[2021-06-20] Father's Day
Father's Day at my house could have been called Foodie Day. I spent most of the day on my feet in the kitchen, and rediscovered the limits of my physical energy.
I began the day by making crêpes stuffed with blueberries, strawberries and bananas, and topped with whipped cream and homemade caramel sauce. Because it was a richer dish than I've been consuming as of late, I was reserved in my application of the toppings.
At lunch, I tried a recipe for Vegan Curried Broccoli Chickpea Salad from Ambitious Kitchen, a site recommended by a reader in response to my post Happy gallbladder. It was absolutely divine―a mix of broccoli, carrots, chick peas, toasted sliced almonds, dried cranberries, green onions and cilantro, complemented by a dressing of tahini, lemon juice, garlic, fresh ginger, curry powder and turmeric. It is so rare to make a recipe, exactly as described, and to achieve perfection on the first try. I highly recommend this recipe (pictured below).
In the afternoon, my son and I made Homemade Pierogi. It was my first time making pierogi. Chris loved them, which was the mark of success. My aim was to honour him on Father's Day with foods that were out of the ordinary. A simple tossed salad was a perfect accompaniment.
Shane and I also made Authentic British Scones, to serve as the base for strawberry shortcake and allow us to use up the whipped cream leftover from breakfast. Again, this was a little rich for my gallbladder, so I had a small helping.
None of the things I made were difficult, and Shane's help in the afternoon made the cooking both fast and enjoyable. Despite this, I was pooped by the end of the day.
For me, cooking has always been both an experiment and a learning experience. I try many recipes and keep only a fraction of them to make again. I call this kissing a lot of frogs to find a prince.
Some recipes are a 10 from the first try. For these recipes, we'll say, "this one has to go in the book." Others don't quite reach that status on the initial attempt but show such promise that we make them again with tweaks. Many are good but don't merit being repeated. For these recipes, we'll sometimes say, "it's very well made." In this way, we acknowledge the cook's effort while being honest about the long-term value of the recipe.
None of us is offended by an attempt that doesn't reach perfection. We know going in that trying a new recipe is an experiment. Whether we succeed or not, we learn something.
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.
