Quips & Anecdotes - Happy Father's Day

I mention in my "About the Author" page about how my mom was my inspiration for cooking and just my overall love of food. That is not to say that my dad doesn't cook but it is a rare occasion! I guess he can't help it when there's such a stellar cook in the house anyhow. In honor of Father's Day, I'd like to share some silly stories about my dad and food. As you can see, I don't have a picture above of him cooking anything. My mom doesn't like having him cook because he seems to hold the philosophy that more butter = better tasting food. Perhaps I should introduce him to French cooking and show him how to do it (joking)!

So, having my dad's cooking is not a common practice. Just about two weeks ago, my mom didn't prepare anything for dinner and my dad said it was just him and me for the evening (my younger brother was out of the house). I then asked him what he wanted to cook for dinner, and his response was, "Do you want to eat at Red Lobster?" It struck me as being quite silly that he would default to going somewhere out to eat instead of spending time to prepare a meal. That's not to say that he doesn't make anything ever. He will definitely cook foods that my mom has already prepped and on occasion will make basic foods. He will often also mention how he used to grow bean sprouts when he was at refugee camp.

My dad's a funny guy when it comes to food. He's all for trying out different kinds of snack foods and candies, bringing home random assortments that either get tried or stowed away for months. Also, because he works somewhere where there is plenty of food, he'll also bring home their new items to see how the family (but mainly my younger brother and me) likes them. He was the one who brought me chili chocolate after all. When we go to restaurants, he'll make me order food but never tells me his preference for anything because he'll eat whatever. I think that's something that I picked up from him really. I'll try anything once as well. We're both not too picky. He's also the gung-ho one about trying new places.

Tonight our family is going to have a dinner for Father's Day and when I had asked my mom earlier this week what we'd do or where'd we eat, all she said was, "It's your dad - he doesn't care." It's true and that's something that is pretty awesome. As long as we're eating all together, it won't matter today what or where we're eating. Yeah my mom's the cook of the house but my dad's the one who has contributed to my being open about any food and made me realize that sometimes, butter does make things taste better =]. Also, if there is anything that he knows I like, he goes out of his way to get it for me or as my mom says in Chinese (but I will try to translate as best I can into English), "Always getting sweets for his sweetheart." Happy Father's Day dad, and Happy Father's Day to all the fathers, grandfathers, mothers who are fathers, and father figures today! I got my daddy a sweet potato cake, hoorah.