Happy Foodie Father's Day to My Dad

Today is Father's Day and I dedicate this post to the man that has been one of my most influential foodie inspirations, my go to for kitchen questions and my real life hero, my Dad. My Dad and I have a special relationship forged around food and the kitchen. Some of my earliest memories are of my father in the kitchen preparing food for a Super Bowl Party or some other gathering with friends. I was barely tall enough to see up on the counter so my dad would make room on the kitchen counter for me to watch. It was my own little perch where I could see the magic taking place. You see appetizers in my house for parties were never simply chips and salsa, they were there too, but the real focus of my attentions were the masterpieces my father created out of food. The one that i will never forget was a dip that looked like a black and white checker board. He had used cream cheese to cover the entire top of the dip, which was a perfect square, then painstakingly created even black boxes out of caviar. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen as a 6-year old and is still one of the coolest things when I think back to it.

Soccer family

As I got older the kitchen always remained a central location for my Dad and I in our father-daughter relationship, when I wasn't playing soccer and he wasn't coaching that is. The perch that he lifted me up to on the counter became my permanent spot where I would sit while my dad would cook and I would watch intently. It was the time that we talked about our day and sometimes my bad behavior (which rarely happened because as I always say I was the angel of the family). When I got dumped by a boy or was having guy troubles (the woes of a teenage girl) my dad would get a hidden tub of Rocky Road ice cream out of the freezer and two spoons and he would listen and then offer his advice and tell me that,"He wasn't good enough for his little girl anyway," as we ate straight from the carton.

As  got older and moved out on my own my dad would buy me presents of kitchen equipment and appliances, in fact every set of pots and pans I have were presents from him. At the time I didn't appreciate the presents as I do now because if you read my About Me you would have learned that cooking was something I discovered a love for fairly recently. Food I have always loved and appreciated, it was just the me cooking  part that I wasn't so keen on. Now I get excited to see what will arrive and as soon as it is opened I already have about a thousand things I want to try with my new toy or new cookbook.



"The Family Picture That Almost Never Happened"

Now the foodie bond between my father and I is deeper than ever because as I learn to cook each day and experiment new flavors and recipes I write I consult my dad. My dad and I could go back and forth on text all day talking about food or something to try or that he liked the recipe but maybe a simple little tweak of an added flavor or a different cooking approach. A month before Thanksgiving we have already started menu planning bouncing ideas off one another or comparing recipes and coming up with a prep list. It has become a yearly tradition now. The first year I cooked the Thanksgiving turkey by myself he was on speed dial and my own Turkey Emergency hotline. I would send pictures and he would help me fix the problem or tell me to chill out and stop stressing.

And then of course there is the playful competitiveness between us, we both have very strong personalities and can be quite stubborn, but it is all in fun. Going back and forth on who has the best this or that or the calls after a Top Chef episode comparing who we thought should have gone home. And then there are the contests where we cook the same thing and let the family vote on who's was better. I still think I won the Eggplant Parmesan challenge! If you ask my Dad he never loses. As you can see food is a central part in our relationship, it is the thing that we bond over and it is special between the two of us. I had followed in his footsteps when I was younger going into restaurant management as he had done at my same age and we left that profession as well about the same time in our lives for different avenues.  He would understand the long hours or not getting off for holidays and birthdays because he too had made those sacrifices. In the end we had both decided that the sacrifices were just too much and that family came before work. He left because he started a family (and who wouldn't have wanted to spend as much time with the adorable, curly haired angel with big brown eyes) and I for the opportunity to be a Wedding and Event planner and explore different career aspects of the Hospitality industry.



My Dad after chemo and a clear bill of health

Each day with my dad means so much more and Father's Day has taken on a whole new importance to me in the last few years. I got the worst call of my life two years ago that my father had been diadnosed with cancer. I didn't hear much after that word except for keywords like surgery and chemo. The thought of losing my father had never crossed my mind before. He was my Daddy and he had to be be invincible. I wouldn't even know what to do if something would happen to him. I would be lost. A week later I was in Texas and my dad was having a softball size tumor removed from his chest. He was among the low percentage of men that get breast cancer. I stayed for a week in Texas while he recovered doing the only thing that I could do, which was cook. It was the only thing that felt natural and comforting. Then he started chemo and my brother and I made another visit. I remembered looking at him and thinking that he was so strong and so positive throughout everything. He would even garner a little bit of energy he had left to come sit at the kitchen table and talk while I cooked just like always, and he would add his two cents of course. Thankfully my dad is now cancer free and I thank God for that every day. He fought and survived an unfair adversary.

Thank you Dad for being my mentor, my hero, my shoulder to cry on, the person that calms me down when my computer freaks out or the world seems to be crumbling at my feet, the person that taught me right from wrong, how to be strong and fight for what I believe in and never quit, to never give up on my dreams or myself and the lastly my master of all things food. Love you Daddy!

My Dad and Anghous
(and yes that is a dog and not a bear)

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