Welcome to our new series, Road Warriors. Each month we will be introducing one of sales professionals. If you are a quilter you would agree that these guys and gals have the greatest job ever, driving from one quilt shop to another all week. There is so much more to their jobs so we thought it would be interesting to share some bits of their on the road stores and also some behind the scenes.

Richard Cubbage

 

 

Richard is our first featured sales rep as he was the first to volunteer to participate, which says a lot to his fun-loving personality! He is our second longest tenured rep of 28 years and he covers the north-eastern states of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Southern New Jersey.

 

Prior to his career as a Moda Road Warrior, Richard  worked in retail as a manager of a shoe store, Lane Bryant and also sold suits and dress clothing for May Company. He has many funny stories about those days - just ask him :)  

 

Richard believes that, the secret to succeeding in this job is remaining flexible, because sometimes when showing the latest collections of Moda Fabrics + Supplies things don't always go as planned. That philosophy has been put to use frequently in his time with the company. Richard sites several animal encounters while in sales calls; 

"There was Kitty the Cat who liked to make use of the soft cotton samples in my suitcase and use it as her feline throne.  Attempts to remove the furry interloper from her perch was repeatedly met with a stare that screamed “off with his head!” OR the time when Rocky, a shop puppy taught me that rolled up samples make great chew toys returning them to my case all slobbery / soggy. Then there was the time I had to be a wildlife remover before I could begin my presentation. I was interrupted by screams from the sales floor of the quilt shop employee. The owner's Pomeranian had cornered a snake that had slithered its way into the store. I bravely leaned down and removed the peach basket of Luna batting, extended my arm down to pick the snake up and remove it from the store. 12 inches from the reptile it occurred to me it had strange marking's I had not seen in a common garter snake and opted for a cafe rod instead to pin the serpent to the baseboard where I could get a safer hand on it and dispatch it to great outdoors. Unfortunately I was a little too aggressive in holding it to the ground causing it to shuttle off its mortal coil."  

Animal rescue is near to the hearts of Richard and his wife Robyn. A few years ago, Richard said Robyn took a job at the local SPCA. On her second day at work animal control seized 82 Wheaten Terriers from a unscrupulous breeder. In four days after the seizure went public Robyn processed over 1100 boxes of donations of food and other items which overwhelmed the local post office. The postmaster came in on his day off with his pickup as well as Richard and his father in law to ferry the boxes to the shelter. Richard & Robyn ended up with their darling girl Maizie, who was three weeks old at the time of seizure. They got her at 8 weeks old after the legal issues played out. 

 

Besides animal lover & rescuer, Richard is a Foodie and loves to cook. A perk of his job, is finding great restaurants in his travels and planning dining stops. Some of his favorites are 

PHILADELPHIA: The Oyster House (The raw oysters and a must is the Snapper Turtle Soup!) and Osteria (Rigatoni with Chicken Liver, Cipollini and Sage)

PITTSBURGH: Morcilla (Tapas: Everything is wonderful)

WASHINGTON DC: Jaleo (Chef and founder of World Kitchen Jose Andres flagship restaurant) You have to try the "liquid olives" – they’re are FUN

 

When I interviewed Richard one Sunday night, he was making a favorite soup ROASTED RED BELL PEPPER SOUP. It sounded delicious and he has included the recipe in the link below. 

Sounds yummy and perfect thing for a winter's evening meal - enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

RICHARD’S ROASTED RED BELL PEPPER SOUP

6 red bell peppers cut into 2 inch chunks

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup chopped onion 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 cup diced tomato

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1 Tbs fennel seed

1/2 bay leaf crumbled

1/2 tsp dried basil or 1 Tbs chopped fresh

2 Tbs minced jalapeno pepper

pinch of sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

5 cups chicken stock

1 tsp tomato past

1/2 to 1 cup heavy cream

In a 4 quart heavy bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion, fennel, basil, thyme, bay leaf and jalapeno. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the onion is translucent, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add flour and cook stirring constantly for 10 minutes. In a separate pot bring the chicken stock to a boil then pour over the vegetables and stir. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste. In a large skillet coat with olive oil over high heat. Sauté the bell pepper chunks until the skins blister and are lightly charred. Add the peppers to the soup and cook stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and puree in a blender or food processor. Alternately you can use an immersion blender. Strain the soup through a mesh strainer or chinois. Return to saucepan and bring to a simmer and 1/2 cup of the cream and a pinch of sugar. If the soup is too spicy add more cream. At parties we serve these in demitasse or small coffee cups. For an elegant touch you can add a dollop of Sambuca Cream. In a bowl of an electric mixer, whip 1 cup heavy cream until soft peaks then add 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp lemon zest, 3 Tbs Sambuca and a pinch of sugar.

Serve with a rustic bread or by itself.

 

 RECIPE PRINTABLE LINK HERE

 

 Hope you enjoyed the first edition of the Moda Road Warrior series.

-Amy Matheny