My “DAD” the “Chef”

How many of us can say  – My Dad is the best “Chef!”  My  Dad worked at some of the best restaurants here in Saint Louis, and he  received his basic training  in cooking  while enlisted in the US Army.  He said he was older than he was  to enlist  and  was in luck to have been accepted.

As a little kid – the one thing that I always loved to have was called “Floating Island”  –   a puff of egg-whites whipped up in mounds to look like  little islands   sitting on top of a delicious custard. This was something as a kid  – I would rather have than candy. As much  as  I  have always  enjoyed  –  I never tried to make. My guess is that  – if you  didn’t know how  – you would  stand the chance of burning the custard.  So  I just never attempted,   but after looking at recipes  –   I just may  try using a new recipe I found for the custard and  will  hope for excellent results.

What always amazed me was that when ever I would ask my  Dad about a recipe  – he could just tell me the list of ingredients and just how to make the item I  was  inquiring about  – and if he was at my home  –  he  would just make  what I was asking about  – knew the exact  amounts  and have everything going  – no wasting of time looking up amounts and how or what to do.

It was so much fun for us kids to be seated around the kitchen table and watch  “MY DAD”  work magic with  the food we all  liked  –   and every so often  – he would give one us a spoon of something  good  to lick off    –  and when he was making candy  –  he would take turns giving each of  us a    small  amount of candy making in the   “testing stage”  called the    “soft ball ” stage  till it got to the   “hard ball”   stage   and  we were the best behaved kids –  patiently waiting our turn  to test  –  we would be ready to test  – forever!

The  “Floating Island”   and the taste   that  I remember is calling for me to try.   No matter what happens   –   I will have to eat my  “mistakes”    or I’ll be enjoying  a real good memory   –    “Floating  Islands”   and  hopefully the way  “DAD”  made for us!


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