My father, an electrical engineer, arrived home from work a few minutes before 6:00 every week day of his adult life. When I was young I would meet him at the door, grab his oh-so-heavy briefcase, and give him a hug around the waist. He'd put his briefcase in the hall closet, come into the kitchen, and a few minutes later we'd sit down to eat.
This was the 1950s and '60s. My mother, who worked outside the home as a magazine editor, always prepared the meal; it was Dad's role to quiz us at dinner about news of the day, and news of our day. Though he didn't share in the daily cooking responsibility, his engineering skills did come in handy in the culinary arena; he always chopped the liver, eggs and onions for the holiday "paté", and he rolled the five pounds of sweet-and-sour meatballs that were part of every holiday meal. (Dad could be counted on to make each little meatball exactly the same size and shape. For some reason, that was the goal!)
Sometimes, on weekend mornings, my father would treat us to breakfast dishes like Spit in the Ocean, his specialty (a fried egg dropped into a hole cut in a piece of toast), or bologna and salami fried in scrambled eggs in an electric skillet. During Passover he made matzoh brei, a kind of matzoh frittata cooked in a large straight-sided skillet and flipped, theatrically, to brown on both sides. I still make Dad's recipe once a year at the holidays, though it's not quite the same watching my Canadian husband douse it with maple syrup.
My father was the grill guy, too: lamb chops were his thing. Matzoh brei, meatballs, grilling and weekend breakfast – that was my dad's repertoire. And when he cooked, it was for us, not with us. We got to watch, but we rarely got to help.
So you can imagine how much I enjoy seeing dads come to Ninecooks to spend kitchen time with their kids. There are two families who've been part of the Family Cooking Group (for children ages 11-14 and their parents) with moms and dads who alternate, so that each parent gets to be part of the group and have the fun of cooking with their son or daughter.
How cool is that?!
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