Thanksgiving and Christmas have the catering business busy. Some days and night Alissa, Gregory, Bobby, Lucas, Meisa, and Peter would work all night getting everything ready. They would use the oven in the house and the barbecue cooker to cook turkeys, duck, chicken, and ham.

They had a few orders that the clients wanted Turducken. Which was a deboned turkey, stuff with a deboned duck, which was stuff with a deboned chicken. Those took time to prepare and cook. She made a few for the shelter and offer them as prizes with dinners to help raise money for the shelter.

All the food carts and the food truck sold apple chips and a hot apple style drink. It wasn’t a cider, but more like apple wine and punch which could be sold cold or hot. All proceeds from the sale went towards the shelter. She and some of her staff donated their time to help prepare and cook the Thanksgiving meals for the shelter.

When Christmas came around Alissa and Bobby came up with another drink. It was made of 2-part hard apple cider with slices of apple and oranges mixed with 1-part Ginger Beer. She only sold it from the food truck. Proceeds from those sales and what they made during the week went to the shelter as well.

When the weather started to turn cold and such, the food carts were put away and the staff would work on the food truck. Alissa and Gregory had talked about it and decided to offer fresh soups with the burgers. They also added fresh potato skins dishes to their menu as snacks or with certain burgers.

During the Christmas season, Alissa and Gregory through a huge Christmas bash for all the staff from the catering business and the garage that did the work on the food trucks and food carts. The two of them wanted to thank everyone that helped them out getting the business going and for their friendship. Barbecued cooked by Alexander and his grandson was served and the guys loved the ribs they did as well. The barbecue business that Alexander and his grandson had started was a welcome addition to her catering business.

Instead of serving barbecue from a food truck like she was doing for the burgers and such. They bought a restaurant that specialized in barbecue, ribs, and steaks that was going out of business and turned it around. They were selling her sauce she made for the contest there and any barbecue catering jobs she got, they handled for her.

Alexander and his grandson still did the barbecue the old fashion way with a smoker and wood burner. They took the one the business they bought had and fixed it. Also, they asked Alissa to make some unique side dishes to serve with the barbeque.

The reason the business that they had bought had gone out of business in the first place, was the quality of the food. The fact they were serving store-bought sides wasn’t helping the business either. Alexander’s Grandson Tony knew that people wanted homemade sides, but he wasn’t sure how to make them.

So, they partner up with Alissa and she helped them out. She taught Tony and his staff how to make the sides they wanted to sell. In return, he would handle her barbecue catering. When Tony needed help, Alissa or some members of her staff would help.

During the busy holidays, they would hire extra help to work part-time. Alissa always tried to hire people from either the shelter or the local LGBTQ center. She knew a few transgender or gays would lose their jobs when their employers found out. So, she would give them a chance to work for her or Tony. Even Gregory took a few on at his garage and his cousins’ garage if they were mechanically talented.

Alissa had to hire an accountant to handle all the taxes and money they were making from all the businesses they either owned or were part owners of. They had several suppliers where they bought fresh produce, including the food stalled owned by Heather. Between the barbecue business, the catering and the food truck. They needed more suppliers.

The apple drinks they sold were becoming popular as well. Especially, the old-style hard apple cider with Ginger beer. It was a popular drink on the food truck and barbecue restaurant.

Tony inquired about selling it at the barbecue restaurant like a normal item. It was selling extremely well there, and he could donate half of the proceeds to the shelter.

Like Alissa, he was already sending barbecue and sides to them twice a week. When he found out that Alissa helped supported the shelter in his grandfather’s neighborhood. He wanted to help as well.

He bought new uniforms and equipment for the neighborhood little league. His sons were on the team and he wanted their team to be the best. So, he donated money from the barbecue business or gave the prize money he won at the contest he entered with his grandfather.

Once New Year was over Alissa and the barbecue restaurant slowed down some. The barbecue business was still doing better than the catering business. The food truck was doing better than most of the other trucks because they added soups to their menu.

The apple cider drinks were something that needed all their attention because people that came to the restaurant and the food truck loved them. A meeting was called at Alissa’s place between her, Gregory, Alexander and Tony.

“What do you guys think we should do?” Alissa was looking at all the men sitting around the table.

“We could start bottling it and selling it.” Tony was looking at his partners.

“True, but how much are we looking at investing into a microbrewery company or brewing it ourselves?” Alissa was curious.

“To do it ourselves, we are looking at anywhere from $100,000 to 1 million dollars. That’s just for the equipment. If we invested into a
microbrewery, it would be less for us.” Gregory knew how much money they had, it wasn’t enough o start a brewery with.

“I think it might be best if we invested into a microbrewery. That way we can cut some of the cost.” Tony might know someone that could be just the people they needed.

“But what about quality control? Will the hard apple cider, people like to be the same?” Alissa was worried about the quality.

“You could always go by and check or have them send you a sample of the produce.” Tony understood what Alissa was getting at.

The barbecue business he bought with his grandfather had turned around from failing to prospering. They put a lot of hard work into getting its reputation back up with Alissa’s help. She came up with old style southern sides that went well with the barbecue and ribs they served.

He was getting his cuts of meat from the same butcher shop Alissa got her meats from. His grandfather had suggested it after buying there a second time. The owner of the shop recognized him from the first time he came into the place with Alissa.

Alissa was one of his favorite customers. She catered a Hungarian meal for him and his family one time. It tasted just like it had when his mother and aunts made it. So, he always gave her a discount on whatever she wanted.

When he saw Alexander and his grandson come in and started buying meats for cookoffs and barbecue contest, he gave them the same
discount as he gave Alissa. Now that they owned their own restaurant, he tries to get the best meats for them to use at it. He had offered them his homemade brats and sausages he made to see if they would be willing to sell them.

“Alright, let’s see if we can find a microbrewery that could use an investor. Also, do we just want to make the one hard apple cider, or do we
want to expand to others?” Alissa has been going through an old cookbook she picked up from a used book sale.

There was a recipe in it that was handwritten that was called *Rattle-Skull. She made it and boy, did it hit her. It was a mixture of dark beer, rum, lime juice, and nutmeg. It called for three to four ounces of hard liquor (usually an equal split between rum and brandy) are dropped into a pint of strong porter, tarted up with the juice of half a lime and then showered with shaved nutmeg.

The drink went straight to her head. Alissa was wondering if they could make a modern-day version of it.

She’ll talk with whoever they decide to invest with about maybe adding it to their drinks. She also figures they should come up with some other drinks that weren’t alcoholic to serve or sell. Once the meeting is over and its just Gregory and Alissa in the house. She fixes them a light dinner and enjoys snuggling up on the sofa for the rest of the night.

*The recipe for Red Skull can be found here: https://drinks.seriouseats.com/2014/04/colonial-era-drinks-c...