Working in Texas: Dickey's Barbecue Pit!!

If it was a press release maybe it would read something like this:

 

From Chicken in Africa to Barbecue in Texas, talented marketing graduate joins the Dickeys team

Today I accepted a position as Marketing Specialist for Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, the fastest growing barbecue restaurant chain the United States. 

It seems like a tremendous opportunity to start my career here in Texas and I thank you for all your help with getting me where I am today

Dickey's is a national brand, but each restaurant is locally owned.

The first Dickey's Barbecue opened in 1941 in Dallas, TX.

The original location is still open for business and Dickey's Barbecue is still owned and operated by the Dickey Family. 

Dickey's only began franchising in 1994.  Today, there are 139 locations in 33 states. 

Dickey's is in a period of aggressive franchise growth, with 170+ locations, here they all are, shown in this picture. I will help develop new store locations, and work on developing the brand in the stores.

A photo I took of a Dickey's Van, could this be my future mode of transport?

I start next Monday and will keep you updated with my progress.

Thanks once again for all your help and support, It took a while coming, but thank God it all worked out!!

A Korean Banquet

Korean cuisine is largely based on rice, noodles, tofu, vegetables, and meats.

Kimchi is usually served at every meal, a spicy fermented cabbage . Commonly used ingredients include sesame oil, doenjang (fermented bean paste), soy sauce, salt, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes and gochujang (fermented red chili paste)'

And all this is exactly what we had. Thanks Sarah!!

Super H Mart - A Korean Supermarket!

Notice im getting artistic with my photography skills!! 

Making the Mung Bean Jelly

Here it is!! Yum

Updated Blog 2011

Happy New Year Everyone!!

My plan for new year was to head over to Victory Plaza in downtown Dallas, so I told friends to come over to my house for some cocktails before heading out. We ended up having such a good time at my place we never even left, it was a really great night with some lovely company!!

In other news: a job is imminent, so will keep you closely updated on my progress with that.

Will

Visit to the Nasher Sculpture center

Ok, so now i've done the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, you thought i couldn't possibly get any more highbrow, but no... this time it was a visit to the Sculpture center in Downtown Dallas.

The Current Exhibition was Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: Form, Balance, Joy. Over 30 sculptures spanning Calder’s career with the work of seven contemporary artists whose practices are bound to Calder's legacy as modern sculptor.

And there were outdoor exhibitions, being located directly in downtown dallas you can see one of Dallas' office buildings in the background.

 I felt here I captured the light nicely.

No Post is complete without one of me and my accomplice!!

Farmers Branch: My 'Sister' City

Farmers Branch Banter

For those of you who don’t know, Farmers Branch is twinned with my home district, Bassetlaw. Before I arrived here I tried making contacts through the twinning association to try and establish a link with the city, but sadly nothing ever materialized. Watch this space.....

Heres the Evidence - See I'm telling the truth!!!

So far when I have asked people about my Twin City, the only thing people usually tell me is that in 2007, Farmers Branch became the first in the nation to prohibit landlords from renting to most illegal immigrants. So a pretty conservative place i’d say!!

As you can see here on the map, its simply a city in the suburbs of Dallas.

Last week I visited the Farmers Branch Historical Park to learn more about the history of this City.

The 1870s Farmers Branch depot, the 1900s Farmers Branch school, the 1930s Dodson House, the 1885 Queen Anne Victorian Cottage and an 1890s church.

Early Texas log cabin architecture.

I actually met a Fireman at Christmas in Nocona who works at Farmers Branch, he wants me to come visit the station and take me for a full tour of the city on the fire engine! Will keep you updated on that! 

But for now he gave me a Farmers Branch Fire Combat T-Shirt. 

Lovely...I know!!

Happy New Year!!

Texas Will!!

My New Boots - Hand Made Lucchese 

With Sarah

A Very Texan Christmas!

Firstly i hope you all had a very merry christmas, sorry for my lack of communication, but i wasnt able to get access to the internet while i was in the country, and only now have a got round to updating you on what i got up to.

Alisha, my Couchsurfing friend invited me to share Christmas with her this year, but before leaving she warned me she had a large family and i would be busy attending lots of different Christmas's, little did i know that i would end up having four different Christmas's to go to this year, but what a great Christmas i had!!

Alisha is from a north Texas town called Nocona, not far from Oklahoma, a really small place where i was told i would meet some 'real' cowboys. This was true as Alishas dad was a rancher and so were all his brothers, so cowboy boots and hats were definitely the thing to be seen in around here!! 

the Christmas meal was very similar to thanksgiving, turkey and ham, accompanied with lots of different rich, buttery, sugary (very unhealthy) sides, no Christmas pudding this year, instead things like pecan pie or cheesecake. Very good, and i was given lots of leftovers to take home with me, (everyone was so kind to me here, it really was amazing the way i was so welcomed to share xmas with people I didnt know, that gives you an idea of the southern hospitality, theres little else like it!!)

On Christmas day, in between the noon and evening Christmas parties, alishas brother took me deer hunting, so we went over to the families land, with his rifle and some beers, and sat in the blind, waiting on deer or some hogs. i could really see the appeal of this, it was great, and lots of these guys had memories of past deer celebrated on their walls, and a fully stocked freezer of deer meat. I was given some deer mince to take home with me so i look forward to eating some of that. While out hunting, I saw 4 doe and 2 bucks, but they werent really big enough to shoot, as the amount you can shoot in a season is limited, they tend to wait for the bigger bucks, with the full set of horns. But I was amazed at how easy it would have been to shoot at and still provide a huge amount of meat. 

Finally on boxing day another christmas party, meeting lots of people who had never met an english guy before, so that proved for some interesting questions like 'Do you celebrate christmas in england?' and being asked to repeat lots of words, as you can imagine!!

Now im back in Dallas, back to the city. and looking forward to New Years Eve!

Christmas in Dallas

Merry Christmas!!

The Best Burger in Dallas?

Lakewood Landing - Known as the Upscale Dive!!!

Incredible!! I went with two guys, Oliver and Rick who wanted to show me some of the best food Dallas has to offer, this time Burgers, next time its finding the best Bar B Que!! 

A perfect burger: great bread to meat ratio, warm bun, cold lettuce, everything about it was awesome!! 

If any of you decide to visit me in Dallas, I will be taking you here!! Thats a promise!!

Yesterday I took Sarah to see the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, they play at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Downtown Dallas, so that was great to see. They played lots of Christmas songs and even Santa made an appearance!!