Things I Learned in the Kitchen From My Dad

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, but especially to my dad.  My dad is one of a kind. (I mean that in the nicest way to put it, really).  I am so lucky to have such an amazing dad and grandpa to my kids. He raised me to be hard working, respectful, loving, generous, to stand up for myself, to love pickles, to know how to build things and to know my tools and how to use them. He will help me with anything, even if he thinks my idea is crazy, which is most of the time.  The look on his face is priceless when I say, “I was thinking” or “I have an idea”. As for cooking, since that is really what this blog is about, my dad was not the most adventurous cook when I was a kid. (My mom always tells the story of when she flew out to see her mom for 5 days and left us kids home with dad. Dad fed us franks and beans for every single meal.  It was one of the only things he knew how to make. He still loves franks and beans to this day.) Needless to say, mom did most of the cooking. Dad did the grilling. He also canned pickles and made salsa. (I remember how amazing the house smelled on the days he made salsa). Although, Dad wasn’t a master chef when I was a kid, I did learn a few things from him. (They are probably not all terribly useful, but I will let you be the judge of that). Here is a list of things I learned in the kitchen from my dad:

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1. Mustard goes with everything.  

My dad loves mustard.  My mom used to make polish sausage a lot, and Dad would smother his in mustard.  I specifically remember the mustard explosion incident of 1987. Dad was squirting mustard onto his plate to go with his polish sausage and the lid blew off. (I still remember our seating arrangements at the table.  My dad at one end, my sister at the other end. My brother and I were on one side and Mom was on the other side of the table). I think my sister was the only one who didn’t get splattered with mustard. Mustard was everywhere.  It even got on the wall on the ugly pineapple wallpaper. (Mom says that back then the pineapple wallpaper was the in thing. I am not so sure about that). Oh, it was such a mess. My dad was so mad and all of the rest of us were just laughing, which only made him more mad.

2. No one should eat peanut butter, ever.

I have a hard time with this one.  My dad hates peanut butter, which seems crazy to me.  I thought everyone loved peanut butter. I know I do. (If you want to check out a great recipe with peanut butter in it, take a look at my monster cookie recipe).

3. The best cut of steak is the rib eye

Dad loves steak. (He grew up on a cattle farm and beef was their livelihood).  Dad says the best steak is the rib eye. I think T-bones are probably just as good, but dad doesn’t like anything with a bone in it.  Seriously, he doesn’t like to eat chicken off the bone or ribs. I think it’s probably because it’s too much work. Ha!. He says the marbling in the rib eye gives it the best flavor.  

4. Steak should always be cooked medium rare.

Dad says you get the best flavor when the steak is medium rare, but I have a tough time eating it when it’s medium rare.  I like mine medium. Obviously, you don’t want to overcook the steak or it will be tough, but you also don’t want to feel like you’re eating raw meat either. If you are wondering about degrees of doneness for steak, check out this guide.

5. Buying pork ribs is a waste of money

My husband loves ribs, so I make ribs every once in a while.  My dad thinks I am crazy. He says, “Why don’t you just make a pork loin?  You are seriously failing an IQ test when you pay all that money for bones that you throw away.”  I see his point, but ribs are tasty and the bones do add some flavor.

6. You can pickle just about anything

My dad almost always has a huge container in the fridge that is pickling something.  Usually it’s refrigerator pickles, but he adds garlic, carrots, celery, onions and peppers to it too.

7. Squash is useless, unless you are using it for batting practice

I kind of have to agree with this.  I do not like squash. My dad hates squash. One time they served my dad squash at boarding school. (When he was a kid, he went to boarding school during the week.  He started when he was five. There is no way I could send my five year old off to boarding school for the week. I would be a wreck). My dad knew he was supposed to eat the squash, but disliked it so much that he scooped it into his pants pockets.  This way it looked like his plate was clean, but he didn’t actually have to eat it. Let’s just say, his mom was not happy when he got home on Friday and she stuck her hand in his pants pocket when she was doing the laundry.

I am not sure these 7 things I learned in the kitchen from my dad are all useful, but some of them make me laugh. My dad is the best. He is always supportive and willing to help me with whatever crazy idea I have. He loves his kids and grand kids fiercely (maybe the grand kids a little more). Sometimes I need someone to tell me like it is and he has no problem doing that. I hope that some day I am as good of a parent as he is. I know I am already a better cook. Ha! Love ya Dad.