I’m always going on and on about growing up with and being inspired by my Mom’s wonderful cooking, but what about dear old Dad??
Although he wasn’t the primary cook in the house, I have very specific and fond memories of my Dad in the kitchen from when I was young.
If he wasn’t on a canning kick (we still have mason jars filled with homemade bread & butter pickles lining our basement shelves 20 years later! PS How sick is it that I can say things like 20 years later?!) he was whipping up a big, spicy batch of his famous gumbo.
Gumbo is my Dad’s DISH. He’s got this super secret recipe that he always and forever intended to only share with the men in the family (pssht!) but accidentely emailed it to me in a moment of fatherly-love induced weakness a few years ago.
SCORE! ;)
It wasn’t, and still isn’t, uncommon to walk into my parent’s kitchen on a freezing cold Saturday morning in the winter and find my Dad surrounded by mountains of gumbo making ingredients.
Oodles of onions, cups of celery, and butt-loads of bell pepper would be sautéing in bacon grease, while chopped, smoked kielbasa (which I loved to steal pieces of!) and chicken waited to join the party on nearby cutting boards.
I’d beg my Dad to go easy on the cayenne pepper he liberally added to the tomato-based broth the ingredients would soon be swimming in, and he always did his best to cater to my sissy needs, while keeping my spice-loving brothers happy. :)
Regardless of the heat level, lots of love always went into those big pots of homemade, Iowa gumbo, and we’d all come back to dunk our bowls in it over and over again throughout the entire chilly afternoon.
Lots of love also went into the big brunch we could always count on Dad to make after coming home from church on sleepy, Sunday mornings. He never failed to wake us all up by 7am sharp (by clapping, I might add) so we could attend 8am service, but he more than made up for it with the boundless buffet he’d make when we got back.
It was a free for all, I’m tellin’ ya. You wanted eggs? You got eggs. Any way you wanted em’. Scrambled for me, ’til I hit 13, then over-medium was all the rage.
You wanted bacon too? No problem. Toast? Done. A three-tiered iced cake? He’d make you chocolate AND vanilla. :)
The thing I requested more often than not though, was Dad’s French Toast.
I don’t exactly know how he does it, but my Dad has got the lock and key on the technique to moist, luscious, perfect French Toast. The outside was always golden brown and just slightly eggy, while the inside was creamy and chewy. The ratio of egg to milk was always just right, too.
He’d serve it with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, at my request, that just so took it there, and I was as happy as could be.
‘Til Sunday morning chores commenced. Can you say, buzzkill?! ;)
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Who was the main cook in your kitchen growing up? Mom, Dad, siblings, grandparents?
What a beautiful dress! (well, from The back at least…..great pic of you & your dad…..you are teeny, tiny! Right now working on ‘Iowa Girl Recipe Cards!’………
You are in so much trouble! My cousin just got married, and her pics make me cry. I came by to check out the beergaritas recipe, and couldn’t resist clicking on the Father Knows Best pic in Linkwithin. Darn you Iowa Girl, your pics made me cry. LOL too much good stuff for one night!!!
Awesome recipes, pics, and ideas. Thanks!
Cry in a good way, of course! hee hee
That picture of you and your Dad is so darling!
I love that you made a French Toast Bake for dinner! Very cute post. I am sure your Dad loved it.
…and gumbo? Very, very smart man!
Cannot wait to try! And the homage paid to your dad – so adorable :) (p.s. post more wedding pictures!!!)
my mum was the main cook, but dad had a speciality: gourmet sausages cooked, then split down the middle filled with creamy mashed potatos, topped with grated cheese then grilled – yum! beautiful wedding photo :)
Well, that post sure choked me up. There is just something special about dads and their daughters. Am not thinking about gumbo…mmmmm Thank you for always cooking for us and entertaining us! Lynette
My dad was always (and still is) the main cook in the house. I love all of his recipes, but of course he doesn’t have anything written down and cooks everything from memory and by taste. I need to shadow him in the kitchen and start writing these things down!
LOL! Loved this post! So sweet! Also makes me feel better to know that even you have kitchen fails once in awhile. :P My mom did all the cooking. Not sure whether dad could even handle the toaster… :)
We lived in India for most of my childhood as my parents were teachers there, and so we had cooks :) Thankfully, cos my mum had five kids plus a demanding job! I wish I had a cook now, would be great to come home to a five course meal every now and then ;)
My mom was definitely the main cook – 6:30 pm every night, we were to be home because dinner was on the table. But, my dad will forever be known for his AMAZING soft-boiled eggs. Holy Yumm!! He made them every vacation and they are perfection. Now that I’m married, I wish I could venture home more often on Saturday mornings and have him make these for me.
Ps-that wedding picture looks gorgeous! love to see more!
My teacher assigned my English class to follow a blog for two weeks. She recommended your blog because she follows it. My plan is to follow it every day and leave comments. I enjoyed your article “Father Knows Best”. I look forward to experimenting the gumbo recipe. My teacher told me that there is multiple ways to make it. Mr. Prince puts shrimp and crab legs in his. I have browsed through your blog and I appreciate the variety of your various food options.
Aww – It seems like every good dad has a few quirky dishes up his sleeve!
In our house, my dad made fried eggs, custard pie, and oatmeal : ) All three are the standard to which I hold my own versions of these favorites. So good, so comforting. Pretty random…
Thanks for the little memory trip!