the pragmatic chef™

Back to Main

July 03, 2008

From the mailbox

(Survival Spice™, our 2006 Scovie-award winning barbecue rub)

Here's a great letter from Fran in Texas, who happened to place an order during one of our not-so-secret newsletter specials. As a reminder, you can see our newsletter archive here.

Continue reading "From the mailbox"

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 07:06 AM | Comments (0)

Back to Main

December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas!!!

(Maybe I can get a gig with ZZ Top after the holiday rush...)

Merry Christmas from Julie, me and Desert Island Foods®.com! Thanks for all your support over the last year, especially with my sketchy blogging schedule. That's definitely on my list of New Year's resolutions.

Email me pictures of what you've been eating, if you'd like to share, we love getting pictures from you, even if you're not using one of our great products, but we love it a little more when you are!

Thanks again, and whatever you celebrate, I wish you the very best this time of year.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:14 AM | Comments (2)

Back to Main

November 02, 2007

Tibvrtini Olio Novello now available for pre-orders!!!

Whoo hoo!!! Tibvrtini has increased our allocation for their absolutely superb Novello olive oil.

This is the first pressing of the finest organic olives from a family farm outside of Rome, bottled and shipped immediately. A truly special offering that only comes once a year. It's one of the nicest gifts you could ever give someone who appreciates the best in food.

The price has gone up since last year- the rising Euro vs. the dollar being the main culprit- but it's SO worth it.

Order now! So far most of the people that ordered last year are doubling their orders, so it will go fast.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 06:59 AM | Comments (2)

Back to Main

September 17, 2007

Chilebrown says "Survival Spice is on the winning team!!!!"

(Team Chilebrown- Mark, James, Ms. Goofy and Paul "Chile" Brown- holding the $300 check, of course...)

WHOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Team Chilebrown kick some major butt this past weekend, winning the Rodeo Chili Cookoff this past weekend. They used Survival Spice® as part of their prize winning Tri Tip Chile:

UPDATE: I think we'll run a secret "Team Chilebrown" Survival Spice™ Sale. If you leave a comment here, and place an order, I'll double your tins for the next week or so!

Dr. Biggles has lots more pics, and he actually got to taste it. I'm jealous. So did this guy, and he seems to be enjoying it, notice the cool little Desert Island Foods®.com plug we got on the sign on the wall:

Congratulations to Chile and his team. When Paul lets me know the names of the other team members, I'll update this.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 10:25 AM | Comments (3)

Back to Main

September 11, 2007

Survival Spice® mentioned at Slashfood

JB just put in a nice plug for Survival Spice™ over at Slashfood. It's an interesting post, check it out. And if you were to echo his sentiments, if you were feeling that way, we'd appreciate it!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 08:06 AM | Comments (0)

Back to Main

April 24, 2007

The Pragmatic Chef Turns Two!

Wow, another year has gone by. Though I haven't been able to post (or even cook) as much this last year, I still love talking about food and cooking.

Thanks to all of you who stop by regularly, and who have helped us continue to make Desert Island Foods®.com a success.

Keep cooking, and sharing your dishes and news stories!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 07:04 AM | Comments (6)

Back to Main

November 08, 2006

Two One bottles left!!!

The Novello version of Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva is nearly sold out after just two days! (The link is to the regular version, which is wonderful.) This an absolutely incredible product- fresh on the palette, grassy, with buttery overtones. The olives are grown on a family-owned organic orchard outside of Rome, and the quality is astounding!

Email me if you're interested, it will sell for $24.99.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 07:31 AM | Comments (0)

Back to Main

November 02, 2006

Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgine di Oliva Novello

I've been notified that our supplier is headed to Italy for the harvest and the special first pressing of Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva, called Novello. (The link is to the regular version, which is wonderful.) This an absolutely incredible product- fresh on the palette, grassy, with buttery overtones. The olives are grown on a family-owned organic orchard outside of Rome, and the quality is astounding!

I'll stock some if I get enough interest. This would make an incredible gift this holiday season, and would delight the food lover in your life! Email me if you're interested, it would sell for $24.99.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 06:55 AM | Comments (1)

Back to Main

October 09, 2006

The Spam® Cookoff- WINNER!!!!

Congratulations, Diana, on your fine victory! Diana has won Food Fight Five- The Spam® Cookoff, with her Curried Spam® and Mango Salad, which she presented in a couple of interesting ways.

Diana, if you still want to donate your six-pack to Operation Gratitude as part of our Two For the Troops program, I'll be glad to match it!

This was a really good competition, I think. To make something like Spam® into an upscale dish takes a lot of thought and imagination, and every entry we had sure had both of those! Thanks to everybody who entered, even the "imaginary entries" were really fun.

So, what's the next Food Fight to be?

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 10:17 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Back to Main

September 14, 2006

Spam® cookoff

We haven't run a contest around here in a while, mostly because we've all been so busy; but I mentioned this last week, and Chilebrown is up to the challenge, so why not?

How about a Spam® cookoff? Just throwing it out there to see if there's any interest. We'll have fun with it, and I'll send a six-pack of Survival Spice™ to the winner, just so there's some motivation!

C'mon, with all of the good cooks reading here, someone ought to be able to make it edible. Not that I'm bagging on Spam® or anything, mind you...

Who's in? I think imagination needs to be a vital criteria for the judging.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 05:57 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Back to Main

August 16, 2006

"Two For the Troops" reminder

I've mentioned this a few times now, but wanted to remind you that we're supporting our troops and Operation Gratitude by offering a special product for their holiday shipments to the troops overseas. For $7.99, you can buy two tins of Survival Spice™, normally an $11.98 value. We'll then ship, at our expense, your donated tins to Operation Gratitude to be included in the packages that they ship overseas.

You can get more information about this program here. As a reminder, there's also an ad in the right sidebar so you can order at any time! If you would like to add this sidebar ad to your blog or website, email me and I'll get send you the image and the underlying code.

Just to summarize:

• You personally will receive no tins if you order this product, you are donating them to Operation Gratitude.
• You can certainly order our regular products to be shipped to you in the same transaction as well.
• Operation Gratitude is a 501(c)(3) organization, so your donation of $7.99 is tax deductible.
• We respect your privacy and we never share customer information, so if you would like an acknowledgment of your donation directly from Operation Gratitude, just indicate this in the "Special Instructions" box during the checkout process, and we'll forward your name and email address to Carolyn, who created this wonderful organization.
• You can donate as many tins as you like!
• If you prefer to donate cash instead, you can donate directly to Operation Gratitude by visiting their website.

Whatever your politics, our troops are overseas, and sadly will be there for some time yet. Operation Gratitude's collections for the big holiday shipments will begin in a few months, and their goal is to put together at least 40,000 packages on their next drive. I'd like to include a tin of Survival Spice™ in every one, but I need your help!

Please, please pass this information on to your friends, family and co-workers and ask them to help.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 08:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

August 08, 2006

"Two For the Troops" reminder- please keep this going!

Just to keep this fresh in your minds, and to again ask you to let your friends, family members and co-workers know that we're supporting our troops and Operation Gratitude by offering a special product! For $7.99, you can buy two tins of Survival Spice™, normally an $11.98 value. We'll then ship, at our expense, your donated tins to Operation Gratitude to be included in the packages that they ship overseas.

You can get more information about this program here. I'll be posting reminders, but just to be certain everybody's aware of this program, I've posted an ad in the right sidebar so you can order at any time! If you would like to add this sidebar ad to your blog or website, email me and I'll get send you the image and the underlying code.

Just to summarize:

• You personally will receive no tins if you order this product, you are donating them to Operation Gratitude.
• You can certainly order our regular products to be shipped to you in the same transaction as well.
• Operation Gratitude is a 501(c)(3) organization, so your donation of $7.99 is tax deductible.
• We respect your privacy and we never share customer information, so if you would like an acknowledgment of your donation directly from Operation Gratitude, just indicate this in the "Special Instructions" box during the checkout process, and we'll forward your name and email address to Carolyn, who created this wonderful organization.
• You can donate as many tins as you like!
• If you prefer to donate cash instead, you can donate directly to Operation Gratitude by visiting their website.

Whatever your politics, our troops are overseas, and sadly will be there for some time yet. Operation Gratitude's collections for the big holiday shipments will begin in a few months, and their goal is to put together at least 40,000 packages on their next drive. I'd like to include a tin of Survival Spice™ in every one, but until we can afford to do it on our own, I need your help!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:08 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Back to Main

August 02, 2006

Special Edition of "Island Currents"- Two For the Troops

Our special "Two For the Troops" edition of the Desert Island Foods™ newsletter, Island Currents, is now up. Please check it out, and help us spread the word about this program!!! If your employer will let you circulate this information or get involved, so much the better. Operation Gratitude is doing such good work, and I really appreciate how hard they work to find individual soldiers that don't have anyone Stateside supporting them. If you can afford it, please visit their site and donate some cash to help with the overseas shipping, too.

We're thinking big here, and keeping the buzz going is so important. Thanks so much for helping, I won't go on endlessly about it here, but until it gathers the necessary momentum I'll mention it every few days.

Check it out, and if you aren't on the mailing list, which gives you discounts and special offers but NOT spam, go to our Desert Island Foods™.com main page, and click in the bottom right Newsletter section to subscribe.

We do not share our mailing lists with anyone.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 11:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

July 31, 2006

Two For the Troops- We need your help!!!

As I mentioned Friday, we're supporting our troops and Operation Gratitude by offering a special product! For $7.99, you can buy two tins of Survival Spice™, normally an $11.98 value. We'll then ship, at our expense, your donated tins to Operation Gratitude to be included in the packages that they ship overseas.

You can get more information about this program here. I'll be posting reminders, but just to be certain everybody's aware of this program, I've posted an ad in the right sidebar so you can order at any time! If you would like to add this sidebar ad to your blog or website, email me and I'll get send you the image and the underlying code.

Just to summarize:

• You personally will receive no tins if you order this product, you are donating them to Operation Gratitude.
• You can certainly order our regular products to be shipped to you in the same transaction as well.
• Operation Gratitude is a 501(c)(3) organization, so your donation of $7.99 is tax deductible.
• We respect your privacy and we never share customer information, so if you would like an acknowledgment of your donation directly from Operation Gratitude, just indicate this in the "Special Instructions" box during the checkout process, and we'll forward your name and email address to Carolyn, who created this wonderful organization.
• You can donate as many tins as you like!
• If you prefer to donate cash instead, you can donate directly to Operation Gratitude by visiting their website.

Whatever your politics, our troops are overseas, and sadly will be there for some time yet. Operation Gratitude's collections for the big holiday shipments will begin in a few months, and their goal is to put together at least 40,000 packages on their next drive. I'd like to include a tin of Survival Spice™ in every one, but until we can afford to do it on our own, I need your help!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 10:18 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Back to Main

July 28, 2006

Operation Gratitude

Over at my "day job", Desert Island Foods™.com, we have a number of customers who have been buying tins of Survival Spice™ to send to loved ones in the military overseas.

In the past, we've supported organizations like Fisher House, which does a great job of providing temporary housing for families of injured solders in the States. But the idea of working with an organization that could get Survival Spice™ into the hands of troops overseas, that are living on mess hall food and MREs, really appeals to me. So in my research I found out about Operation Gratitude, which has sent over 150,000 care packages overseas to date.

Whatever your politics, the troops are there, and sadly will be there for some time yet. Operation Gratitude's collections for the big holiday shipments will begin in a few months, and their goal is to put together at least 40,000 packages on their next drive. I'd like to include a tin of Survival Spice™ in every one, but until we can afford to do it on our own, I need your help! I'm going to set up a program so that you can order two tins for just a bit more than the price of one. Both tins will be sent directly to Operation Gratitude. We're still finalizing the details, but I'll have more information next week.

Here's an excerpt from an Operation Gratitude press release, below the fold:

Continue reading "Operation Gratitude"

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:51 AM | Comments (10)

Back to Main

June 23, 2006

Got coupons????

(Scaled down example of our new online coupon)

We've launched a promotional campaign to help spread the word about our great stuff!

Do you or anybody you know sell online: Amazon, Ebay, Yahoo, your own site?

We're creating custom Desert Island Foods™.com coupons for you to ship with your order. Your customers get a discount on their first order at our site, they love you and give you great feedback, and we get a low-cost marketing campaign out of the deal. Sounds like Win/Win/Win, doesn't it? We also have a bookmark shaped coupon for those of you who sell books!

To sign up, just email our Sales department, making sure to remove the "REMOVETHESEWORDS" from the email address, and send us some information about what you're doing- links to your site, etc., just make sure the email address you use is the same one that's on your site. Once approved, we'll send you a .pdf file that you can print out as you need them. The coupons are good for 60 days from date of issue. All your customer has to do is shop at our site, then enter their coupon code when they check out. They'll see the savings immediately.

You do nothing but soak up the love...

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 10:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

June 21, 2006

Announcing our DIF Gourmet Gift Basket!

(Desert Island Foods™ Gourmet Gift Basket)

I'm happy to announce that we're starting to ship our new Gourmet Gift Basket. If you have someone that's a serious food lover and/or a serious cook, this is for you! It features:

• Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva, voted one of the top 7 olive oils in the world by Taste magazine.
• Tibvrtini Aceto di Vino Blanco, an amazing organic white wine vinegar.
• A tin of our Survival Spice™ barbecue rub.
• Our high quality, colorful DIF logo apron; comfortable, with an adjustable strap and two pockets.

Only $59.99, truly a great price for fantastic products. Along with a nice gift basket, clear cellophane wrap (picture shot on a light background so you can see it), and a colorful raffia bow, It ships fully assembled and comes out of the box looking great!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

May 26, 2006

Father's Day Gift Basket

(Photo: Mary)

I don't want to flog my "day job", but just a reminder that our BBQ Lovers gift basket is up at Desert Island Foods.com.

It's the perfect gift for Dad! It contains:

• A tin of Survival Spice™ along with a booklet with tips for use.
• Our popular DIF Logo Apron.
• An E-Z Hook®.
• A nifty Survival Spice™ refrigerator magnet.

The packaging includes a cool dual tone basket, with clear cellophane wrapping (it looks colored in the pic, I know, it was shot against a light gray background), and tied up with colorful raffia.

Only $29.99, so it's a great value, I think. We also have cool DIF T-shirts, plus everything in the basket is available seperately, too.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 11:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

May 23, 2006

Sneak Peak- Father's Day Gift Basket

(Photo: Mary)

Update: The gift basket is up at Desert Island Foods.com and at Amazon.

Father's Day is coming, and we have the perfect gift for Dad! I'll have more info soon, but this cool BBQ Lover's basket contains a tin of Survival Spice™ along with a booklet with tips for use, our popular DIF Logo Apron, an E-Z Hook®, and a nifty Survival Spice™ refrigerator magnet. The packaging includes a cool dual tone basket, with clear cellophane wrapping (it looks colored in the pic, I know, it was shot against a light gray background), and tied up with whatever-you-call-that stuff.

Price? Only $29.99. How do we do it? VOLUME!!!! Okay, that's overstating it a bit, but we've been able to buy in larger quantities, and we're happy to share the savings with you.

I'll have a link up later in the day. Seriously, this is really great quality stuff at a really great price. Take care of the old man this year, wouldja?

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 11:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

May 08, 2006

Fancy Foods Show- Day Two

Well, another day of bedlam, snacking and talking to food folk. The Fancy Food Show and the Organic show struck me as being bigger this year, but a few people I talked to remarked about how the big food distributers commanded more space. The FF show shares a hall with the Produce show, which was definitely larger, so I think that might have had an impact on my perception, too. I tried quite a few things I thought might be appropriate for Desert Island Foods™.com, so I'll certainly be evaluating those more closely.

The Organic show was definitely more impressive than last year. It seems like the big boys are getting into the all natural/organic biz in a major way, which is a tribute to the success that the 'good food' movement is having. It seems like the "fad" of healthy food, filled with things you can pronounce, at a reasonable price, is catching on! Who knew?

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 08:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

May 04, 2006

Mother's Day edition of Island Currents is up

The latest edition of the Desert Island Foods™ newsletter, Island Currents, is now up! In addition to mentioning that we're now selling on Amazon.com, we also remind you that Mother's Day is coming.

Check it out, and if you aren't on the mailing list, which gives you discounts and special offers but NOT spam, go to our Desert Island Foods™.com main page, and click in the bottom right Newsletter section to subscribe.

We do not share our mailing lists with anyone.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 03:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

May 02, 2006

2006 Spring Fancy Foods Show

I'll be headed to Chicago for the 2006 Spring Fancy Foods Show again this year. The cool thing about the spring show is that it's actually 5 shows in one, and I'll be spending a lot of time again at the Organics show, too.

What's at the Show:

Over 350 domestic exhibitors from around the country. In one place at one time, you can discover new lines and items to add new distinction and appeal to your establishment. Most exhibitors are entrepreneurs who developed the recipe and started the company, so you can learn about the products and do business with decision-makers. And at this Spring Show, you'll find many local Midwest exhibitors with regional or ethnic products.

International Pavilions presenting exotic new specialty foods from all over the world.

A wealth of Special Events. Previous events included Chef Cooking Demonstrations and a Beer and Cheese Tasting.

Focused Exhibits® offer you a targeted area where you can find products that appeal to a certain segment of trade. There are currently five

Focused Exhibit categories: What's New?, Gift Avenue, Natural and Organic Foods, Kosher Foods and Foodservice Spoken Here.

Focused Tastings® offer you a chance to taste and compare products in three hot categories, such as Olives and Olive Products, Salsa or Tea.

Seminars and Workshops. The NASFT presents up to a dozen seminars, four workshops and several events at each Fancy Food Show.

Plus, there's lots of tasty snacks...

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 12:22 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Back to Main

April 28, 2006

A reminder- Survival Spice™ is now available at Amazon.com!

Desert Island Foods™ is happy to announce that we've formed a partnership with Amazon.com to sell selected products, starting with our "Six Pack" of Survival Spice™. It will sell for the same price as at our site, but you'll be able to add non- DIF products to your shopping cart as well. Our full product line, including individual tins, will always be available at Desert Island Foods™.com, but really, isn't it time to grab a six-pack for your summer grilling anyway? Because y'know, it's fun when your barbecue guests grovel at your feet and want your autograph... Just click the link above for more information.

Please remember, if you care to leave a review by following the link I'd appreciate it, but please, be totally honest and don't refer to our Desert Island Foods™.com website by name. That's kinda like taking your eggs to Denny's® and asking them to cook them for you, I think.

Thanks again for all your support, whatever you can do to help keep spreading the word is really appreciated!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 11:23 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Back to Main

April 25, 2006

Has it been a year already???

Hard to believe, but yesterday was the one year anniversary of The Pragmatic Chef™. It's really been a fun and rewarding year, I hope you're having as good of a time reading as I do writing it! Special thanks to Biggles, Shauna, and Meg, whose blogs I'm proud to link to in the sidebar to the right, and to everyone who contributes comments, pictures, jokes and has entered in a Food Fight!

Thanks for reading, and for your support of Desert Island Foods™.com!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 11:15 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

Back to Main

April 21, 2006

Survival Spice™ now available at Amazon.com!

Desert Island Foods™ is happy to announce that we've formed a partnership with Amazon.com to sell selected products, starting with our "Six Pack" of Survival Spice™. It will sell for the same price as at our site, but you'll be able to add non- DIF products to your shopping cart as well. Our full product line, including individual tins, will always be available at Desert Island Foods™.com, but really, isn't it time to grab a six-pack for your summer grilling anyway?

We've spent a lot of time looking for a web partner, and one of the biggest reasons we decided to proceed was the remarkable Amazon feedback and review system. We've built a great following just by word of mouth, and we believe that we can accelerate this by exposing our products to an even larger market. We aren't afraid to go toe to toe with anyone!!!!

If you care to leave a review by following the link I'd appreciate it, but please, be totally honest and don't refer to our Desert Island Foods™.com website by name. That's kinda like taking your eggs to Denny's® and asking them to cook them for you, I think.

Thanks again for all your support, whatever you can do to help keep spreading the word is really appreciated!

Update: We've gotten some great reviews, please feel free to add you own!!!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 07:28 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

Back to Main

January 31, 2006

Let's be careful out there!

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like a bad "Cop Rock" episode, but a new FTC press release reminds us that we need to be vigilant about our purchases. The article is here, but I'll post the whole release below the fold, because I think it's important.

The article mentions that online fraud accounts for 46% of the complaints filed last year which, as the owner of a business that sells online, makes me redouble my efforts to stay informed on these issues.

I thought I'd take a second and tell you a bit about our security measures:

1) Our Desert Island Foods™.com site is secured via an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate.

2) Our system does not store your credit card information once your transaction is complete. This means you have to enter your credit card number every time you order, but after thinking about it a lot, I decided that the small inconvenience is worth the extra level of security. I hope you do, too.

3) Our customer information is never sold or passed on to marketing companies.

So be vigilant, and do business only with companies you trust, and if you get a 'spoof' email from a company, please do us all a favor and take the time to forward it to the legit company the email is spoofing.

Thanks to John for sending me the link.

Continue reading "Let's be careful out there!"

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 07:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

December 15, 2005

Counting down to Christmas...

(Photo: Mary. Please Note: Shrubbery not included...)

Just a quick reminder that if you haven't placed your holiday orders at the Desert Island Foods™.com site, there's still time to get your last minute gifts shipped before the 25th. Sales have been terrific, and I'm proud to say that we've managed to keep up the pace.

We've got great last minute gifts and stocking stuffers for your tough to shop for 'foodies', so finish up your shopping with a few mouse clicks!!

Another reminder- Our last orders will go out on December 23rd, then no orders will ship until January 5th. We'll be answering the phones and I'll be posting from out of town occasionally, but this our big break of the year, and I need it!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

December 08, 2005

"Survival Spice™ of the Fittest"

A great email and pics, from Mary:

My husband and I took Survival Spice with us to the Galapagos Islands last month. Not only do we love it, but so do the land iguanas and giant tortoises! Thank you for a wonderful product, we will be taking it with us on all future trips.

Cool idea, actually. They took Survival Spice™ with them in case they needed to spice up some boring dishes.

Darwin would be proud. Or something.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 07:58 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Back to Main

December 05, 2005

2005 Survival Gift Box now shipping!

(Photo: Mary. Please Note: Shrubbery not included...)

I just wanted to let those of you who pre-ordered Survival Gift Boxes that they're starting to ship today. I'm really happy with how they came out! They sell for $39.99 and include:

• A Quality, all cotton, red Desert Island Foods™ apron with 2 pockets and an adjustable strap.
• A Gift tin of our Scovie Award winning Survival Spice™, along with a companion booklet with tips and uses for novice and experts alike.
• A 10" E-Z Hook®, which is a really versatile barbecue utensil I've been evaluating for a while. It's easy to use and takes up very little room. Great for grilling, turning bacon or picking olives or pickles out of a jar! Truly a handy item to have.
• A DIF Refrigerator Magnet, with room to jot down important phone numbers for quick access when you need them.

The whole thing ships assembled in a sturdy cardboard mailer.

It's a great gift for the cook in your life (or yourself, why not?)

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 08:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

November 25, 2005

Desert Island Foods™ apron

Here's our cool 2005 Desert Island Foods™ apron. We're using a high quality, all cotton, Teflon® protected apron that has an adjustable strap, which a lot of aprons we researched didn't have, which also makes it comfortable to wear. It also has 2 pockets, for your essentials. Our Desert Island Foods™.com logo is printed in four colors. Great for the kitchen and the grill!

Do you like the red? What other colors would you like to see it in?

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 12:16 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Back to Main

November 22, 2005

Latest "Island Currents" is online

The latest edition of the Desert Island Foods™ newsletter, Island Currents, is now online!

We've got some great gifts to make your holiday shopping easier, a great Survival Gift Box, a cool DIF Apron, and a bitchin' kitchen gadget called an E-Z Hook®. Our Scovie Award winning Survival Spice™ Gift tin ships until the end of the year with a free mini-booklet containing ideas and tips on how to use Survival Spice™.

For a list of all our products, click here. Thanks for reading and supporting Desert Island Foods™.com!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:13 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Back to Main

November 18, 2005

2005 DIF Survival Gift Box- Sneak Peek

(Photo: Mary. Please Note: Shrubbery not included...)

Here's the 2005 DIF Survival Gift Box! It comes in this cool white window box and features:

• Quality, all cotton, red Desert Island Foods™ apron with 2 pockets and an adjustable strap.
• A Gift tin of our Scovie Award winning Survival Spice™, along with a companion booklet with tips and uses for novice and experts alike.
• A 10" E-Z Hook®, which is a really versatile barbecue utensil I've been evaluating for a while. It's easy to use and takes up very little room. Great for grilling, turning bacon or picking olives or pickles out of a jar!
• A DIF Refrigerator Magnet, with room to jot down important phone numbers for quick access when you need them.

The whole thing ships assembled in a sturdy cardboard mailer.

It's a great gift for the cook in your life (or yourself, why not?) at just $39.99. You'll be able to pre-order next week, and they'll go fast, so please let us know if you're interested in a quantity of them at our contact page so we can accomodate everyone. Gift boxes will begin shipping December 1st.

I'd love to get your initial reaction. What do you think?

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 10:19 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Back to Main

November 16, 2005

Survival Spice™ Special Edition Gift Tin

Here's the Scovie Award winning Survival Spice™ Special Edition Gift Tin for this holiday season! Every tin will ship with a cool 4 page booklet that gives some information and tips on how to use Survival Spice™ until the end of the year. A great stocking stuffer or office gift!

We're just about ready to show you the DIF Lover's gift box, which features a high quality DIF apron, a tin of Survival Spice, a really cool BBQ cooking gadget, and a DIF refrigerator magnet, all in a snazzy white window box. Hopefully we can have it ready to show you before the end of the week.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 11:16 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Back to Main

November 10, 2005

Survival Spice™ wins a Scovie Award!!!!!

Update: This post will remain on top for a few days, so please scroll down for the latest. Thanks! And hey, have you put yourself on our Frappr map yet? It's easy, and we love to see everyone that hangs out here.

Update 11/10: Okay, I'm waiting for clarification on this now. I think our Scovie is for "Best Packaging", and we were a runner-up in "Best Rub", but we'll take it!

Desert Island Foods™ is thrilled to announce that we've won a 2006 Scovie Award! Survival Spice™, our all natural, gluten free barbecue rub, has won third prize in the"Best Rub" category from Fiery Foods Magazine. We're proud and grateful to have received this recognition in our first year of business in a tough shoot-out, a blind tasting among numerous professional chefs, writers and foodies.

I'll have more about the competition in the next newsletter, Island Currents, along with information on our new gift box, stay tuned. Please remember, our gift tin of Survival Spice™ makes a great stocking stuffer!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 07:04 AM | Comments (18) | TrackBack

Back to Main

November 08, 2005

TPC is on the map!

Now you can get on the Desert Island Foods™.com community map so we can all see where all the cool people who hang out here are located!

It's easy, go to the map and enter your name, zip code (I'd enter one in you town and not your exact zip code, personally), and a "shout out". If you want to give a Survival Spice™ testimonial, that would be great, or just have fun with it. Attach a picture if you care to, why not?

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 07:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

November 04, 2005

November 1st version of "Island Currents" is up

The early November edition of the Desert Island Foods newsletter, Island Currents, is now online. Just click on the November 1, 2005 link to see the latest edition.

Check it out, lots of great holiday gift ideas that don't involve a masochistic time-sucking, gas-guzzling trip to the mall! Desert Island Foods™.com is offering a cool gift box this year for the first time, and tins of Survival Spice™ are an awesome stocking stuffer and casual gift for foodies, family, friends and co-workers alike! Such an simple way to buy some great gifts.

Email me, or just go to the Desert Island Foods™.com home page and sign up, if you want to get on the newsletter list. No spam, no evil mailing lists, just pure foodie goodness.

Okay, done with the plug. That didn't hurt, did it?

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 06:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

October 28, 2005

Desert Island Foods Gift Box

Just wanted to let you know that Desert Island Foods™.com will offer a gift box for the holiday season that will include a gift tin of Survival Spice™, a quality all cotton DIF apron, and a few other cool things for the cook who has everything but this!

November's newsletter will have more info, but I hope you'll want to check them out. I'll post a link here but you can always go to the Desert Island Foods™.com home page and sign up in the newsletter section in the bottom right corner. No spam or evil mailing lists, promise.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 02:28 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Back to Main

October 06, 2005

FYI- DIF Newsletter and Food Fight Voting

The first edition of the Desert Island Foods newsletter, Island Currents, is now online. It's short and sweet, any feedback you have is really appreciated!

Email me, or just go to the Desert Island Foods™.com home page and sign up, if you want to get on the notification list. No spam, no evil mailing lists, just pure foodie goodness.

The voting for the Food Fight- Interpreted dishes is still underway until Friday night. Check out the entries here, then go vote. Paul has a commanding lead, but Ana's catching up, the voting will end Friday night, and you can vote once a day. Spread the word!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

September 19, 2005

Fisher House

You may recall our White Castle French Onion burger taste test that we did a while back, which was won by Major John Tammes. Major John, BTW, is currently in New Orleans assisting with the relief effort there.

John requested that his prize be donated to Fisher House.org, an organization I hadn't heard of until he mentioned it.

Fisher House provides housing near hospitals for military families to stay while they're visiting recuperating soliders. They do an amazing job very efficiently , so I decided to up the ante, and we donated a case of Survival Spice™ to distribute to their houses.

We're proud to join companies like Newman's Own in supporting Fisher House, and I hope DIF can do more in the months and years to come.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Back to Main

September 16, 2005

Survival Spice™ eligible for 2006 Scovie award!!!

Desert Island Foods™.com is proud to announce that Survival Spice™, our all natural, premium BBQ spice rub, is eligible to win a 2006 Scovie Award for Best Rub. Wish us luck!!!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:44 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Back to Main

August 15, 2005

New Survival Spice™ Uses

From Mark in Mission Hills, CA:

"I recently made deviled eggs for a BBQ we were having. I noticed that we were out of paprika just as we finished, so we used Survival Spice instead. It went over great and everybody loved it."

Nice one! I have to add that I made my first Bloody Mary with Survival Spice™ after hearing about via email from Jim in Wisconsin. I added some to the mix, but also crusted the rim of the glass with Survival Spice™ and some extra kosher salt. Seriously tasty, it adds a nice heat and it sure is easy.

Thanks, guys for making us look good!!!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 02:44 PM | Comments (0)

Back to Main

July 27, 2005

Survival Fries- version 1

These turned out pretty well for a first attempt. I've been updating the "How to use Survival Spice™" page to try to keep up with all the suggested uses I get from customers. One of the suggestions was on roasted potatoes, so I thought I'd give it a try. I would do it slightly differently next time, so I'll tell you what I did and what I'll do next time. The recipe is in the extended entry.

Continue reading "Survival Fries- version 1"

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:45 AM | Comments (0)

Back to Main

July 15, 2005

New Spice Blend in the Works

I've been working on a second all-natural spice blend to complement Survival Spice™. I can't tell you exactly what it is yet, but it will be a very different blend, needless to say. I thought I'd ask you for some input, being as you're the experts!

Any requests? Is there a blend that you think should be on the market that isn't yet? What do you see over and over that just doesn't work for you? You can respond in the comments or use the DIF Contact form.

I also wanted to thank everybody that's ordered so far. DIF is a dream I've had for quite a while now, thanks for helping to make it come true. I'm no Paul Newman, especially in the looks department, but I do want to help support some great charities as things move forward. Okay, they're going to have to really move forward, but that's a big part of the dream, too.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:35 AM | Comments (0)

Back to Main

July 07, 2005

Food Fight Winner #3!!!! - Biggles' Stuffed Pork Roast

Biggles' Survival Stuffed Pork Roast

We have a winner! Congratulations to Dr. Biggles, whose fine food blog MeatHenge is frequently filled with succulent goodies like this, really did a good job with his entry.

Second place goes to Paul for his "Chinatown Pork Roast." Two winning pork recipes this time, both done with similar cuts of meat but completely different cooking techniques. I'll post Paul's entry later today or tomorrow. Both dishes are great and it was a tough decision, as both of these as well as quite a few others this time were really good.

My take on the winning dish:

The blade end roast is a great choice for this kind of technique. It's fabbed out from the front part of the loin nearest the shoulder, so you can see a few ribs and the end of the shoulder blade in the pictures, hence the name. That bit of T-shaped shoulder blade in the top is what is sliced and sold as "country spare ribs", in case you didn't know. Lots of bone=lots of flavor.

The choice of chard is good. Chard has a bit of background bitterness, so it supplies depth of flavor and moisture to the pork as it cooks. I like to use pine nuts a lot too, for their crunch, saltiness and character, and toasting them as Dr. Biggles did is an absolute must, his toaster oven trick is a really good one.

His note on it needing a bit more salt is perfectly valid. Survival Spice™ contains far less salt than a lot of spice blends on the shelf. A lot of blends out there have more salt than anything, and I chose to go a different route. Survival Spice™ contains a well-balanced amount of quality kosher salt and no more. Salt is inexpensive so why pay more when you can later season to your own taste anyway?

Congratulations again! Biggles and Paul both win a DIF T-shirt, a tin of Survival Spice™, and a DIF refrigerator magnet.

Thanks to everyone who entered, this was the best contest yet. And keep sending in those great pictures in! I'll post a few more reader food pics this week.

So without further ado, Dr. Biggles recipe, rich with great photos, is in the extended section:

Continue reading "Food Fight Winner #3!!!! - Biggles' Stuffed Pork Roast"

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)

Back to Main

July 06, 2005

Survival Spice™ in Egg Salad- why not?

I love getting emails like this. Yesterday someone let me know about using Survival Spice™ in their egg salad. Why not? I do like it in eggs after I heard about that, and a customer tipped me off to macaroni and cheese a while back.

This is part of the reason why I dislike products with specific names, beef rub, etc. If you like a specific spice on a particular cut of meat or veggie, who am I to tell you that's wrong? I spent a lot of time working on the Survival Spice™ formula so that it would be versatile. Experiment and have fun with it!

Another email from a new customer (names withheld on request, and I do respect that):

First off, we made fresh burgers for lunch with your Survival Spice™ and they were so good, we grilled a few T-bones with a generous rub down for dinner. Two big thumbs up from the entire house. My wife loves it too (and she's real picky).

Thanks Chef, it's the bomb.

You can email me with what you come up with at the DIF site- Contact Us.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)

Back to Main

June 30, 2005

Food Fight- Red, White and Black and Blue reminder

Get those cameras and entries ready!

Food Fight #3 ends July 6th. Rules and prize info here. The winner this time get a tin of Survival Spice™, a Desert Island Foods™ T-shirt and a DIF refrigerator magnet.

There may be prizes for runners up if the competition is particularly fierce, and I hope it is. And remember, have fun with it. Fun counts, a hot dog can beat a filet mignon if it's done really well in an imaginitive enough way. Okay, that might take some doing but it's possible...

What are you making?

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 08:51 AM | Comments (1)

Back to Main

June 29, 2005

DIF mentioned at Fiery Foods.com

Desert Island Foods™.com got a nice mention at Fiery Foods.com yesterday. The site seems to have no permalinks, follow the link and scroll to "New Culinary Website...")

Thanks, Dave!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 08:04 AM

Back to Main

June 24, 2005

IT IS ALIVE!!!

The new Desert Island Foods™.com site is now live for your drinking, dancing and hopefully shopping pleasure!

Please check it out and let us know what you think.

I'd like to again thank Gary Sanders at iBlue.com for all his hard work on the programming. Nicole and Gabe Bonilla at Bonilla Design provided the visual design for the site and our packaging and marketing artwork.

These people are true professionals and do creative and meticulous work, which is a rare combination of attributes.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 08:43 AM

Back to Main

Food Fight #3- Red, White, and black and Blue

For those of you that may have missed the first two, "Food Fight™" is a photo and recipe contest. Submit a picture of a dish you've made along with the recipe. Winners get their entry in the "Food Fight™ Hall of Fame", a Desert Island Foods™ T-Shirt, a tin of Survival Spice™ and a Desert Island Foods™ refrigerator magnet.

See your recipe in lights!!! Be a home chef superstar!!! Kill a little time and have fun doing it!!!

This contest will run through the Fourth of July so keep your cameras handy!

The Rules, once again:

Imagination, execution and "drool factor" are the primary judging criteria. If your dish is lavish, fine, but a hot dog can still kick your ass if it's done well. I'm not saying the judges are going to favor recipes using Desert Island Foods.com™ products, but it could break a tie.

Photos must be transmitted via email with the subject line "Food Fight submission", should be no larger than about 500 pixels in any dimension and no more than 200K in size. If any of this tech stuff makes you dizzy, submit it anyway you can and I'll convert it for you if you win.

Recipes should be easy to understand and in this format:

1) Title
2) Your degree of difficulty from 1 (easy) to 5 (hard)
3) Approximate prep and cooking times
4) Full list of ingredients in U.S. units
5) Numbered easy to follow preparation steps.

If your dish is somewhat elaborate, which is great, wherever practical try to provide time-saving hints if someone wants to make your dish in a hurry.

Good luck! The contest will end July 6th, the Wednesday after the Fourth of July. Let's have some great BBQ pics! Make sure to take nice close-ups of your dish, a few of them last time were taken too far away to have any "drool" factor and that hurt you in the scoring.

The lawyers make me post this:

Legal Notice:

By posting to "Food Fight™", you retain the rights to your pictures and recipes but grant Desert Island Foods™, LLC. and its present and future affiliates or assigns permission to use, publish and reproduce your pictures, recipes and comments in perpetuity.

Get cooking! And remember, have fun with it. Fun counts...

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 08:09 AM | Comments (4)

Back to Main

June 23, 2005

Finishing up...

...the new Desert Island Foods site. Hopefully I can switch the domains tonight and have it live tomorrow morning. Light blogging for the rest of the day...

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:14 AM

Back to Main

June 10, 2005

Welcome COTR Visitors!

Thanks for stopping by, I'm proud to be part of the 43rd Carnival of the Recipes. I hope you'll take a few minutes to wander around, check out the "What did you have for dinner last night?" and "Recipes" categories if you're looking for food ideas for the weekend. There's lots of other humorous, entertaining (I think), and occasionally informative stuff in the rest of the site.

update:We run a fun food photo contest called Food Fight. The winner and runner-ups win DIF products and T-shirts. Check back in a week or so for the start of the next Fight. The rules and judging criteria are here. Recent winners are under the "Food Fight" category.

I run a fairly apolitical place around here, I think if you can't keep the politics out of food we're all in trouble!. Please bookmark TPC if you're so inclined...

The new Desert Island Foods™.com will be ready in 2 weeks, in plenty time to ship before your 4th of July BBQs. We offer all natural products with no preseratives, MSG or space-age polymers.

Thanks again for visiting, have a great weekend!

Scott P

the pragmatic chef™

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 04:28 PM

Back to Main

New Tibvrtini Products coming to DIF!

We're excited to announce that Desert Island Foods™.com will be carrying Tibvrtini's Olio Extra Vergine di Oliva and their Fratelli Pofi Aceto di Vino Bianco, that's Extra Virgin Olive Oil and White Wine Vinegar to the non-paisanos, which includes me.

I tasted these great products at the recent Fancy Foods Show in Chicago.

Tibvrtini products are organically raised on a 40 acre family-owned farm outside of Rome and are only sold through select few gourmet outlets across the country. They're not cheap products by any means, but Tibvrtini is very enthusiastic about our concept of delivering all-natural products without taking ourselves too seriously and we got a great deal we'll be able to pass on to you.

Out of the hundreds of things I tasted at the show, these were at the top of my "I have to carry these" list. The quality and freshness of their products is absolutely astounding, I could have sat there dipping crusty bread, alternating between the oil and the white wine vinegar for hours. Maybe I did, I kind of lost track of time for a while...

Lots more information coming. Are you as excited about this as I am?

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 08:13 AM

Back to Main

June 03, 2005

New DIF site nearly done!

We're getting closer on the new Desert Island Foods™.com site. The new snazzy pull-down menus are just about done and the secondary pages are being built.

The latest screen shot is below in the extended entry.

What do you think?

Continue reading "New DIF site nearly done!"

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:26 AM | Comments (2)

Back to Main

June 02, 2005

Sneak peek...

...at the new Desert Island Foods™.com T-shirt. It will be available in S, M, L, XL, and XXL.

This is just a mockup until we get the finished shirts to do a photo shoot with, but it will very close to what you see here.

What do you think?

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 10:39 AM | Comments (3)

Back to Main

May 27, 2005

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

I'm really looking forward to this long weekend. We've really been busting butt getting the new Desert Island Foods.com site ready to launch by June 10th. A big shout-out to the graphics gurus at Bonilla Design and programming ace Gary at iBlue Interactive for their hard work and serious expertise.

I expect to have Survival Spice™, DIF T-Shirts and maybe a few other new items in stock by then, so please keep it in mind when you're planning your Father's Day gifts!

Have a great weekend, and please take a minute to remember what it's all about, too.

Now get grilling!!!!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 07:56 AM

Back to Main

Food Fight reminder

Just a reminder, the deadline for the latest Food Fight™ is June 2nd. Rules and judging criteria are here.

We're getting some good entries in again and I hope to get some great Memorial Day entries so keep your cameras handy while you're cooking this weekend! Remember, good closeups of your dish are what gets the "drool factor" high enough to win. Good luck!!!

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 07:41 AM

Back to Main

May 19, 2005

Food Fight™ #2 Begins!!!

For those of you that may have missed the first one, "Food Fight™" is a photo and recipe contest. Submit a picture of a dish you've made along with the recipe. Winners get their entry in the "Food Fight™ Hall of Fame" and hopefully the first Desert Island Foods™.com T-Shirt, otherwise it will be a tin of Survival Spice™.

See your recipe in lights!!! Be a home chef superstar!!! Kill a little time and have fun doing it!!!

The Rules, once again:

Imagination, execution and "drool factor" are the primary judging criteria. If your dish is lavish, fine, but a hot dog can still kick your ass if it's done well. I'm not saying the judges are going to favor recipes using Desert Island Foods.com™ products, but it could break a tie.

Photos must be transmitted via email with the subject line "Food Fight submission", should be no larger than about 500 pixels in any dimension and no more than 200K in size. If any of this tech stuff makes you dizzy, submit it anyway you can and I'll convert it for you if you win.

Recipes should be easy to understand and in this format:

1) Title
2) Your degree of difficulty from 1 (easy) to 5 (hard)
3) Approximate prep and cooking times
4) Full list of ingredients in U.S. units
5) Numbered easy to follow preparation steps.

If your dish is somewhat elaborate, which is great, wherever practical try to provide time-saving hints if someone wants to make your dish in a hurry.

Good luck! The contest will end June 2nd, the Thursday after Memorial Day. Let's have some great BBQ pics this time! Make sure to take nice close-ups of your dish, a few of them last time were taken too far away to have any "drool" factor and that hurt you in the scoring.

The lawyers make me post this:

Legal Notice:

By posting to "Food Fight™", you retain the rights to your pictures and recipes but grant Desert Island Foods™, LLC. and its present and future affiliates or assigns permission to use, publish and reproduce your pictures, recipes and comments in perpetuity.

Get cooking! And remember, have fun with it. Fun counts...

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:22 AM

Back to Main

May 12, 2005

Another satisfied customer...

Our customers are always finding new uses for Survival Spice™. This from Samantha in Phoenix, AZ:

I made spaghetti and meatballs with your spice blend. I put a lot in the meatballs and some in the spaghetti sauce. My mother-in-law normally hates spaghetti but she had two bowls!

I haven't tried it yet but there are no rules. If you like it, eat it! I do like it on mac and cheese, though, after a customer tipped me off to that.

Maybe that's a new slogan: "Survival Spice™- keeping mother-in-laws happy since 2004!" Or not.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 09:36 AM

Back to Main

May 04, 2005

Fancy Foods Show a success!

I'm back from Chicago and very encouraged. Lots of great response to the Desert Island Foods.com™ concept and actually tasted a few things that I'd be proud to add to our line. I'll be posting on those to get your feedback soon.

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 03:53 PM

Back to Main

May 01, 2005

The Pragmatic Chef reports live...

... from McCormick Place, on the floor of the 2005 Spring Fancy Foods Show, Chicago:

"Wow. I'm incredibly full."

Posted by The Pragmatic Chef at 01:47 PM | Comments (1)

Back to Main

April 29, 2005

Just a reminder...

I'll be in Chicago for the Spring 2005 Fancy Foods Show, representing Desert Island Foods.com, so email responses will be close to non-existent between Saturday and Wednesday.

I'll try to blog from Chicago if the technical gods are smiling...

For more information, see