, we saw some nice mentions in the gossip and the What’s Going On In Town sections of the Bee the day before, and our Happy Hour was packed that St. Paddy’s Day.  In fact, two guys drove down from Hangtown at lunch time to try the CB&C Tacos.  I had to plead with the cook to make some for them.  At Happy Hour, the idea was well received, lots of new people came in, and best of all… Mr. Franco even stuck around to help stock the Taco Bar.
So, when I saw the photo prompt for this week’s Haiku… for some reason, I thought of those Corned Beef and Cabbage Tacos, and working at The Town House.
About 4 months later, I left for the Neon Restaurant Lights of Chicago.  I later heard that the Town House had closed and that Franco was the chef at a seafood joint in Cape Cod.  Last time I was in SacTown, it was a gay bar.
Posted in: Haiku Bombers | Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,
By tedstrutz on | 2 Comments

SAINT PATRICK’S DAY REVISIT…

TedBook

          Quill Shiv has a new Haiku writing prompt… A photo of Saint Patrick.  
My result:
                         You can make your own 
                         corned beef, cabbage and salsa
                         at the taco bar.
 
Corned Beef and Cabbage Tacos… In 1986, back in my Restaurant Days, I went to work for Jerry Franco.  Jerry was a bit of a culinary impresario on the Sacramento restaurant scene.  He had just reopened The Town House on 21st Street, down the block from The Sacramento Bee newspaper.  The Town House had been a Mexican Food tradition, and had been sitting empty for a few years after the owner retired.   Franco had opened in a…

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Posted in: Haiku Bombers, Memoir | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,
By tedstrutz on | Leave a comment

IT’S BEEN 1 YEAR SINCE I WROTE MY FIRST FICTION PIECE… HERE IT IS…

 

TedBook

She was just a girl, but she had managed to break the magician’s code. As she entered the cinderblock building, Pan almost choked on the bile produced, not only by the smell, but the fear that was beading the sweat on her forehead. She knew her job, now she just needed to find the container. They had said it was in the shape of a bucket, that she should not open it. Barely seeing, more like feeling, Pan searched. It would have been nice to have had a torch, but then batteries cost a lot these days.

It was hard to concentrate, with one ear looking toward the door, the other searching the room for any sense of movement. The floor was greasy and made for slippery going, but at last she found a stack of what felt like buckets. Just one was needed, she was surprised at how easily…

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Posted in: Flash Fiction | Tagged: , , , , ,

Flash Fiction Faction: I CAN’T FIND IT!!!

By tedstrutz on | 13 Comments

   The following story was inspired by Quill Shiv‘s Flash Fiction Faction prompt:

Oh dear. What happened to the train?

“Has he called it in yet?”
“No, and I’m starting to worry. Not like him to be this late letting us know the number.”
“Be sure to have them meet him at the station. I don’t want anything to delay the delivery.”

I know I’ve just been down this street. Nothing is looking right. God, I have to hurry.  They can’t move a train, can they?

“Anything yet?”
“No.”
“I told him it was not safe to miss the train.”

I should call them!   Oh…  I forgot the number!  I know it’s in this phone somewhere.   How do I bring it up.  Maybe this will work.  Who are these people?  I don’t recognize any of…

“Finally! I’m putting him on speaker. Was that a cry?”
“I heard it too.”

This is my third attempt at fiction.  I had not planned to write on this prompt… I guess I wasn’t prompted.  But then, yesterday I awoke at 4:30 and had this story in my mind.  I don’t think I dreamt it, just thought about it when I woke up.  I think I was inspired by all those waiter and actor dreams where you are trying to find something, like the table you are supposed to be waiting on, and you keep getting more desperate.  I got up and wrote what I thought was a pretty good story, and then… I erased it by mistake.  I could not get it back, and try as I might, I could not recreate the same mood.  Tonight when I saw Rinn’s story (that’s Quill… some Pen Name, huh?), and stories others had written, I really wished I had mine.  So here it is.   A little different maybe, but I like it.  

Posted in: Flash Fiction | Tagged: , , ,

俳句… HAIKU BOMBERS #3… Watchmaker’s Car

By tedstrutz on | 16 Comments

                                                      young Watchmaker’s girls,

                                                      home from school patiently pose,

                                                      in clothes neatly pressed.


                                                       so long ago watches cleaned,

                                                       only buck fifty the fee,

                                                       but, gassed up the car.


                                                        little black Austin Bantam,

                                                        family of six fit inside,

                                                        they must have been squished.

Once again, it’s Haiku Time.  This week’s prompt from Quill Shiv, was to find a photo of children and be inspired… http://quillshiv.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/haiku-bombers-prompt-3/

I chose this family photo, from I would guess circa 1930.  My Grand father was a watchmaker, jeweler, optician, and railroad watch inspector in Sacramento.  This was the family car and I’ve quite a few photos of it.  My grandparents had 5 kids, and my father would drive all the kids to school in it.  As you can see, it is quite small.  When he was in high school, as a prank, his friends carried it up to the stage before an assembly, and left it there.  My aunts Laura and Emily pose above with the Austin Bantam auto, and my grandfather Theodore is below, probably repairing a watch or two.


Posted in: creative writing, Haiku Bombers | Tagged: , , , , ,

俳句… HAIKU BOMBERS #2… St. Paddy’s Tacos

By tedstrutz on | 4 Comments
          Quill Shiv has a new Haiku writing prompt… A photo of Saint Patrick.  
My result:
                         You can make your own 
                         corned beef, cabbage and salsa
                         at the taco bar.
 
Corned Beef and Cabbage Tacos… In 1986, back in my Restaurant Days, I went to work for Jerry Franco.  Jerry was a bit of a culinary impresario on the Sacramento restaurant scene.  He had just reopened The Town House on 21st Street, down the block from The Sacramento Bee newspaper.  The Town House had been a Mexican Food tradition, and had been sitting empty for a few years after the owner retired.   Franco had opened in a blaze of glory, courting the news hounds and the denizens of California State Government. Having just left a job managing The Fabulous Fifties Cafe, I was ready to mingle with and serve adults.  So I went to work for Jerry as a waiter/bartender/manager.
It was a fun place to work, and we did some crazy promotions to try to make the The Town House a success.  Big lunch business, big after-work bar business.  He kept a few Mexican items on the menu, along with the ‘Upscale Designer’ dishes he came up with.  Each Happy Hour, we featured a Taco Bar, where the patrons could make their own tacos, to wash down with their Martinis and G & T’s.  For me, that taco bar was a pain in the ass, since I had to leave the bar and run back in the kitchen to replenish the supplies.  But the tips were pretty good as long as the food held out.
Saint Patrick’s Day was coming up, and The Town House, along with every other bar and restaurant in Sacramento… no, in the United States… was looking for ways to make some money off one of our more important Drinking Holidays.  I had the bright idea to put corned beef and cabbage on our Taco Bar for the day.  Jerry agreed that it was a brilliant idea, and gave me full credit, in case it bombed.  Getting free publicity was not too difficult, since we always made sure to ‘take good care of’ certain writers from up the street.  Low and behold, we saw some nice mentions in the gossip and the What’s Going On In Town sections of the Bee the day before, and our Happy Hour was packed that St. Paddy’s Day.  In fact, two guys drove down from Hangtown at lunch time to try the CB&C Tacos.  I had to plead with the cook to make some for them.  At Happy Hour, the idea was well received, lots of new people came in, and best of all… Mr. Franco even stuck around to help stock the Taco Bar.
So, when I saw the photo prompt for this week’s Haiku… for some reason, I thought of those Corned Beef and Cabbage Tacos, and working at The Town House.
About 4 months later, I left for the Neon Restaurant Lights of Chicago.  I later heard that the Town House had closed and that Franco was the chef at a seafood joint in Cape Cod.  Last time I was in SacTown, it was a gay bar.
Posted in: Haiku Bombers, Memoir | Tagged: , , , , , , , ,
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