Three new posts

Okay, I’m sorry, but I’m doing 3 posts today. I know I ought to be more disciplined about posting more regularly, instead of doing them in bunches, but so far, I haven’t been able to do that. So the next 3 posts are some personal background, a garden ingredient, and a restaurant review.

So where did ‘Krik’s Picks’ come from?

I already told you that I work for Land O’Lakes, right? I do government relations. That means I’m our lobbyist. Land O'Lakes is a cooperative. That means we’re owned by the farmers who produce the milk and buy the feed, seed, and agronomy products that we sell. That also means our board is elected by the farmers.

One of my jobs is to organize a board meeting in Washington, DC. I make arrangements for ag policy leaders to meet with the board, and I set up appointments for them to meet with their Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill. In those meetings, they advocate for policies that benefit farmers and cooperatives.

Several of our board members make regular trips to Washington, and they know their way around. But when we bring the whole board to DC, some of the board members are pretty inexperienced in the city.

I like Washington, DC. I travel there several times a year, and I’ve eaten in many of the city’s restaurants. I think it’s a nice city to visit. But it can be intimidating. Especially for farmers and rural residents who may not be comfortable with big cities anyway.

Most of the meals and events for our board in DC are organized. But the first night that they arrive usually is a free night, and they’re on their own for dinner. So a few years ago, I put together a review of restaurants to help them decide where to eat on their free night in our nation’s capitol city. I titled the document ‘Krik’s Picks for DC Eats.’ I listed several restaurants in different parts of the city and provided some basic information – what kind of food, had I eaten there before, do they serve Land O’Lakes products, etc.

I’m not trying to brag, but it turns out, a lot of the board members really liked it. In fact, word started to spread, and pretty soon, I had people calling me asking me for a copy. Here’s something interesting … just giving people some basic information about where to eat often encourages them to be more adventuresome on their own. Now when I include Krik’s Picks for our board meetings in DC, the board members often tell me about restaurants not on my list that they’ve tried and liked.

So, when I finally decided to do a food blog, it was a fairly easy decision to call it Krik’s Picks. By the way, I would welcome your comments on restaurants that you’ve tried.

Thanks for reading.