Ya, “wheee” indeed…what a year this has been. One year ago today we launched our business, MO’rub, and we are (still) here to tell the tale! knock on wood

Now, for ALL the sordid details, keep reading…

one year ago we took a leap of faith, quit our full-time paid careers, started the LLC called MO’rub, rented our home, and moved to northern cali to ‘live the dream’ and build our empire using my alter-ego, Bethenny Frankel as my muse. [this is relevant...keep reading]

two days before we left, i found out i needed to have my uterus removed. it was full of fibroid tumors and my iron was dangerously low. (now, if my gyno would have listened to me when i wanted it removed 10 years ago… but anyway)

so, our time in cali was not what we hoped. we didn’t find the perfect house or the perfect situation as we dreamed. we came home with our car and trailer (only half full…we left the half our worldy belongings in a storage unit, because “we’ll be back”… stuff’s still at mendes storage unit in redway, ca. ) and our tails between our legs, thinking “what the fuck have we just done?”

not knowing what the surgery would bring, we felt we’d wait til after the surgery to make concrete details. where do we live? we rented out our house. we have no jobs. ok… let’s move in with my folks. now, those who know my folks – mama and papa j – you’re thinking “well, that’s not so bad….” and it’s not that bad… BUT they are still my parents.

it’s a blessing and we are very fortunate to have it as an option, but after six months…we’ve got to figure out the next steps or someone might come out of this journey alive. knock on wood. again

our so-called “insurance” with the outrageously overpriced premium for a family plan [ you can only imagine how exactly how shitty it actually it is... and obama care is only going to be WORSE, but anyway] left us with insane medical bills after my uterine yanking. so again, living with the folks, we are not completely sunk like the 100-year-old Titanic.

So post-steph surgery [awesome, no cancer, no uterus, no more periods, improved iron... feel so much better], we need jobs… this little spice rub we launched is not paying the bills, let alone buying a non-fat venti iced latte with extra ice!

I started freelancing. Calling out to friends in the industry, I start picking up jobs and more jobs and that’s been a great avenue – using my degree to do what I enjoy, logo designs, not a fan of the annual reports, [but it does pay the bills] custom party invitations, and i’ve been hand-addressing invitations, too. [need to develop etsy sight, i know]

Mo went back to work as a contract employee for the same company as he did before he left for considerably less money, BUT with the freedom to take off when we have Mo’rub events and this crazy schedule that is now comin right up.

now, this is where the story gets really good and all the cra-cray-CRAZY details are here…

april 19- mo’s granny passes away in bloomfield, iowa. bless her heart, she was 93 and had 90 good ones. she was a trip.

april 25- visitation (had to wait a few extra days so all the out of town family could arrive, much to the dismay of Mr. Steve Knupp [Mo's father... yeah, that's another chapter too...])

after the visitation, mo, his two brothers and i all piled into our car and headed back to his parents house in albia, iowa an hour away from Bloomfield. coming up over a hill, i shit you not — it still seems so fucking insane — but we hit a herd of COWS.

we took out two full grown black angus cows. another truck coming from the other direction took out another two. oh did i mention that the cows were on the road because the owners accidently left the gate open? Well, it gets better…. the owners are Amish. Even now, I still can’t get Weird Al’s parody, “Amish Paradise” outta my head.

all i know, we are grateful to be alive. our car was totaled and as of this date, nothing seems to be a concern healthwise (besides the fact that I can’t drive, especially in the dark, without having intense anxiety).

we sent the accident report to Jay Leno… because it’s udder-nonsense. [pun intended.] You’ll be able to see it on our website/Facebook soon.

april 26- granny’s funeral.

WTF are we going to do now with no car? Our shitty car insurance doesn’t cover rental car insurance. (something I learned, too late. Really truly fully understand what your policy covers. You’d think at 42, I’d know all that shit.. but whatever.. know now. HA!)

So…following the funeral luncheon, after an over-dose of church basement fluff salads (why oh why do old ladies love that fluff stuff? gawd, i hate that shit. i hate marshmallows and cool whip and canned fruit!) we head to another town that has an Enterprise car rental agency. At least we received a generous discount [insert sarcasm] from the wonderful agents we spoke to at Geico. Wheeeeeee, we selected a Nissan Cube. Mo thought it’d be fun and different. Ick. Not a fan.

Back in Albia, the three brothers, two cousins and a 15-year-old nephew decide to pick up their annual game of 3-on-3 basketball. Mo is 47, he’s not 27, mind you. five minutes into the third game, mo went down. Now I remember seeing him drop to the ground & I really thought, “this is not happening. shake it off, mo, shake it off.” he got up, but was limping. but he was walking, at least, so we thought success.

five days after the injury, it had swollen so fat mo asked, “does my foot look swollen?” and we looked down, he literally had elephant stumps. mama j and i couldn’t stop laughing.

may 2- go to doctor. surgery immediately. sorry, doc, we have stuff we gotta do to pull off 40-some MO’rub events that are comin right up! Mo had to be in KC the next week for an already-scheduled work event and we don’t have a car. doc puts mo in a boot, limits his walking and schedules surgery for may 11.

may 7-10 in KC, MO. while Mo does his Blue Cross Blue Shield IT work [sets up computers, network, etc.], I go with him. I take my laptop and make my MO’bile office. It’s great. We get hotel life [we love our hotey's], we can have our ‘own space’…..ahhhh!

we spent much of this trip looking for cars. we were very specific with our needs. we needed something to pull our mo’trailer, get ‘decent’ gas mileage and I didn’t want a truck. we settled on a ’05 Honda Pilot. I HATE CAR SHOPPING. I seriously loathe it. It’s not a exaggeration that I’d rather eat nails. [Many more sordid details to be added... I just realized that this isn't a blog, it's a novel]

may 9 into may 10- after mo went to bed in one bed, and i had my office on the other. I had a Jerry McGuire MO’ment as I was literally was taking multi-tasking to a whole- new level. My activities at this MO’ment are:
​1. Composing the Demand Letter to present to the Amish (yes, we have to seek legal action against the at-fault Amish. They don’t have insurance. “The church is supposedly going to take care of us.” We’ll see how this pans out.)
​2. Working on all the details of the 37+ events and calendar for the summer
​3. Adding more elements to our business plan and our kick-starter project [VERY EXCITING, can't wait to share it with anyone who is interested!!!]
​4. Watching Bethenny Ever After at 1:30am on Bravo.
Now if you know who Bethenny is, this will make even more sense. But I went to her website, saw her new talk show promo and saw something that caught my eye. ” Do you have a question for Bethenny Frankel?” Hell yeah, I do. She followed a dream slingin’ a Skinny Girl margarita and has built an astonishing empire. So at 1:30am, I sent the following to Bethenny Frankel [ I was limited to 1500 characters, and obviously I have alot to say]:

​it’s pretty simple. when i watched bethenny back on MS Apprentice, i was hooked. i think mainly, ​because in some crazy way, we were twins, but complete opposites. she is my alter-ego for sure.
​Following her journey, I’ve realized a lot about myself and have looked at life differently. I believe ​her hard work and determination is inspiring and it’s definitely pushed my will to thrive and ​survive.
​There isn’t a dull day in my world. Last weeks’ events included totaling our [finally paid off] car ​by hitting a herd of cows, [yes, cows, amish cows to be exact], my husband rupturing his achilles ​[surgery on friday], our dwindling bank account was compromised, on top of slingin’ our product ​Mo’rub [morub.com] at farmer’s markets, deMO’s at grocery stores and weekly special events. ​We moved [shoulda said "MOved" haah] back in with my old hippie-parents so we could invest our sales back into our ​business.
​In a nutshell, I challenge Bethenny to revisit where she was just a few years ago, so if nothing ​else, it will reassure me that this nonsense of being a small business owner will one day make ​sense. I tell friends often, that I’m the chubby-girl that makes a mean bloody mary, and many ​come back with, Bethenny needs to know you.

may 10- 10:30am CST, I get a phone call from Bethenny Frankel’s producers in LA, calling for an interview. For 15 minutes, they asked questions to the non-sense above, what, when. Who’s Mo? Do you have kids, crazy shit. I was sweating balls. My palms were like waterfalls. Who knows what will happen, her talk show starts June 11 and they already have a month of programming scheduled. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be…. right? It makes a great twist to our story and one that will be composed more eloquently that my ADD, rambling non-sense.

may 11- mo has his surgery to repair the completely torn achilles tendon. if any of you reading this know anything about such a thing… please give me words of wisdom. this is intense. i just finished giving mo shots in belly for the last two weeks. [mama j did it for the first ten days, and then went to SUMMERCAMP. Yes, Summercamp, so I had to learn how to do it] EIGHT WEEKS in a cast, that is NON-WEIGHT BEARING.

have I mentioned about the 40-some mo’rub events we have scheduled in the next 90 days?

so much more has happened since, but I must stop and get back to my paperwork that is due to WHOLE FOODS. YES, whole Foods. WHEEEE!

If this has been a good read, then order some mo’rub. join our journey. it’s going to be a fun ride or read, hopefully both.

The new store is slated to open in July of this year.  Come check us out!

“You’re Gonna Want Mo”

If you missed it, definately put it on your calendar for next year!!  And remember, you’re just gonna want MO!

 Mo ‘Rub will be serving “ Mo Wings” and “Mo Popcorn” !

Cause I know you’re gonna want Mo!

See Ya there!!!

MO

Mo Joes

Ingredients
•       1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
•       1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin
•       1/4 cup brown sugar
•       2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon Mo Rub (The more mo’ rub the more kick, FYI)
•       1 medium onion, chopped
•       1 small red bell pepper, chopped
•       1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
•       1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
•       2 cups tomato sauce
•       2 tablespoons tomato paste
•       4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered
Directions
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and Mo Rub. Add sugar and Mo Rub mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook mixture 5 minutes longer. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile meat onto toasted, buttered bun bottoms and cover with bun tops. Serve with your favorite sides or sliced tomatoes seasoned with salt and pepper, Dill pickles etc. Have plenty of napkins on hand!

It’s coming, we’re going to have our very own wing night at the Fremont on E 9th north of I- 235, South of University. Excited? We are. It’s going to be great. Be sure to follow us on facebook to stay in the loop!

Starting June 14th, June 21st, June 28th (Mark your calendar!)
5-9pm
pound of mo’rub wings & a pint for $10 bucks

Sign up at The Fremont to win two tickets to www.wingdingdsm.com on July 23rd, 2011.

Mo' Rub friend Rob peeks out from behind photo Mo'

Steph gets cheeky with Mo', he doesn't seem to mind.

Steph headed down to KC, MO [how ironic] for a Widespread Panic weekend and brought Mo’ with her… not the real Mo’, he was out West. But everyone still had fun with a picture of Mo’, and wouldn’t you know, it was like he was right there! Steph also got to pass out hundreds of mo’ rub samples and met so many wonderful friends, new and old. What a great weekend! [Well.... the adventures to and back where quite memorable and she promises to blog about them later... but how does a 41yr. old run out of gas?]

For our first month of Mo’ Rub we’re starting out by featuring a simple but luscious recipe and a unique way of using Mo’ Rub. Mo’ Chocolate! I’ve tried it myself and it’s amazing. I couldn’t stop snacking on it. This recipe would be a perfect treat at a wine party or classy BBQ gathering. Or, mix it up with some Mo’ Rub seasoned bacon pieces for a crazy delicious and unique gift for that person who has everything.

Mo’ Chocolate

submitted by E.B.

Ingredients:

1 package dark chocolate chips

1/2 teaspoon Mo’ Rub

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Prepare a cookie sheet by covering with a sheet of parchment paper. Set Aside.

2. Heat a double boiler on medium heat with the chocolate chips. Stir constantly until chips are completely melted. Shouldn’t take too long.

3. Add Mo’ Rub and cinnamon. Stir to mix well.

4. Remove from heat and pour onto your prepared cookie sheet. You may want to use a spatula to spread the mix evenly over the paper. Place in your fridge or freezer to harden.

5. Once cooled remove from the fridge and use a knife to cut into pieces. No need to be neat, the chocolate will cut jaggedly in some places. Gather up the pieces and put into a nice cellophane bag to give as a gift or a bowl to serve. If you plan on traveling with the chocolate you may want to pack it with some ice in the summer to keep it from melting on the trip.

Other ways to use Mo’ Chocolate:

• When pouring out the chocolate you could use a dry, greased ice cube tray to make cubes of Mo’ Chocolate. They make great bite sized treats or could be mixed in with hot milk to make Mo’ Rub Hot Chocolate in the winter months.
• Try Preparing some Bacon sprinkled with Mo’ Rub and then crumbling it and adding it the mix before pouring, or dipping whole strips in the chocolate. they make a unique snack and conversation starter at any party!

About the Mo’ Rub Fan: E.B. is an avid fan of Mo’ Rub, and even helped us create the Morub.com website! She works as a Marketing Development Coordinator for VSA Iowa (www.vsaiowa.org) and bakes cakes for Nonprofit events in her spare time.

Every Month we feature a recipe created by a Mo’ Rub Lover, and you could be next! Submit your recipe online, just click the button.