In honor of Father’s Day, we asked the fathers in our households to write their answers for the question this week – enjoy!
From Anthony (Sharon’s husband):
Ok, first, I grew up in England. For a kid, England meant lots of baked beans, mashed potatoes, and the occasional beef tongue sandwich. Solid food, but not inspirational for a lifetime… But wait until the holidays. My mother’s family has an 800 year old farmhouse in the rolling agrarian farms of Suffolk. The feasts we used to have in that old farm house!! I distinctly remember a particular very cold Christmas couple of days when I was about 7 years old, and the whole local and extended family gathered around a huge long table in the dining room with a fireplace. The rest of the house was freezing – including the beds we ran to after the festivities – but the dining room positively glowed. Alive with the fire, good cheer, holiday spirits, roast beef, goose, roasted vegetables, and potatoes and puddings; Yorkshire with gravy, bread and Christmas puddings with rum sauce, plus all the trimmings, ribbons, candles. Layers and layers of food, family traditions, and fun. Concentrated family together for hours and hours in a few rooms, creating and sharing memories…These were wonderful times, tightly wound around the food experiences that symbolize for me what I would like to leave for my kids as they recount their food memories in the future. Food, family, and time together – anytime of year. Fond remembrances.
From Mark (Kimberly’s husband):
My early cooking memory involves a Saturday morning breakfast concoction I called “Goop.” The recipe went something like this: place approximately one cup of raw oats in a cereal bowl. Add prodigious amounts of peanut butter, honey, and marshmallow fluff. Mix vigorously, pretending not to notice that your breakfast is spilling over the lip of the bowl and dolloping the counter and floor. Top with chocolate syrup, and serve. Now, enjoy the heart palpitations that Goop elicits!
I am sure that Goop would turn my stomach now (come to think of it, it kind of turned my stomach even then). However, I’d like to think that my childhood self demonstrated an admirable resourcefulness, creativity, and spirit of culinary adventure. One can certainly do worse than that in the kitchen!